If you want to hear a crazy rock story, meet Andy Khachaturian. He was original drummer for System Of A Down and frontman for the now defunct Armenian-American quartet The Apex Theory — ever wonder what happened to those guys?
If you were born after 1990, you may not be too familiar with The Apex Theory. But back in the day (circa 2002) they used to tour with bands like Glassjaw, Alien Ant Farm, do stints on Warped Tour and Ozzfest — they also had videos in constant rotation on MTV2. Then they just kinda vanished.
I was able to catch up with Khachaturian to get the scoop on what went down with The Apex Theory — to find out what caused the band to split, and to see what he’s doing now. His story begins in 1993.
From 1993 to 1997, Khachaturian was the original drummer for System Of A Down. Just as things with the band were picking up, there was an unexpected turn of events — a severe hand injury that forced him to quit the band two weeks before they were to showcase for producer Rick Rubin (Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica).
Beginning with discussing the early days of System, here’s Khachaturian in his own words: