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Serj Tankian
2007 thesauce01
MEMBER OF

SYSTEM OF A DOWN

General Info
Primary Role in SOAD Vocals
Secondary Role in SOAD Keyboards, Samples, Guitar
Other Projects Serjical Strike Records, Axis of Justice, Serart, Screamers, Elect the Dead, ElectTheDead.com
Biographical Info
Nationality Armenian-American
Ancestry Armenian
Birth Date August 21, 1967
Birth Place Beirut, Lebanon
Current Residence Los Angeles, California
Education Bachelor's Degree in Business and Marketing
Former Occupation(s) Qualified Accountant
Physical Description
Height 5'10" (177.8 cm)
Hair Color Salt and Pepper (Grey and black)
Eye Color Brown

Serj Tankian (Armenian: Սերժ Թանգեան) is the Armenian-American lead vocalist for System of a Down, as well as a keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter for the band. Serj is also a record producer, and a activist for such causes as anti-globalism anti-militarism, and the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Serj is also a poet, with his first ever full-length book of poetry entitled, Cool Gardens, released in 2002. (Serjzilla)

Serj and Tom Morello (guitarist most closely associated with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave) are co-founders of the nonprofit organization Axis of Justice. The group works with grassroots political organizations to combine music with sentiments of anti-war beliefs, anti-racism, anti-censorship, and anti-corporatism. In 2003, Serj and Turkish-Armenian musician Arto Tunçboyacıyan pursued an experimental System of a Down side-project album, Serart, that was released on Serj's own record label, Serjical Strike.

Childhood[]

"...If you've ever heard bombs fall in a city, you will have a different sensitivity to dropping bombs on a city."
―Serj Tankian

Serj was born into the heat of the ceaseless Israeli-Lebanese Conflict in 1967 as the

Littleserj1

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fought Israel on Lebanese soil, using Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to fight who had previously fled Israel during the Arab-Israeli War. By 1975, the bloodshed intensified as the Lebanese Civil War broke out as a result of the PLO conflicts, as well as religious tensions between Christians and Muslims within Lebanon. At the age of eight, shortly after the UN intervened in these increasingly abrasive times in Lebanon, Serj and the Tankian family (including Serj's grandparents who fled the Armenian Genocide of 1915) were offered sanctuary in the US. Knowing minimal English, they moved from the virtual war zone of Beirut to Hollywood in 1975. In their new home, the Tankians enrolled Serj and his brother Sevag at the Rose & Alex Pilibos School, a small, two-story, K-12 private school that catered to Armenian-Americans in "Little Armenia" in East Hollywood.

"We were discussing the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre. This is an Armenian school, where we all know about [Armenian] history and the [Armenian] Genocide. To us, that’s a massacre - one and a half million people! When I pointed out that something like five people had died in the Boston Massacre, the whole class laughed."
―Serj Tankian
Serjchild3

Serj was very aware of his Armenian heritage at a young age, as well as academically motivated and

Serjchild2

politically-minded throughout his years in grade school. He was a successful student and considered himself to be more “anti-conformist” than the majority of his schoolmates. As a teen, he indulged himself in poetry (especially the works of TS Eliot), Armenian and African music, as well as popular bands of the 1980s. In addition to being a well rounded scholar and quite the young humanist, Serj was a teenage advocate for his ethnicity as a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, through which Serj claims his "eyes were opened to activism and the importance of fighting injustice".

Earlyserj

College & Early Career[]

Serj attended California State University Northridge (CSUN) after graduating from high school, earning his bachelor's degree in business and marketing, which he considered at the time to be the most financially logical route to take. But nevertheless, Serj’s interest in activism only continued to grow throughout college, as did his realm of musical taste which now includes punk and metal bands.

After graduating, he bounced from job to job through manufacturing, retail, and accounting among several companies, before setting up a small business of his own called Propriety Vertical Industry Modular Accounting Software. There, he was self-employed, independent, and free to spend his spare time as he pleased as he worked on his own time. Serj says that he and a small crew “developed customized accounting software systems for the jewelry industry in Calfiornia” and “worked manufacturing a wholesale, fully-integrated accounting system for jewelers and an accounting system of the metal industry.” But at the same time, he was slowly developing skill as a keyboardist and vocalist into his early-to-mid-twenties.

