System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian recently spoke about his upcoming debut solo album. In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program “Wired In The Empire”, he opened up on the album.
Shavo Odadjian talks upcoming solo album
The 48-year-old Armenian-American musician, born Shavarsh Odadjian, is working on the LP with Winds of Plague guitarist Michael Montoya (a.k.a. MorgothBeatz),a producer and songwriter who has previously collaborated with Travis Barker, JuiceWrld, Lil Xan, Jonathan Davis, Issues and many more.
“I started this solo project with MorgothBeatz; he’s my producer and he’s also the guitar player for the group,” Shavo said. “And it’s called Shavo, but it’s heavy. I’m back to my roots — no hip-hop. I think it’s the heaviest I’ve ever been, and it’s just flowing out of me.
“We have a track with — I’m gonna say it — Jonathan Davis [of Korn],” Shavo revealed. “I’m working on that one right now. We have the choruses and the first verse, and I’m gonna do a little breakdown, and I think we’ve got one. That’s 12 — number 12. So we’re 12 songs into the solo record. I’m very excited about that.”
Regarding the writing and recording process for his solo album, Shavo said: “I’m recording bass and guitar. And then I have the drums being programmed at the moment, but I’m gonna have a live drummer on the record… And it’s sounding crazy. I swear, I wouldn’t even talk about it if I didn’t believe in it so much.
“I go in, [MorgothBeatz] plays a beat, and I just write,” he explained. “And then we record everything I write, and then we put it together and it becomes something. And it’s fucking cool as hell. It’s this cool artistic freedom I’m having in the studio.”
As for a possible release date for his solo LP, Shavo said: “I’m thinking late this year, early next year. I’m gonna shop it and get a label for this one. I’m not doing it on my own. I think it needs a good push, because it’s what you want to hear from me. It really is. If you know what I’ve done in the past, then you know the songs I had a part in writing. It’s a little of [System of a Down’s] ‘Toxicity’ all throughout this record — that kind of shit. You wanna bang your head, you wanna run in the pit, you wanna go crazy, but you wanna smile while you’re doing it and not be angry.”
