Biography Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian () (born August 21, 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer, songwriter, poet, activist, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative metal band System of a Down. In 2002, Serj and Tom Morello co-founded a non-profit political activist organization, Axis of Justice. During his entertainment career, he released five albums with System of a Down, one with Arto Tunçboyac?yan (Serart), and also recently a solo album, Elect the Dead, on October 23, 2007.
He has also sang in other bands for certain songs such as 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 songs We Are One, Coma, and Waiting Here. 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 Tunçboyac?yan, an Armenian friend of Tankian's.More recently, he sang with Les Rita Mitsouko on the song "Terminal Beauty". Also, he sang with the band Fair to Midland during a live improvisational version of their song "Walls of Jericho", from the album What I Tell You Three Times Is True, which was a massive hit with fans. He often collaborates as well with his close friend, director Diran Noubar on various projects, including the voice-over of Noubar's "Armenia, a Country Under Blockade". Noubar played some guitar on Tankian's Elect the Dead album on the track "Saving Us" and directed the music video for "Baby".
Tankian is also very involved politically. Together with Tom Morello, he founded the organization Axis of Justice. Tankian has a secondary (vacation) home in New Zealand. There has been a misconception that he intends to stay in New Zealand until the Iraq war is over, but as stated in an interview, Tankian has no intention in doing so. Tankian often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world.
Serj Tankian (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, keyboard), Dan Monti (lead guitar, backing vocals), Larry LaLonde (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Mario Pagliarulo (bass, backing vocals), Troy Zeigler (drums,backing vocals) and Erwin Khachikian (piano, backing vocals)[1] are the members of the live band, which will be known as "The FCC".http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81231 The name of the band actually stands for the "Flying Cunts of Chaos" (which is originally what Tankian wanted to call the album, he tells Kerrang! rock magazine in an interview ), rather than the Federal Communications Commission. Tankian has also stated that he will not be playing any System of a Down material on tour. In support of Elect the Dead, Tankian is playing a number of promotional dates. The tour began October 12th at Chicago?s Vic Theatre.http://www.serjicalstrike.com/site/news_view.php?id=45
The video made by Martha Colburn for "Lie Lie Lie" debuted in the UK on Scuzz TV on the 25th November 2007.
Serj states that he might be releasing a new book of poetry down the line, but would prefer to write a novel rather than another book, even though he has volumes and volumes of more poetry that he has been keeping himself in his own personal collection.
Additionally Noam Chomsky and others have pointed out that virtually no one has been charged with "trying to justify terrorism" upon suggesting that it's important to understand the motivations of someone like Timothy McVeigh, and that institutions as respectable as the Vatican, in response to 9-11, "called for reliance on the and other measures appropriate to crimes, whatever their scale: if someone robs my house and I think I know who did it, I am not entitled to go after him with an assault rifle, meanwhile killing people randomly in his neighborhood." [3] The essay can be found here.
American heavy metal singersSystem of a Down membersAmerican male singersArmenian-AmericansAmerican vegetarians1967 birthsLiving peopleMelodica playersMulti-instrumentalistsAmerican poetsAmerican songwritersAmerican activistsPeople from Beirut
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Biography
Early life and career
Serj excelled in his studies from a young age. Tankian has a degree in Marketing and Business from California State University.http://www.stereosubversion.com/album-reviews/serj-tankian-elect-the-dead/ He took guitar lessons as a young child. In 1993, he founded the band Soil with Daron Malakian (not to be confused with SOiL), which later broke up, after which most of the members joined together to form System of a Down.He has also sang in other bands for certain songs such as 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 songs We Are One, Coma, and Waiting Here. 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 Tunçboyac?yan, an Armenian friend of Tankian's.More recently, he sang with Les Rita Mitsouko on the song "Terminal Beauty". Also, he sang with the band Fair to Midland during a live improvisational version of their song "Walls of Jericho", from the album What I Tell You Three Times Is True, which was a massive hit with fans. He often collaborates as well with his close friend, director Diran Noubar on various projects, including the voice-over of Noubar's "Armenia, a Country Under Blockade". Noubar played some guitar on Tankian's Elect the Dead album on the track "Saving Us" and directed the music video for "Baby".
