System of a Down’s classic Rick Rubin-produced album, Toxicity, turns 20 this year. Released in 2001 one week before 9/11, the politically charged and wildly bizarre album provided the perfect soundtrack for a world descending into chaos. Serj Tankian, the lead singer of System, is no stranger to conflict. His family is Armenian and migrated to Los Angeles from Lebanon to escape a civil war when Serj was seven years-old. Today we’ll hear Rick Rubin talk to his good friend Serj about how hearing bombs drop outside his childhood bedroom turned him into a lifelong activist. Serj also explains how a funny line about a tapeworm almost caused System to break up, and why the first time Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine heard System play, he called it music for crazy people. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear old and new interviews, often with bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcast and follow us on Twitter @BrokenRecord You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/ Check out a playlist of our favorite System of a Down songs HERE . And hear a playlist Serj put together of his favorite tracks HERE.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Serj Tankian Talks Toxicity and Activism

From Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, and Justin Richmond. The musicians you love talk about their life, inspiration, and craft. Then play. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

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16 years have passed since The Black Crowes released an album of new material. The world has changed a lot since then—and so have the Robinson brothers. Chris and Rich Robinson are, of course, the backbone of the band. They started playing together back in Georgia in 1984 as Mr. Crowe’s Garden before moving to NYC, signing to Def American, and changing their name to The Black Crowes.
The band’s debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, set them up as the torchbearers of Southern rock for the '90s and beyond. As you’ll hear in today's conversation, the brothers Robinson have had a competitive relationship for a long time. Their ups and downs have meant hiatuses for the band over the years. But now they’re back united and seemingly in it for the long haul with their new album, Happiness Bastards.
On today’s episode Justin Richmond talks to Chris Robinson about his growing up in Georgia with Rich, their dad’s rockabilly career, and how his road habits have changed from indulging in champagne and other substances to reading Herman Melville.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Chris Robinson & The Black Crowes HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Robinson

Famed drummer for the Police and composer Stewart Copeland has one of the more fascinating bios in modern music. His father was a founding member of the CIA and his mom worked in British Intelligence.
After playing in the successful UK prog rock band Curved Air in the mid 70s, Stewart started a new band called the Police with bassist and lead singer, Sting—and eventually guitarist Andy Summers. Over the next decade the Police would go on to become one of the top-selling rock bands of all time, selling over 75 million records.
Last year Stewart released the book, “Stewart Copeland’s Police Diaries,” which includes his personal notes dating back to the band’s formation in 1976 through 1978, when they started to take off.
On today’s episode Bruce Headlam talks to Stewart Copeland about the first time he saw Sting play and how he was able to successfully lure him into his then non-existent band. Stewart also explains why he and Sting eventually had a musical falling out, and how the Arabic rhythms he heard growing up influenced his highly lauded drumming style.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Stewart Copeland and The Police HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stewart Copeland

Justin Timberlake is one of the most high achieving pop phenomenons of the past three decades. In 1993 he helped relaunch the Mickey Mouse Club where he sang and danced alongside Rylan Gosling and other now luminaries. Then he broke records and sold over 70 million albums worldwide with *NSYNC. And if that weren’t enough, he launched an incredibly successful solo career in the early aughts where he found a musical soulmate in Timbaland who Justin's worked with in some capacity over the course of his six solo albums.
So with all that hard earned success behind him, it’s been interesting to see the online drubbing JT's taken the last couple of years. Curious about how he might respond musically, it turns out, his new album Everything I Thought It Was, is everything you’d hope to hear from JT including a surprise *NSYNC reunion.
On today’s episode Justin Richmond talks through Justin Timberlake’s new album with him as he dissects key tracks from it. JT also recalls how Micheal Jackson helped inspire his solo career, he breaks down the motivation behind each one of his solo albums, and he talks about why he felt now was the right time to reunite with his boy band brothers in ‘NSYNC. This episode was recorded at Amazon’s Studio126.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Justin Timberlake songs HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justin Timberlake

Brandi Carlile’s knack for uplifting the musicians she loves is exemplary. After her own hard-earned ascent to fame over the course of seven studio albums, Brandi started to turn her sights to producing albums for artists she deeply admires, including Tanya Tucker who she’s been on Broken Record with in the past but also Brandy Clark. Then there’s Joni Mitchell—who, thanks to Brandi’s encouragement—has recently made a glorious return to performing live.
Brandi’s passion for the projects she works on is infectious. The latest is an EP she produced for 18-year-old singer/songwriter Tish Melton called, When We’re Older. Over the course of the five-song collection, Tish pulls influence from artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Tish, whose mom is the New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, is teeming with talent on her EP, which includes heartfelt songs that expertly capture a wise-beyond-her-years self assuredness.
On today’s episode Leah Rose talks to Tish Melton and Brandi Carlile about their creative partnership and the impermeable sense of self Brandi has found in both Tish and Joni Mitchell. And Brandi teases her upcoming collaboration album that she calls “monumental,” plus she talks about why she thinks Beyonce might be country music’s saving grace.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Tish Melton and Brandi Carlile along with all the tracks mentioned in this episode HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brandi Carlile and Tish Melton

The Happiness Lab’s Dr. Laurie Santos brings together other Pushkin hosts to mark the International Day of Happiness. Revisionist History’s Malcolm Gladwell talks about the benefits of the misery of running in a Canadian winter. Dr. Maya Shankar from A Slight Change of Plans talks about quieting her mental chatter. And Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford surprises everyone with the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy.
Hear more of The Happiness Lab HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Serj Tankian Talks Toxicity and Activism

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