Quote

Sometimes it's better to have a benign dictator than a dumb democracy, to be honest.

Serj Tankian

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Serj Tankian
Age: 57
Born: 1967
Born: August 21
Bassist
Environmentalist
Essayist
Guitarist
Keyboardist
Lyricist
Peace Activist
Pianist
Poet
Record Producer
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Honest
Democracy
Better
Sometimes
Benign
Dictator
Dumb

More quotes by Serj Tankian

Image
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.
Serj Tankian
Image
Political statements are usually more direct, and it works with the upbeat music as well, for some reason, the directness of your statements.
Serj Tankian
Image
I think music has the ability to inspire people and to change hearts, and the heart has the power to change the mind, and the mind has the power to change the world.
Serj Tankian
Image
I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
Serj Tankian
Image
My two interests are spirituality and politics. I would mesh them in some way maybe try to figure out the politics of spirituality, or the spirituality of politics. Or maybe come up with this really crazy naive solution for the end of civilization.
Serj Tankian
Image
We have the power to change our lives, and the world around us.
Serj Tankian
Image
I don't want to spend all my time working as an activist. I don't get satisfaction out of it. I'd rather be doing something else. I'm a musician.
Serj Tankian
Image
I think as consumers Europeans are a lot more artist loyal irrespective of the genre of music or the type of project or the collaborative effort, and Americans are more media-loyal, because they need to be fed that media to know what's going on, because we're so inundated with promotion and marketing and everything that's going on - advertising.
Serj Tankian
Image
With 'Elect the Dead,' I learned how to make a rock record without a rock band and make the rock record I've always wanted to make.
Serj Tankian
Image
As long as people are living their truth or their vision, whether they're activists or not, that's the important thing.
Serj Tankian
Image
If you're using live bass versus orchestral bass, you've got to make sure that you're not stepping on the toes of the other elements, so you've got to balance it out.
Serj Tankian
Image
In America, there's more of the question, should music be political or should it just be for entertainment purposes, whereas around the world that's not even an issue. I think people just assume that music should be everything.
Serj Tankian
Image
Awareness in our society has flipped all types of injustice on its head.
Serj Tankian
Image
I think every artist should follow their vision, their hearts is what they need to reveal, not something that society is looking out for.
Serj Tankian
Image
We're addicted to this concept of civilization - we can't imagine living outside of it because we've had it for 10,000 years, all of what we call history. But according to archaeologists, humanity has been on this planet for millions of years in indigenous form.
Serj Tankian
Image
Sometimes a good love song can change the world and create positive energy more than any political song can.
Serj Tankian
Image
Touring and putting out records is fun and cool, but I've been doing it for a long time.
Serj Tankian
Image
As an artist, you never want to write the same song again, you always want to challenge yourself to writing in a different way.
Serj Tankian
Image
Day is just a collection of hours.
Serj Tankian
Image
I don't find most people to be as politically engaged as I am. I do find people that appreciate eye-opening events and words, and who want to learn more about what's going on. I do find people with a lot of opinions. And I get a lot of people who come up to me and give us props for what we do.
Serj Tankian