Serj Tankian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon) is the Armenian-American singer of the alternative metal band System of a Down.

Serj Tankian
Born: August 21, 1967 (age 39)
Lebanon Beirut, Lebanon
Occupation: Musician, System of a Down
Website: [1] [SOAD Band Website]

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

At age five, Serj Tankian moved with his parents to Los Angeles, California. After high school, he studied marketing. He took singing lessons for four years and also took guitar lessons as a young child. In 1993, he founded the band Soil with Daron Malakian, which later became System of a Down. Tankian is not only a member of the band System of a Down, but also has his own record label which is called Serjical Strike Records. He has also sung in other bands for certain songs such as, The Mushroom Cult by Dog Fashion Disco, and lent his vocals to the song Mein by Deftones. He produced "Enter The Chicken" by Buckethead, and provided vocals to the Buckethead song We Are One. With Serjical Strike Records, he endeavours to offer those musicians often ignored by the mainstream a possibility to release their music and be heard. The first release of Serj's new label was Serart, a project consisting of Tankian, himself, and Arto Tunçboyaçiyan, an Armenian friend of Tankian's.

Tankian is also very involved politically. Together with Tom Morello of Audioslave, he founded the organization Axis Of Justice. Tankian often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world.

Serj is a vegetarian and likes to read poetry but other than that, few details are known about Tankian's private life. He is especially interested in Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot and Edgar Allan Poe. Serj hates celebrity gossip. He believes it is a waste of time and due to the spreading of rumors, can destroy close relationships .

[edit] Writings

[edit] Understanding Oil

Two days after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Serj posted a highly controversial essay on the band's website. It was promptly taken down by Sony, the band's record label. Sony's reason was that Tankian had tried to justify the terrorist attacks and his claims were unfounded. The essay can be found here: "Understanding Oil"

[edit] Poetry

Tankian's first poetry book, Cool Gardens, was published by MTV Books and released on October 1st, 2002. It is a collection of seven to eight years of Tankian's reflections on life, and features artwork by fellow Angeleno, Sako Shahinian. The book has received much praise in the artistic community. On Rolling Stone's website, Saul Williams posted the following comments about Tankian's book, Serj's words, like his voice, have a distinct aesthetic sensibility connected to an unyielding, visceral roar of passion. His capacity 'to mock a killing bird' while we wonder at the grace, beauty, and colorful range of his wingspan will be the trademark of both of his singing and writing careers. Serj is an amazing artist, full of passion, with a beautiful heart that pumps the essence of his vision and talent. There are rumors that Serj is working on another poetry book.

[edit] Awards

  • In 2005, System of a Down won their first grammy for Best hard rock performance after a live performance of B.Y.O.B.
  • In 2006 They won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question".

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] External links

System of a Down
Serj Tankian | Daron Malakian | Shavo Odadjian | John Dolmayan
Andy Khachaturian | Arto Tuncboyaciyan
System of a Down discography
Albums: System of a Down | Toxicity | Steal This Album! | Mezmerize | Hypnotize
Demos: Untitled 1995 Demo Tape | Demo Tape 1 | Demo Tape 2 | Demo Tape 3
Singles: "Sugar" | "Spiders" | "War?" | "Prison Song" | "Chop Suey!" | "Toxicity" | "Aerials" | "Innervision" | "Boom!" | "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" | "B.Y.O.B." | "Question!" | "Radio/Video" | "Hypnotize" | "Lonely Day" | "Kill Rock & Roll"
Related articles
Serart | Serjical Strike | Scars on Broadway | |EatUrMusic | Axis of Justice | Screamers (documentary)
Categories
System of a Down | System of a Down songs | System of a Down albums
This box: view • talk • edit
 United States This article about an American singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
United States  This article about an American writer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/e/r/Serj_Tankian_8fcb.html"