Tankian is also very involved politically. Together with Tom Morello, he founded the organization Axis of Justice. Tankian has a secondary (vacation) home in New Zealand. There has been a misconception that he intends to stay in New Zealand until the Iraq war is over, but as stated in an interview, Tankian has no intention in doing so. Tankian often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world.
Elect the Dead, touring and The FCC
Serj has finished working on his first solo album Elect the Dead, which was released worldwide on October 23, 2007. Serj also supported the Foo Fighters in their 2007 Germany and UK Tour to promote their new album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace in November.http://soadfans.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-19598-postdays-0-postorder-asc.htmSerj Tankian (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, keyboard), Dan Monti (lead guitar, backing vocals), Larry LaLonde (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Mario Pagliarulo (bass, backing vocals), Troy Zeigler (drums,backing vocals) and Erwin Khachikian (piano, backing vocals)[1] are the members of the live band, which will be known as "The FCC".http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81231 The name of the band actually stands for the "Flying Cunts of Chaos" (which is originally what Tankian wanted to call the album, he tells Kerrang! rock magazine in an interview ), rather than the Federal Communications Commission. Tankian has also stated that he will not be playing any System of a Down material on tour. In support of Elect the Dead, Tankian is playing a number of promotional dates. The tour began October 12th at Chicago?s Vic Theatre.http://www.serjicalstrike.com/site/news_view.php?id=45
The video made by Martha Colburn for "Lie Lie Lie" debuted in the UK on Scuzz TV on the 25th November 2007.
Writings
Poetry
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 Armenian 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 states that he might be releasing a new book of poetry down the line, but would prefer to write a novel rather than another book, even though he has volumes and volumes of more poetry that he has been keeping himself in his own personal collection.
"Understanding Oil"
Two days after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Serj Tankian posted an essay on System of a Down's official website, which seemed controversial at the time. It was promptly taken down by Sony, the band's record label. Sony's opinion was that Tankian had tried to justify the terrorist attacks and that his claims were unfounded. Others have noted that Tankian's essay, which called the 9/11 attacks "brutal", explicitly stated that the need to understand the motivations of terrorists "does not mean that we should not find the guilty party(s)..and..try them court" words cited to suggest "it is impossible to say that Serj tried to justify the 9/11 attacks" [2] in his essay, which"advocated peace and the research and development of alternate fuels" and went on to say that "By initiating peace, we would have already shaken the foundations of support for Bin Laden."Additionally Noam Chomsky and others have pointed out that virtually no one has been charged with "trying to justify terrorism" upon suggesting that it's important to understand the motivations of someone like Timothy McVeigh, and that institutions as respectable as the Vatican, in response to 9-11, "called for reliance on the and other measures appropriate to crimes, whatever their scale: if someone robs my house and I think I know who did it, I am not entitled to go after him with an assault rifle, meanwhile killing people randomly in his neighborhood." [3] The essay can be found here.
Discography
System of a Down
- 1998: System of a Down
- 2001: Toxicity
- 2002: Steal This Album!
- 2005: Mezmerize
- 2005: Hypnotize
Serart
- 2003: Serart
Axis of Justice
- 2004: Concert Series Volume 1
Solo
- 2007: Elect the Dead
Singles
- 1 Still active on charts.
- 2 To be released.
Collaborations/soundtrack contributions
Albums
- Performing and/or writing
- 1999: Limp Bizkit featuring Serj Tankian - "Don't Go Off Wondering" (Demo) - Demo for Significant Other
- 2000/2006: p.e. featuring Serj Tankian and Morgan Lander - "Feel Good" - Broke and The Best of Planet Earth
- 2000: Tony Iommi featuring Serj Tankian - "Patterns" - Iommi
- 2000: Snot featuring Serj Tankian - "Starlit Eyes" - Strait Up Last accessed November 04, 2007.
