The band that forced Rick Rubin to open his mind: “Such bizarre music”
Rick Rubin doesn’t know how to use a sound desk. He can’t play an instrument. He has no real technical ability in music production. But still, he’s one of the most celebrated and sought-after producers of all time, and that is because he knows audiences and he knows artists. He’s worked with the best of the best and helped them get even better.
Rubin’s list of collaborators boasts some of the biggest names in the business. From Johnny Cash to Justin Timberlake and Mick Jagger to Metallica, he’s produced hits for some huge names across pop, rock and hip-hop. The range of his output knows no bounds – in 2005 alone, he produced records for Weezer, Shakira and Neil Diamond.
Despite all the musical knowledge and collaborators he has accrued, there was one band who stopped him in his tracks when he first saw them live: nu metal makers, System of a Down. As the producer recalled during an interview with Rolling Stone, he laughed when he saw them perform, a response that could be taken as ridicule or offence, but his reaction was out of sheer love and awe.
The producer had never seen anything quite like it. “There was no point of reference,” he explained, “It was so unusual.” With such an extensive understanding of music and countless collaborators to his own name, Rubin isn’t exactly short of sonic references, so this is a compliment of the highest order.
Rubin was particularly impressed with how System of a Down reinvented that heavy, harder guitar sound. Rather than giving into the conventions of that genre, penning songs that could seamlessly blend into the creations of other bands in that sphere, Rubin found that System of a Down were infusing it with a new sense of life and joy.
“This is hard,” Rubin thought, “but it’s playful, and it’s really danceable and funky. And the emotion of the performances, it really reaches me.” Rubin would go on to collaborate with System of a Down, producing their debut record for them. He continued to work with them on their sophomore album, Toxicity, which would spawn their biggest track, ‘Chop Suey!’, a song that Rubin helped them produce, but one that even took him aback.
It’s a track that exemplifies that more danceable, playful sound in its opening moments, with twinkling strums and pounding drums that descend into nu metal mastery. Just above, singer Serj Tankian alternates between screaming, shouting and singing. “I don’t think you trust in my self-righteous suicide,” he sings, “I cry when angels decide to die.”
Raucous and entirely unpredictable, the song has become their signature track. It’s interesting just how huge the piece became – even earning a cover by rapper Lil Uzi Vert last year – when it’s so heavy and strange. Perhaps it won so many audiences over because, as Rubin suggested, it “forces you to open your mind”.
The producer suggested that ‘Chop Suey!’ takes you aback upon first listen but noted the band’s high-level execution turned awkwardness into beauty. It’s exactly the kind of observation and production that makes Rubin such a great producer, relying on the reliability of his ears rather than behind the desk or in the studio.
