Daron Malakian Quotes

Whatever I write has to evolve around my taste in music at that moment, because that always changes.

Politicians use religion, and they get their troops riled up with religion.

You can't just release double albums and expect people to sit there and devote their time to it.

Masturbation is great for the right arm

I would never cancel a tour unless I had real reasons and personal things that require my undivided attention.

Why don't presidents fight the war? - Why do they always send the poor?

I always want to grow and top myself.

I'm not very happy. I'm frustrated with human beings. I'm the guy who just wants to smack people in the face and say, 'Wake up!'

System of a Down is the music that I wanted to buy but couldn't find at the store. It's the band I wanted to be a fan of.

Other kids would take their parents to the toy store and I'd take my mom to the record store.

I'll be honest with you: politically, I have no issue with people, but my beef sometimes is with religion at the end of the day.

Masturbation is good for the right arm.

Back in the day, when the emperor or the king or whatever waged war, they went to war, too. But that's been lost in time.

In the Middle East in the summertime, to keep cool, a lot of people sleep on the rooftops.

A lot of times, I don't feel responsible for the songs myself. But that's my job or my place in life: to keep my search and catch the ideas before they pass me by.

I don't get it when people complain that baseball games are too long.

You put too many songs on your record, and it ends up like a family with too many kids: some of them get neglected.

Basically I write songs, and I need for there to be a home for these songs.

My dad is my biggest influence on me as a musician, even though he's not a musician.

I ain't got no beef with Obama.

Music is an emotion, and I put it out there.

I just think religion is something ... It could be a beautiful thing for the individual, but when it becomes organized, that's when religion starts taking a kind of ugly turn to me.

Does it bother me that some people are burning their own System CDs and taking money out of my pocket? Not really. This has always been about putting the best possible version of the song in the fans hands. It was like selling an artist's painting before he had finished it.

How does a band like System of a Down get big?

I am depressed sometimes, but it's not what keeps me at home or focused on work.

As a musician, I don't think I'm the greatest guitar player. I'm a bigger fan of the drums than I am the guitar; I just happen to play guitar. I play drums almost every day at my house. I wrote a lot of songs behind the drum kit, just having the music and vocals in my head and playing the rhythm.

There's no rule that says you have to make records constantly, like clockwork, to continue being who you are.

I would expect another Scars album before another System album.

Music is pretty much all I do.