Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet, political activist and System of a Down frontman, Serj Tankian, is currently putting the finishing touches on his third solo album. This record, Harakiri, will be released sometime this summer via Serjical Strike/Reprise Records.
Harakiri was performed, written, produced, and engineered by Tankian at Serjical Strike Studios in LA. This solo record will be his followup to 2010’s Imperfect Harmonies. 2011 was a big year for Tankian. Not only was he busy writing Harakiri, but he also released his second poetry book Glaring Through Oblivion, he debuted his rock musical Prometheus Bound, and performed his first ever concert in Lebanon with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. Not only was he busy doing all of these things, but he finished four different records. He finished a jazz record, an electronic record with Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence, a full classical symphony called Orca, along with Harakiri.
Here’s what Tankian had to say about Harakiri:
The year 2011 started with a fire. Some kids in Piha, NZ were setting off fireworks that landed on my neighbor’s property and lit the whole hill on fire. I knew it was going to be a hell of a year and it certainly was. Within 5 days of that, reports came about birds and fish dying in massive numbers globally. The omen was not lost on me. Varied creatures on earth were committing massive hara-kiri (the Japanese term signifying ritualistic suicide.) Do they know something we don’t about the coming times or the sustainability of the environment? That is the day I started writing this record.
Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado
Leave a Comment