From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Daron Malakian |
|
| Background information |
| Born |
July 18, 1975 (1975-07-18) (age 34) |
| Origin |
Rotorua, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres |
Alternative metal, experimental rock |
| Occupations |
Musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer |
| Instruments |
Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, organ, mellotron, mandolin, oud |
| Years active |
1990 – present |
| Labels |
Interscope, eatURmusic, American, Columbia |
| Associated acts |
System of a Down, Scars on Broadway |
| Website |
www.systemofadown.com
www.scarsonbroadway.com |
| Notable instruments |
Ibanez Iceman
Gibson SG
Jackson Randy Rhoads
Gibson Les Paul
Fender Stratocaster |
Daron Vartan Malakian (born July 18, 1975) is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist of the Grammy Award-winning Metal band System of a Down. Like the rest of the Hollywood-based band System of a Down, he is of Armenian ancestry, but is the only member to actually have been born inside the U.S. (Los Angeles). He placed 30th in Guitar World's List of The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time.
Music career
System of a Down
Daron Malakian met Serj Tankian in 1992, while they shared the same rehearsal studio in different bands. Serj was playing keyboard for a band, and Daron was singing lead vocals for another band. They formed a jam band called Soil (not to be confused with the Chicago band Soil). The band featured Serj on vocals/keyboards and Daron on guitar[citation needed] with Domingo Laranio on drums and Dave Hakopyan on bass. Around this time, they also met Shavo Odadjian. In 1994, after one supposed jam session recording and one live show at a bar called Whiskey a Go Go, Dave and Domingo left, thinking the band wasn't going anywhere.
The band later broke up and Tankian and Malakian formed a new band "System of a Down," based on a poem that Daron wrote entitled "Victims of the Down". Shavo Odadjian thought that the word System appealed to a much broader audience than "Victims," and they wanted their albums to be stored near the band Slayer's. Odadjian was the band's original manager and promoter, but joined as the bassist, and managerial duties were taken over by the Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and founder David "Beno" Benveniste. Daron then asked his friend Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian (whom had played in his first band with Daron at age 15 [1]) to join the band as the drummer. [2] Andy was later replaced by their current drummer, John Dolmayan, due to a hand injury.
Malakian co-produced System of a Down's albums with Rick Rubin, as well as The Ambulance and Bad Acid Trip (a band on fellow member Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike Records). He recently started his own label, EatUrMusic, on which Amen is the first signed band. Malakian is also involved in a band called Scars on Broadway, with John Dolmayan. In 2003 Daron Malakian played with a variety of celebrities in the Celebrity Baseball Game in Hollywood. He wrote a song about the experience, "Old School Hollywood", which appears on System of a Down's album, Mezmerize.
Daron has stated in an interview that the band doesn't follow anybody: "A lot of bands followed Korn. We're not one of those bands but I have respect for Korn for being original. I just think it’s a shame that so many people felt they had to go and mimic that. Everyone tells us we have our own sound. I think that we have enough trust in our fans from touring for enough years to know that they're expecting something different from us, which is cool because it leaves the door open for us to go anywhere we want"
Scars on Broadway
In August 2009, Scars on Broadway, minus Malakian, traveled to Iraq for a USO tour across the U.S. army bases. Their setlist consisted of covers as well as a few Scars songs. Guitarist/vocalist Franky Perez stated on his Twitter that "the Scars tunes sound amazing but they're not the same without D..." He also stated before they left that Malakian had given them his blessing.
Personal life
Malakian now lives in Glendale, California; he also has relatives in Iran[citation needed] and Armenia, since his parents were born in those countries but emmigrated to America. He has visited both countries. His cousin died in a fire, which explains the lyrics and music video for "Lonely Day". He enjoys collecting candles, Persian rugs, Hookahs, instruments and skulls[citation needed]. He is also an avid fan of the Los Angeles Kings.
Franky Perez mentioned on his twitter that he and the D-Man (Malakian) were going into studio to jam, this was the first news people have heard about Malakian's whereabouts for about a year. Also, Malakian made a surprise appearance at Shavo's 2009 Halloween Party and played Suite Pee, They Say, and an Unknown song with Odadjian and Dolmayan along with Franky Perez on lead guitar. This is the first time that System of a Down (minus Serj Tankian, who is working on his Jazz-Orchestra inspired record) played a show together in about 3 years.
On the 20th of November he played at the Chi Cheng Benefit concert along with Deftones, Shavo and John.
According to an unknown source, he is going to be on the new Cypress Hill album "Rise Up" on one song "Trouble Seeker" which he produced.
Discography
System of a Down
|
Scars on Broadway
|
Other appearances
Production credits
Malakian has also produced a number of albums.
Equipment
Guitars
Effects
Amplification
Malakian often experiments with different combinations of heads combined with either a Marshall or a Mesa Boogie cabinet.
Other
Awards
- In 2002, System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Metal Performance for their song Chop Suey! but lost to Schism by Tool
- In 2003, System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for Aerials but lost to All My Life by Foo Fighters
- In 2005, System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards
- In 2006, System of a Down won their first Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for B.Y.O.B.
- In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song Question!
- In 2006, System of a Down's song Toxicity was #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs list
- In 2007, System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for their song Lonely Day but lost to Woman by Wolfmother
Quotations
| “ |
I have no interest in murder, and I have no interest in people dying. But I'm interested in people's minds, and sometimes Manson puts thoughts together that I find really interesting. Have you ever seen his unedited videos? He starts making a lot of sense. I'm sure people are scared of that, but to me, it's scarier to watch George Bush try to make sense. |
” |
| “ |
System of a Down are one of the most misunderstood bands around. I mean, Armenian rock? What the fuck is that? Political? I could name so many more of our songs that aren't about politics than ones that are. And for a long time, everyone thought Serj wrote all of our tunes. Until this album came out, people thought he wrote all the lyrics. So there are so many different misunderstandings of System of a Down that I don't even let it bother me anymore. I'm just kind of used to it. Our first bio said something like 'four guys based out of LA who are Armenian and political,' and, well, it wasn't really right at all. I mean, we are all Armenian, but we didn't plan that. |
” |
| “ |
It's important not to take yourself too seriously, ... and I think sometimes people take us a lot more seriously than we take ourselves, especially when it comes to politics. Politics, for me, is a reflection of the world I live in. But love is just as important as politics to me. They both exist in the world, you know? And if you don't reflect the entire world around you, then you're leaving something out. |
” |
Notes
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