Quotes by Serj Tankian

About Serj Tankian:

Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian 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.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I think that the memory of Armenia's genocide opened my eyes at an early age to the existence of political cynicism.

Serj Tankian

I've worked with some great orchestras and amazing classical musicians, but I don't like the conceptualization of classical music as an elitist form of art.

Serj Tankian

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 ty...

Serj Tankian

You listen to Bob Dylan and you can't help but think of the 60s, it's very relational and if artists are true artists and not just mere musicians they need to be truthful because the music doesn't come from them it comes from the universe and it's to...

Serj Tankian

Pretending that we live doesn't make us alive.

Serj Tankian

The percentage of Americans in the prison system, has doubled since 1985.

Serj Tankian

Sometimes it's better to have a benign dictator than a dumb democracy, to be honest.

Serj Tankian

I think anytime that you go to the extreme of any mode of economics, be it capitalism or communism, you have these feedback mechanisms that make the system turn in on itself.

Serj Tankian

Capitalism unchecked is not a democratic system.

Serj Tankian

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.

Serj Tankian

Corporatization is the descendant of industrialization.

Serj Tankian

As an artist, you never want to write the same song again, you always want to challenge yourself to writing in a different way.

Serj Tankian

I have a more direct avenue to expression as an artist than I ever would as a politician.

Serj Tankian

You can say a lot more with a poem than you can with a song, but with a song you can really be more powerful with it. You can express it a lot more powerfully.

Serj Tankian

People get so attached to a position which they identify themselves with that they just spurt it out, but they can't really give you a viable reason why they feel that way.

Serj Tankian

I'm a huge Beatles fan, but I've only really gotten into them as an adult.

Serj Tankian

'Elect the Dead' is a rock record that takes you on a journey with different types of genres integrated, different lyrical themes digested, and many fun and colorful moments to enjoy.

Serj Tankian

With 'Elect the Dead,' I learned how to make a rock record without a rock band and make the rock record I've always wanted to make.

Serj Tankian

It's probably a combination of personal and non-personal matters that have led us to where we are musically.

Serj Tankian

I've got my own studio, and I've got four- to five-hundred unreleased tracks. I've got stuff that's electronic, orchestral, jazz, I've got rock, I've got metal, you know, I don't have polka.

Serj Tankian

Author Bio

  • NameSerj Tankian
  • Descriptionmusician
  • BornSeptember 21, 1967
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionSinger; Poet; Essayist; Songwriter