Serj Tankian Article Index for
Serj
 

Information About

Serj Tankian




  Img SerjTankian 2007jpg
  Background solo_singer
  Origin Beirut , Lebanon
  Genre Experimental Rock <br> Alternative Metal <br> Folk Music
  Occupation Musician , Songwriter
  Years Active 1993 - present
  Instrument Vocals <br> Keyboard <br> Guitar </br> Bass Guitar
  Label Serjical Strike , Reprise , American , Columbia , Axis Of Justice
  Associated Acts System Of A Down <br> Serart <br> Axis Of Justice <br> Buckethead & Friends
  URL wwwserjicalstrikecom


Serj Tankian () (born band System Of A Down , as well as, along with Tom Morello , the co-founder of Axis Of Justice , a Nonprofit Organization .


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 (not to be confused with SOiL ) with Daron Malakian , which later broke up, and most of the members joined together to form a new band, System Of A Down . Tankian also has his own Record Label which is called Serjical Strike Records, a sub-division of Columbia Records . He has also sung 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 Tunçboyacıyan , an Armenian friend of Tankian's.
More recently, he sang with The Les Rita Mitsouko on the song "Terminal Beauty". Also, he sang with the band Fair To Midland during a live performance of "Walls of Jericho."
Tankian is also very involved politically. Together with Tom Morello , he founded the organization Axis Of Justice . Tankian often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world.

Serj is currently working on his solo album " Elect The Dead ", which is expected to be released on October 23, 2007. Serj will be supporting the Foo Fighters to promote their new album '' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace '' in November, according to an advertisement in Kerrang! {Link without Title} .


WRITINGS


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 Armenian and drum tech for his band, 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 posted a highly controversial essay on the band's website. 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. The essay can be found [http://donce.awardspace.com/esej.html here.].

Quote:
"''We first fought the heathens in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change.''"



DISCOGRAPHY


System Of A Down

See Also: System of a Down discography




Serart



Axis Of Justice



Buckethead & Friends



Solo



SINGLES


  • 1 Still active on charts.

  • 2 To be released.



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



COLLABORATIONS/SOUNDTRACK CONTRIBUTIONS



EQUIPMENT

  • Fender Stratocaster

  • Various Marshall 1/2 stacks

  • 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



EXTERNAL LINKS