From the moment Preacher stepped on stage, at Rolling Stone’s SXSW Future of Music showcase, the energy in the room drastically shifted. What once was a bustling, inattentive and chatty crowd was now stunned, gazing in awe at the smooth sounds of Preacher. Opening with a upbeat, soul shaking custom cover of “Hallelujah,” he dazzled Austin’s Moody Theater with his full band and choir accompaniment, commanding the room in a fully-sequined suit. His music, which can be seen as, but not limited to, a mix of alternative soul and blues rock,...
- 5/29/2024
- by Matt Tighe
- Rollingstone.com
Black Pumas, Leon Bridges, and more have contributed to a new compilation, Truth to Power, which will benefit the Texas-based initiative, the Truth to Power Project. The compilation is set to arrive on Record Store Day, June 12th.
The compilation was curated by Eastwood Music Group, and accompanying the announcement is the vocal quartet the Sha La Das’ charmingly woozy cover of Darondo’s early-Seventies underground favorite, “Didn’t I.”
All proceeds from Truth to Power will benefit four nonprofits that help underrepresented and underserved communities in Texas: the Music Forward Foundation,...
The compilation was curated by Eastwood Music Group, and accompanying the announcement is the vocal quartet the Sha La Das’ charmingly woozy cover of Darondo’s early-Seventies underground favorite, “Didn’t I.”
All proceeds from Truth to Power will benefit four nonprofits that help underrepresented and underserved communities in Texas: the Music Forward Foundation,...
- 5/21/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Serj Tankian has shared a music video for his song “Electric Yerevan,” which looks back at a series of Armenian protests.
The clip, directed by Garin Hovannisian, offers a visual timeline of the events leading up to the 2015 protests and the ensuing 2018 Velvet Revolution. It also reveals the importance of peaceful protests around the world.
“The song was inspired by the successful Electric Yerevan protests in Armenia in the summer of 2015 where people protested against proposed hikes in utility prices,” Tankian said in a statement. “My writing from that time...
The clip, directed by Garin Hovannisian, offers a visual timeline of the events leading up to the 2015 protests and the ensuing 2018 Velvet Revolution. It also reveals the importance of peaceful protests around the world.
“The song was inspired by the successful Electric Yerevan protests in Armenia in the summer of 2015 where people protested against proposed hikes in utility prices,” Tankian said in a statement. “My writing from that time...
- 3/19/2021
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian is no stranger to backlash, death threats, making enemies with various governments and even being labeled a spy on his quest for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and his work to bring true democracy to his homeland. The documentary “Truth To Power” lifts the veil on Tankian’s life, his rise to fame with System of a Down, his prolific solo music career and showcases his tireless activism.
Tankian’s grandfather, Stepan Haytayan, was five when he witnessed his father’s murder during the genocide. He went blind from hunger and finally arrived at an orphanage in Lebanon. Serj was born in Beirut, Lebanon and his family fled to Los Angeles during the country’s civil war in 1975. Before his grandfather passed, Tankian vowed to put awareness and recognition of the genocide at the forefront of whatever he did with his life.
Tankian’s grandfather, Stepan Haytayan, was five when he witnessed his father’s murder during the genocide. He went blind from hunger and finally arrived at an orphanage in Lebanon. Serj was born in Beirut, Lebanon and his family fled to Los Angeles during the country’s civil war in 1975. Before his grandfather passed, Tankian vowed to put awareness and recognition of the genocide at the forefront of whatever he did with his life.
- 2/19/2021
- by Jeff Cornell
- Variety Film + TV
The straw-man argument at the center of Truth to Power, a documentary about the art and activism of System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, is: “Can music change the world?” If you know anything about Tankian — or Fela Kuti, Pete Seeger, Billie Holiday, N.W.A, Ludwig van Beethoven, and on and on — the answer is self-evident. But once filmmaker Garin Hovannisian moves past this question and begins showing how Tankian and his bandmates have improved the status of their ancestral homeland, Armenia, the power of truth starts hitting its marks.
- 2/19/2021
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
System of a Down is a renowned, Grammy-winning hard rock band, but the new Garin Hovannisian-directed documentary Truth To Power at Oscilloscope Laboratories shows a different side of them — specifically putting the spotlight on the band’s frontman, Serj Tankian.
Opening in virtual theaters today, Truth to Power brings audiences into the world of Tankian. Through exclusive interviews and original footage personally filmed by the international rock star, the docu pulls the curtain back as we see his revolutionary music career, his work in social justice and how he uses his platform for political change. His decades-long campaign for formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide was finally approved by Congress in 2019. He’s loved by his fans but has a very divisive relationship with the government.
The film features insight from his bandmates, producer Rick Rubin, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello as well as social...
Opening in virtual theaters today, Truth to Power brings audiences into the world of Tankian. Through exclusive interviews and original footage personally filmed by the international rock star, the docu pulls the curtain back as we see his revolutionary music career, his work in social justice and how he uses his platform for political change. His decades-long campaign for formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide was finally approved by Congress in 2019. He’s loved by his fans but has a very divisive relationship with the government.
The film features insight from his bandmates, producer Rick Rubin, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello as well as social...
- 2/19/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
At first glance it’s tempting to call “Truth to Power,” a documentary about the music and activism of System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, the “Last Dance” of music docs. Impressive archival footage can’t disguise how overly reverential a treatment Garin Hovannisian’s film is. That’s not surprising considering that, like “The Last Dance,” its subject was an instrumental part of its making. Tankian reached out to Hovannisian to initiate the project, and had even scored two of Hovannisian’s previous movies. That cozy relationship has a cost: as with “The Last Dance,” “Truth to Power” is a promotional film, not a work of journalism.
But unlike “The Last Dance,” it doesn’t have an hours-long narrative worth losing yourself in to the point that you begin to forget those critiques. What you get instead is a Wikipedia-like blow-by-blow account of key moments in his...
But unlike “The Last Dance,” it doesn’t have an hours-long narrative worth losing yourself in to the point that you begin to forget those critiques. What you get instead is a Wikipedia-like blow-by-blow account of key moments in his...
- 2/19/2021
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
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