System of a Down Were Banned On Radio Station

Rick Rubin recently stated that the first System of a Down performance he witnessed was “ridiculous.” However, he “laughed the whole show” and “loved it.”

Serj Tankian’s thought-provoking lyrics combined with an eclectic approach to heavy music propelled System of a Down to phenomenal success. Despite emerging during the nu-metal craze, the band has maintained a massive and loyal fanbase over the decades, even during periods of relatively little activity.

The story of S.O.A.D. is also one of Rick Rubin’s great successes, as the famous producing guru collaborated with Tankian & Co. on every album the band released to date.

His penchant for all things unusual and Rubin was immediately drawn to S.O.A.D. when he first saw them live, back when the band was still playing to small crowds in Hollywood nightclubs.

Rick Rubin talks about System of A Down

Recalling his first impression of the band during a recent interview with Rick Beato, Rubin said (via Louder ):

“I like weird things. I like being surprised, I like hearing something I haven’t heard before, I like being challenged by music. When something can do that and I like it – instead of just being annoyed or [hating] it, which can happen when something isn’t for you – I wanted to nurture it.”

“With System Of A Down, I don’t think I thought, ‘This is gonna be popular.’ With none of the artists I work with do I think, ‘This is gonna be popular.’ It wouldn’t be realistic.”

Rubin further stated that he loved how “ridiculous” his first S.O.A.D. gig looked like at times:

“If you saw System Of A Down when I saw System Of A Down, playing at [Hollywood nightclub] The Viper Room with 200 people going crazy, and them doing these Armenian folk dances and playing heavy metal… I laughed the whole show. It was ridiculous! But I loved it. But any thoughts of, ‘This could be big,’ you can’t have that thought. It would be insane.”

The producer noted how a major Los Angeles radio station had pushed back against attempts to get System on their repertoire. However, they eventually caved in due to massive audience demand:

“I remember when we put out the first System Of A Down album, the program director at KROQ, which was the premiere station that would play that kind of music in the world, said, ‘We will never play this band on our station. Never.’ A year later, [System were] the number-one requested group on the station.”

Rick Rubin also had his share of misses but his work with System was not one of them.

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