In a new interview with Australia’s Wall of Sound, Shavo Odadjian discussed System of a Down’s inability to release a follow-up to their “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” albums, which were released in 2005. The Serj Tankian-fronted band has toured intermittently since ending their hiatus in 2011 but has yet to record any new music. The 50-year-old Armenian-American Shavo, born Shavarsh Odadjian, stated, “We had one show in ’23. We had two shows in ’24. I’m hoping to have four to seven shows in ’25. So we’ll gradually come and do more shows. But at least it’s happening. So I’ll take what I can get from that.”
He continued, “I love [the other guys in the band] and I love the music and I love doing it. I would do it every day, but it takes four people to do what we do. And I respect everyone’s wishes and everyone’s feelings, and if someone’s not ready, they’re not ready. I can’t force them, man. And no one should. And it’s never because I hate or someone hates or there’s a problem. There’s nothing like that. It’s just not the moment. When it’s there, it’s there.”
Shavo added, “We’re not broken up. People think we’re broken up because we haven’t made music. Yeah, there’s creative differences, and that happens. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t be on stage together and we can’t rehearse together. And I hang out with John [Dolmayan, System of a Down drummer] daily — John and I are like brothers. And I love the other two. I don’t see them as much, but when I do see them, it’s like we never stopped hanging out. It’s like that type of friendship. We’re always gonna be friends no matter what.”
