Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankianis a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, and political activist. He is best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional live rhythm guitarist of the rock band System of a Down, formed in 1994 by four Armenian-American friends...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMetal Singer
Date of Birth21 August 1967
CityBeirut, Lebanon
CountryUnited States of America
I don't want to spend all my time working as an activist. I don't get satisfaction out of it. I'd rather be doing something else. I'm a musician.
Harout Pamboukjian is one of the biggest Armenian folk singers in the world. In the '70s, he was making these records that were really Zeppelin-influenced.
Capitalism unchecked is not a democratic system.
Corporatization is the descendant of industrialization.
I hate injustice, and I can't help but speak against it. But I don't want to get involved in politics.
As long as people are living their truth or their vision, whether they're activists or not, that's the important thing.
When I was younger, I was listening to a lot of Armenian music, you know, revolutionary music about freedom and protest. In the 70s I was listening to soul and the Bee Gees and ABBA, and funk.
If you're using live bass versus orchestral bass, you've got to make sure that you're not stepping on the toes of the other elements, so you've got to balance it out.
I'm a huge Beatles fan, but I've only really gotten into them as an adult.
I really feel like civilisation's already over. It's not ending but it's already done. We're all addicted to the concept that humanity equals civilisation and that's not the case. We need a global conversation to be able to decipher how we can live from this point forward. We have to redefine our relationship with our environment.
I've always tried to listen to a lot of different music from around the world.
I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
Awareness in our society has flipped all types of injustice on its head.
Political statements are usually more direct, and it works with the upbeat music as well, for some reason, the directness of your statements.