Shavo Odadjian of System of a Down has formed a new band named North Kingsley. “I am proud to announce my new project @northkingsley. Music coming soon!!!,” he stated on Instagram. According to Consequence of Sound, in a recent interview with Marijuana Retail Report, he explained the band name North Kingsley, saying, “When I moved from Armenia to LA, I moved to North Kingsley drive. That was my street, that’s where I grew up and I saw everything there.”

He continued to say “I started skateboarding there. I witnessed homelessness, the poor, you know, I noticed gangs. I learned about friendship. I saw sex there — there were prostitutes. I grew up there, so it means a lot to me. So when I say that name, that’s my growth, how I became who I am, you know?”

Odadjian hinted at the project in late 2018 in an interview with Consequence of Sound, saying “The way it happened is that I got together with these two guys, really cool young guys in their late 20s, early 30s … It’s bass-driven hip-hop, but I can’t really explain it.” This will mark Odadjian’s second side project as his first was a collaboration was with Wu-Tang Clan member The RZA, Kinetic 9 and Reverend William Burke under the name Achozen. The supergroup went on to score the sci-fi thriller film, Babylon AD starring Vin Diesel.

While System of a Down still play shows, the band has yet to release any new material since 2005, which Odadjian commented on. “It’s weird that we don’t have a new record, or many records,” he told us. “We have [new] material that tops everything we’ve done. And that’s me telling you, honestly. I can’t wait to record that and drop it.”

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado