Serj Tankian Accidentally Rocks on Debut Solo Album

System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian will release his debut solo album, 'Elect the Dead,' on Oct. 23. And while the effort originally was intended as quieter fare, well, accidents happen. "This ended up being a rock record by accident," Tankian tells Spinner at his Los Angeles home. "When I was writing everything, primarily I just wanted to write songs that were really strong and that would fit my voice in what I want to do. I never thought it would actually be a rock record until I started arranging a couple of songs. The going joke is, 'I guess that's what happens when you add distorted guitars and drums.' But it was a surprise to me."

Several songs -- including the lead single, 'Empty Walls,' the environmentally-themed 'Honking Antelope' and 'The Unthinking Majority,' which Tankian calls "the barrage song" -- are going to have a familiar feel to System fans. That's not to say Tankian doesn't stretch well. 'Baby,' with its ballad-esque intro, flamenco guitar and alternately hard rock and mid-tempo verses, sets the stage nicely for the title track, a haunting, beautiful song which finds Tankian singin gothic-style, "Love we know comes from inside, but all I want is me."

After his long tenure with System, which is still on-going, Tankian found truly going it alone a completely different experience, with producing, singing and playing, in his estimates, 85, 90 percent of the instruments. "I'm wearing a lot of hats, but it's been fun because you have the vision and you go in and do it," he says. "This has been really emancipating for me, too, because I've been in a team for 10, 11 years. This is new, it's exploratory, it's exciting."