By Growing up, I wouldn’t listen to music outside of my father’s record collection. He would play The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and more at home but especially in the car.
It wasn’t until I went to middle school that I discovered new music outside of my norm. It was when I was introduced to my favorite band, System of a Down (SOAD).
There was a loud party happening at my house with a bunch of food and drinks, most likely a boxing match party with Oscar De La Hoya fighting, and my parent’s family friends arrived with their four sons.
Omar, the oldest brother, walked into my room with a CD player in his hand, headphones in his ears. He came over to me and told me to listen to a song, eagerly handing me the headphones for me to take a turn.
“B.Y.O.B.” by System of a Down was playing through the headphones and lit up my life right there in my room. I couldn’t figure out exactly what I was listening to but I was excited. My head was blank and all it could do was take in the music like a sponge.
Guitarist Daron Malakian was screaming right into my ear with the words, “Why do they always send the poor?”
Months later we visited Omar’s family and I immediately asked to borrow his CD player to listen to SOAD again. “Question!” from their album Mezmerize was on repeat over and over until I memorized every guitar strum, drum beat, bass, and lyric.
Soon enough I was obsessing over the band. I was buying their shirts, CDs, posters, and more. I even tried drawing the Mezmerize album cover on my wall with a pencil (I honestly don’t know why my dad didn’t yell at me for that).
SOAD taught me the world was more than it seemed. They taught me to think outside the box and that not everything we’re told is the truth, especially coming from politicians and the government.
As a kid, I didn’t know about the many genocides occurring around the world. SOAD taught me the world was not as kind as I believed it was.
As a child, I thought everyone got along and there were only a few wars, but I was wrong and SOAD was educating me through their music to find out what’s really going on in the world. The band opened my eyes to wars that I wasn’t aware of and how people all over the world are suffering due to corruption.
“P.L.U.C.K.” from their self-titled album taught me about the Armenian genocide, and how it is still being denied by the Turkish government, with their lyrics:
“A whole race genocide, taken away all of our pride. A whole race genocide. Taken away, watch them all fall down.”
I remember asking my high school history teacher about the genocide and he was surprised that I knew about it because we were not taught this in school. That’s when I learned there is so much out in the world that we don’t know about. But most of all, SOAD taught me about war and how many struggles are happening around the world.
By senior year I decided to become a journalist and I’m starting to think maybe SOAD had something to do with it. It seemed to be a match for me to be a reporter and inform others what is happening in the world around them.
Rosaura Montes at the Hollywood Bowl about to see System of a Down perform, her favorite band. Photo credit: Rosaura Montes
I’ve only seen SOAD live twice but wasn’t able to make it a third time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first time I saw them I purchased my tickets during a film photography class at Cerritos College.
I was sitting down with a couple of friends and I started to cry. They immediately showed concern as to what happened to me but I told them, “I just bought tickets to see my favorite band.” They laughed and couldn’t believe my reaction. But, one of my dreams was coming true.
In 2020, fans were caught by surprise when SOAD released two songs about the Armenia-Azerbaijan war. I wasn’t surprised they made new music together to educate others once again on what is happening to Armenia. If they had to come together for something since their 2005 album Hypnotize, it was this.
I cried at work when I first listened to the songs because I was relieved, finally new music, even if it was just two tracks. It was important for SOAD to release these two songs because they keep their word on informing the world about what is going on in Armenia. I honestly would have been disappointed if they didn’t, but they set time aside from their busy schedules to make these songs happen.
Back in middle school, I was “System of a Down girl.” I tried my best to be their biggest fan at school and for others to recognize me just for loving them. I wasn’t a popular kid but at least I wanted to be known for loving SOAD, a band I was completely passionate about.
System of a Down is a huge part of me and nothing seems to change that. I thank them for opening my eyes to the world and longing to learn the truth behind closed doors.
I’ve learned to question everything, even the little things because not everything is what it seems. Maybe I was always meant to be a journalist because of their inspirations to find the truth and inform the world of what’s going on.
