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
My personal relationship with music is an imperfect harmony because I never studied music, but here I am not just writing for bands but full orchestral sections and doing all this composition, and I never learned the right way of doing things so I have a lot of dissonant sounds and things that are brought to my attention, and generally I leave them that way because I like those imperfections.
The best way to do that is to pick up a new instrument or an instrument that you don't typically write on and see where it takes you. Whether it's using an acoustic guitar, or piano, or electronics as tools, all of these lead to creating different types of songs and I used all of these methods for this record.
I think I might write a book. I like writing. People have asked me if I would get into politics, but I think I feel a lot more effective being a representative of truth through the arts.
As an artist, you never want to write the same song again, you always want to challenge yourself to writing in a different way.
I've always worked on all different types of music, some with specific project goals and deadlines and some not. Sometimes I would write a piece of music that is almost like a film score or weird electro pieces, wherever the muse took me, and I still do that.
Praise the Lord! Pass the ammunition! God wants you to go to war! (From live performance of 'War?')
That's been a strength in some ways, but it's also an understanding of the dynamics of music and the different beats and melodies that wouldn't be common to a non-Armenian.
We fought your wars with all our heartsYou've sent us back in body partsYou took our wills with the truth you stoleWe offer prayers for your long lost soul
We fought your wars with all our hearts - You've sent us back in body parts - You took our wills with the truth you stole - We offer prayers for your long lost soul.
Cause we are the ones that want to play,always want to go,but you never want to stay.And we are the ones that want to choose,always want to play, but you never want to lose.
We want to encourage him to do the right thing and bring it to the floor for a vote, ... (Hastert) has had the opportunity to do it twice before and has not for different reasons. It's been five years and everyone is tired of waiting.
This will be our first live video per se, ... We've had videos where we've had fans and we played live, but it's never been at a venue that we would actually play.
those that have prescribed the solution through the good feeling of the music itself, like the Beatles and Bob Marley and Bob Dylan.
This track's pretty mellow in comparison to let's say a 'B.Y.O.B.' or something like that, ... But I'm glad we're going out with this track. It's a beautiful song.