Scars on Broadway

Scars on Broadway is an American alternative metal band, founded by System of a Down members Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan. The band's eponymous debut album was released on July 29, 2008.

History

Early Incarnation (2003)

In 2003, Daron Malakian (lead guitar), Casey Chaos (vocals), Greg Kelso (rhythm guitar), and Zach Hill (drums) recorded a demo tape entitled "Ghetto Blaster Rehearsals" credited to the name Scars on Broadway. However, in 2007, an official letter on the band's website states that these tracks are not in any way affiliated to Scars on Broadway as it exists today and that the music is from a disbanded project from four years ago.

Self-titled debut album (2005–2008)

In December 2005, Malakian stated in an interview that he "could release ten solo records tomorrow." and that he has"tons of material laying around. After these albums, - (Mezmerize and Hypnotize) - I'm gonna go off to learn how to brain and do something on my own, just like Serj. And no, System of a Down is not breaking up. We're just gonna do like KISS and put out our own solo records."

Following System's hiatus, Malakian announced his latest project — Scars on Broadway — a band which would include System of a Down bassist, Shavo Odadjian, and himself. Ultimately, Odadjian was not involved with the band, and instead System drummer, John Dolmayan became a member.

The band's website featured a countdown timer, counting down to 15:00 PST of March 28, 2008. Additionally, above the timer, in quotation marks was the phrase "They say it's all about to end." When the countdown ended, the song "They Say", was made available on the site. The song is also available for listening on the band's official MySpace page. It is no longer available as a free download.

Scars on Broadway played their first live show April 11, 2008 at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, CA. They have also confirmed to be playing with Metallica at KFMA Day 2008 in Tucson, AZ^[2]. On January 22, 2008 Scars on Broadway were announced to be performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 26, 2008^[3]. On May 17th of that year, the band also performed at the sixteenth annual KROQ Weenie Roast. Additional tour dates were announced on their official website on the 30th of May ^[3].

On May 2, 2008, Scars announced on their official website that their debut album, Scars on Broadway, would be released on the 28th and 29th of July.

Starting from May 28, 2008, "They Say" is available for purchase at iTunes Music store. On July 20, 2008, "They Say" was featured as iTunes' Free Single of the Week. On June 20 Scars on Broadway released a teaser for their single "They Say" on a MySpace bulletin. In the teaser, the video is said to premiere soon.

"They Say" was also included in the end of 2008 Kerrang! compilation album, amongst other popular and new rock music by various artists.

The video for their first single "They Say" premiered on Yahoo's music page on June 27. The song "Chemicals" was made available to listen to on the band's MySpace page on July 8.

On July 25, it was announced that "They Say" would be a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band on July 29 for Xbox 360 and July 31 for PS3. [2] "They Say" will also appear on Guitar Hero 5

On July 28 2008, Scars On Broadway was released to critical acclaim, with Kerrang! giving it a rare '5 K' rating.

Also on July 28, Scars on Broadway played a record release show at the Union Station in Los Angeles.

Possible Break-up and USO Tour (2008–2009)

In late 2008, Malakian announced via the band's website that their headlining tour to promote the album's release, which included an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, would be cancelled with no plans of rescheduling. Malakian cited his lack of enthusiasm and "his heart not being into touring" as the chief reasons behind the cancellation.

Although no official confirmation has been released, interviews with both bassist Dominic Cifarelli and drummer John Dolmayan, have confirmed that the band is finished.^[4][5]

However, in May 2009 when asked if the band would ever record or perform again, drummer John Dolmayan stated: "I’m not sure, but I do miss it."^[6]

In August 2009, Dolmayan, Perez, Shamoun, and Cifarelli as Scars on Broadway traveled to Iraq for a USO tour across the U.S. army bases. Their setlist consisted of covers well as a few Scars songs. Perez stated on his Twitter that "the Scars tunes sound amazing but they're not the same without D..." He also stated before they left that Malakian had given them his blessing.^{[citation needed]}

Musical style

From its early days, Daron Malakian always addressed the project as just rock, and "a lot more rock driven, although there will be some metal influences in the System of a Down style". On what direction the debut album would take, Malakian states: "It will probably be something electronic mixed in with traditional Armenian and thrash, death, black, and doom metal influences. When the music comes out, it will still be structured, just like System of a Down's music is." In a later interview, Malakian stated that the music would be influenced by classic rock acts such as David Bowie, Brian Eno, Neil Young, and Roxy Music. He also stated that he shifted his songwriting from System of a Down's frazzled metal to more song-based work, inspired by Neil Young and David Bowie. "I don't feel we're the mosh-pit band," says Malakian. "That's just where I'm comfortable as a writer right now," he said, hinting at the band's rock over metal music approach.

Band members

1st Incarnation (2003)

• Casey Chaos — vocals
• Daron Malakian — lead guitar
• Zach Hill — drums
• Greg Kelso — rhythm guitar

2nd Incarnation (2006–2009)

• Daron Malakian — vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, organ, mellotron¹
• John Dolmayan — drums, percussion
• Franky Perez — rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Danny Shamoun — keyboards, percussion
• Dominic Cifarelli — bass

¹ Instruments listed are for the album; live, Malakian is only the lead vocalist and lead guitarist.

USO tour (2009)

• Franky Perez — guitar, vocals
• John Dolmayan — drums, percussion
• Danny Shamoun — keyboards, percussion
• Dominic Cifarelli — bass

Discography

Studio albums

Demos

• 2003: Ghetto Blaster Rehearsals

Singles

"—" denotes a release that did not chart

Music videos

References

External links

• Scars on Broadway's Official Website
• Scars on Broadway's Main Fan-Site!
• Scars on Broadway at MySpace
• Scars On Broadway on SOADFans
• Scars on Broadway Lyrics
• Scars on Broadway at Velvet Hammer site
• Video-interview with Daron from Scars On Broadway, recorded in Amsterdam, early 2008
• Scars On Broadway on Amazon US
• Interview with John Dolmayan from Culturedeluxe Magazine