- 2001: Dog Fashion Disco featuring Serj Tankian - "Mushroom Cult" - Anarchists of Good Taste
- 2003: Serj Tankian - "Bird of Paradise" - Bird Up!: The Charlie Parker Remix Project
- 2003: Kittens for Christian featuring Serj Tankian - "Had a Plan" - Privilege of Your Company
- 2005: Buckethead featuring Serj Tankian - "We Are One" - Enter the Chicken and Masters of Horror Soundtrack
- 2005: Buckethead featuring Azam Ali and Serj Tankian - "Coma" - Enter the Chicken
- 2005: Buckethead featuring Shana Halligan and Serj Tankian - "Waiting Hare" - Enter the Chicken
- 2006: Deftones featuring Serj Tankian - "Mein" - Saturday Night Wrist
- 2007: Les Rita Mitsouko featuring Serj Tankian - "Terminal Beauty" - Variéty
- 2007: Serj Tankian - "Bug Theme" - Bug Soundtrack
- 2007: Serj Tankian and Petra Jolly - "Innermission" - Bug Soundtrack
- 2007: Serj Tankian - "The Essenece of Tequila" - Stranglehold
- 2007: Serj Tankian - "Chicakong" - Stranglehold.
- 2007: Wyclef Jean featuring Serj Tankian and Sizzla - "Riot (Trouble Again)" - Memoirs of an Immigrant
- 2008: Praxis featuring Serj Tankian - "Sulfur and Cheese" - Profanation Serj To Appear On New Praxis Album, by "pwned", SOADFans.com, 8 March, 2007
- Writing only
- 2004: Saul Williams - "Talk to Strangers" - Saul Williams
Live Performances
- 1999: Fear Factory featuring Serj Tankian - "Cars" (Live)
- 2000: Incubus featuring Serj Tankian - Live Improvisation
- 2000: Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted and Lars Ulrich - "Mastertarium" (Live)
- 2006: Buckethead featuring Shana Halligan and Serj Tankian - "Waiting Hare" (Live)
- 2007: Tool featuring Serj Tankian - "Sober" (Live Improvisational Version) - Big Day Out 2007 (Auckland only)
- 2007: Fair to Midland featuring Serj Tankian - "Walls of Jericho" (Live Improvisational Version) - Coachella 2007
- 2007: Foo Fighters featuring Serj Tankian - "Holiday in Cambodia" (Live) - 2007 MTV Video Music Awards
- 2008: The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello acoustic) featuring Serj Tankian - "Lazarus on Down" - Big Day Out 2008 (Auckland only)
Remixes
- 2005: M.I.A. - "Galang" (Serj Tankian Remix) - Galang '05
- 2006: Dredg - "Ode to the Sun" (Serj Tankian Remix) (Unreleased)
- 2006: The Notorious B.I.G. - "Who Shot Ya?" (Serj Tankian Remix) - Contents Under Pressure Last accessed November 09, 2007.
Awards
- In 2006, System of a Down won their first Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B."
- In 2006, they won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!".
- In 2006, they were #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs with "Toxicity".
- In 2007, they were nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for their song "Lonely Day".
Videography
Equipment
- Fender Stratocaster
- Various Marshall 1/2 stacks
- Gibson SG
- Gibson Les Paul
- Gibson Flying V
- Roland VS-1680
- BOSS DR-202 Dr. Groove
- Ibanez Grg170dx
- BOSS GT-5 Guitar Effects Processor
- BOSS DS-1 Distortion
- BOSS CH-1 Super Chorus
- Korg Triton
- Custom First Act Double Cutaway Lola
- Roland SH-101
References
External links
- Serj Tankian's official page
- Serj Tankian page at SOADFans
- Screamers Official Site
- 'Screamers' and Genocide: A Talk With Serj Tankian From System of a Down
- Serj Tankian 1 on 1 with SMNnews.com
- Serjical Strike Records
American heavy metal singersSystem of a Down membersAmerican male singersArmenian-AmericansAmerican vegetarians1967 birthsLiving peopleMelodica playersMulti-instrumentalistsAmerican poetsAmerican songwritersAmerican activistsPeople from Beirut
???? ???????Serj Tankian???? ???????Serj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj Tankian??? ??????? ???????Serj TankianSerj TankianSerj Tankian???' ??????Serj TankianSerj Tankian???? ???????Serj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj Tankian??????, ????Serj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj TankianSerj Tankian
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serj Tankian
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
Links
http://www.sonorika.com/serjtankian/biographyhttp://www.bioandlyrics.com/serjtankian
