System of a Down aren't going to be releasing music anytime soon, so all the members seem immersed in projects of their own. Bassist Shavo Odadjian has teamed up with producer Saro Paparian and vocalist Ray Hawthorne for North Kingsley.
The band's debut single "Like That?" showcases their sound, which they describe as "cutting edge beats combine with gnarly metallic riffs and a wildly dexterous lyrical flow to create a crisp but gritty sound born in the LA underground."
The band will forgo the traditional release cycle and not put out a full album, instead focusing on three smaller "volume" releases. Vol. 1 will be released next Friday, August 14th.
Shavo describes the roll out as "We’re giving you songs you can marinade on, instead of 12 songs all at once. There’s going to be a clip for every song, something visually for you to vibe on. I directed videos for System, I do stage production visuals for the band so that’s important to me. Saro has an incredible eye for creating new things visually and I act almost how a producer would on that and we are going to drop merch with every release, so it’s more than just music.”
As for how the project came together, Shavo says “I love to collaborate. I love to hear my ideas come through other people. There is strength in numbers. Saro would make the beats, and I would play guitar and bass – and not in a way that you’d usually hear in rock. When Ray came in, he was very turned on to what’s going on socially and politically. They both know their way around the studio with what’s new and fresh. I played hard to get for a little while with them, but the vibe and what we were working on was so cool that it became the start of North Kingsley.”
“I’m known for playing metal but you can’t say it’s just metal – it has a lot of other influences in there,” Odadjian points out. “I did Achozen with RZA and that was straight hip-hop. North Kingsley is right in the middle. The kick and the hi-hats and the snare sounds punk. To me punk rock isn’t a style of music, it’s something you live. It’s a lifestyle and it means going against the grain and I heard that there, and we are putting it all together to create something exciting and new for today.”
