The most important thing about music that I've learned after all this time is that to me, it's a way of reaching the truth.
Serj Tankian
A lot of pop music is based on trying to make people remember it so that they'll buy it. To me, it was not about that.
When I was younger, I was listening to a lot of Armenian music, you know, revolutionary music about freedom and protest. In the 70s I was listening... →
In America, there's more of the question, should music be political or should it just be for entertainment purposes, whereas around the world... →
I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
People always ask me 'do you think there should be more bands doing political music?' and I say 'absolutely not.'
I write music when I'm free and for no particular project in mind.
I've always tried to listen to a lot of different music from around the world.
In the last few years I've been listening to jazz more than anything else. I listen to a lot of world music and experimental here and there.
It's the idea of a multi-sensory experience stemming from music that opened my interest into painting, to be honest.