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— by Corey Moss
It was the 45th annual Hollywood Stars game at Dodger Stadium, and System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian felt as out of place as he looked in his oversized uniform.
Tony Danza, David Arquette and Norm MacDonald were among those gathered on the field, schmoozing with the media, signing autographs for the Dodgers players and, for the most part, ignoring the only legitimate rock star there (sorry, Frankie Avalon).
"That whole day was very strange for me because I went there just being a guy not taking it so seriously," Malakian recalls on a recent Friday night in the studio, where he's back in the metal band uniform of black T-shirt, black leather jacket and black jeans. "I just wanted to get a shot at hitting the ball, to just be at Dodger Stadium on the field because I'm a sports fan, but everyone else there were wearing cups and they were all in uniform and there was a coach on the team. I was really uncomfortable that day, to be honest with you."
That night, after doing an interview with the one reporter who recognized him, Malakian went home and wrote "Old School Hollywood," one of the most irate yet oddly comical tracks on System of a Down's new double album, Mezmerize/Hypnotize.
"That's just what happens to me when I go through some kind of traumatic experience," he says, laughing as he shoots a look at his longtime publicist, who arranged the game. "In her defense, I wanted to do it, but I didn't know what I was getting into. I would never do it again."
Since System of a Down were last in the studio, sessions that produced both the landmark Toxicity and Steal This Album!, Malakian's life has been marked by traumatic experiences, mainly America's invasion of Iraq, where several of his relatives live, and the government's ongoing refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide. Both were fuel for Mezmerize/Hypnotize.
"There is a lot of emotion that I spilled out, and I am very lucky to have that outlet in music," says Malakian, who wrote the music and most of the lyrics for the new material. "Maybe that's why I wrote more lyrics, 'cause I was going through a tougher time and I think that everybody in the band understood that and understood that I wanted to express that. We're not one kind of band. I can't say we're just political. Lyrics run into so many different things. But having some turmoil usually brings out the best in you, artistically."
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