While still operating the business, Serj joined his first band with a few of his Amerenian-American friends. He was the band's keyboardist, and was heavily influenced by Eastern music that he had grown up on, especially Armenian folk songs. The band settled on the name Forever Young in 1994 and shared rehearsal space with another local all-Armenian band called Soil. Soil consisted of young guitarist Daron Malakian, Dave Hagopyan on bass, and a drummer that went by the name Domingo. But Soil was still without a lead vocalist.

Serj became quickly acquainted and friendly with the members of Soil, and being that the two bands were often spending time with each other in the same practice space, members of Soil often caught strong scents of Serj's talents. They were exposed to not only his ability on keyboards, but his exotic flair for singing, and the sounds of Armenian folk music that clearly influenced his creativity. Soil soon sought out Serj to complete their ensemble.

Indeed, Serj left Forever Young and joined Soil as lead vocalist, adding his own undertones of the Old Country to their already heavy metal sound. In 1995 as Soil became more and more proactive as a band, Armenian-born friend Shavo Odadjian began managing the foursome. Shortly after his arrival, Shavo arranged their first gig, opening at the Café Club Fais Do-Do located between Culver City and downtown Los Angeles. The nonchalant performance went over smoothly, but not long after it took place, "creative tensions" and mere general disagreements caused Dave Hagopyan and Domingo to depart from Soil. This left Serj and Daron, two polar opposites, each other. The two of them turned to Shavo, who happened to be somewhat of an amateur guitarist, and talked him into becoming the band's new bassist. Yet this left the roll of drummer unfilled. Eventually, Andy Khachaturian would join on drums, and the band would rename itself System of A Down. Khachaturian would eventually be replaced by John Dolmayan ahead of recording of the band’s self-titled debut album.

Music Career and more activism (1999-present)[]

Serj Tankian has still been making music to this day as well as being a father, also protests against the Turkish Government and more recently, the Azerbaijani government.

Solo music projects[]

Serj Tankian has released 12 solo albums (excluding deluxe editions), 3 solo EP's and 23 solo singles.


Singles:

- The unthinking majority (2007)

- Empty walls (2007)

- Lie Lie Lie 2007

- Lie Lie Lie (live from myspace's "the list") (2007)

- Fears (2008)

- Sky is over (2008)

- Birds eye (Original song from the motion picture body of lies) (2008)

- The charade (rock version) (2010)

- Left of centre (2010)

- Reconstructive demonstrations (2010)

- Figure it out (2012)

- Harakiri (2012)

- Artsakh (2016)

- Aurora's dream (2016)

- industrialized overload (2017)

- The rough dog (2018)

- Black blooms (2019)

- Introvert (call me crazy) (2020)

- Hayastane (2020)

- Elasticity (2021)

- Disarming time: a modern piano concerto (2021)

Black Thunder (2023)


Solo Albums:

- Elect The Dead (2007)

- Elect the dead symphony (live) (2010)

- Imperfect Harmonies (2010)

- Orca symphony no.1 (2012)

- Harakiri (2012)

- The last inhabitant (original motion picture soundtrack) (2016)

- 1915 (Original motion picture soundtrack) (2016)

- Midnight star (Original motion picture soundtrack) (2017)

- Intent to destroy (Original motion picture soundtrack) (2017)

- Furious (Original motion picture soundtrack) (2017)

- Spitak (Original motion picture soundtrack) (2018)

- Fuktronic (2020)

- Truth To Power (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2020)


Solo EP's:

- Lie Lie Live (2008)

- Imperfect Remixes (2010)

- Elasticity (2021)

- Perplex Cities (2022)

- Untitled Upcoming "Rock Ep" (2024)

Personal Life:[]

Serj Is currently married with Angela Madatyan, John Dolmayan's wife's sister, making Serj and John's brothers in-law. also, like John, Serj has a son, Rumi Tankian Madatyan

Serj also once had a girlfriend sometime in the late 80s early 90s, they had both went to an Iron Maiden show together, which, is Serj Tankian's first concert he ever been to.

Gallery:[]

Due to how many photos of this guy is, there will be a separate (Most complete) Gallery of Serj Tankian.

Serj Tankian/Gallery

External Links:[]

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