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John Dolmayan was born in Lebanon to Armenian family. One
night when he was five, he got scared and went to his parent's room
and asked if he could sleep there. His parents agreed, and soon
after a bullet came through the window of his room and hit his bed,
where he would have been sleeping (while civil war been there). His
father decided they had to move. He moved to Toronto, Canada then to
Los Angeles. He has a condominium in Las Vegas where he also bought
his parents a house. John's father was a saxophone player and he
actually started on the drums, according to John in a recent
interview, whatever talent John has is from his dad. [read
more].
His unique and original style of drumming has influenced an emerging
generation of drummers. More than a few critics have called his
style "schizophrenic", and this has attracted a significant portion
of SOAD's audience, and it's generally agreed that his talent is a
large part of SOAD's appeal.
John's facial expressions are famous for being constantly foreboding
and angry-looking, which together with his usual smart dress sense,
make him look like a Mafia member. Lead singer Serj Tankian
was quoted in Kerrang magazine as always trying to make John crack a
smile on stage, to which John replied that he had to make an extreme
effort to keep a straight face and not get put off beat, which is
sometimes not believed due to the fact that John sounds very
rhythmically when it comes to his drum beats. He is known
throughout the metal scene for his hi-hat to snare combo, which can
be heard in such songs as Deer Dance on Toxicity, I-E-A-I-A-I-O on
Steal This Album! and Question! on Mezmerize.
Along with 'Joey Jordison' he is one of the only drummers in
mainstream metal to use blast beats (as with Jordison, only
occasionally), a death metal drumming technique which can be heard
for example on the System of a Down single "B.Y.O.B." The use of
this technique and other aspects of Dolmayan's style, which like
much of System of a Down's music is generally more complex and
technical than that of most popular metal bands' drummers, has given
him and his band a modicum of respect in the generally
mainstream-critical underground metal community.
John Dolmayan's drum-kit is a modified Tama Starclassic (generally
with a White Silk or Brown Fade finish). The eleven cymbals are
Paiste Signatures. His old setup contains 2 tom toms in front of the
snare, a mounted tom and floor tom on the right, and another floor
tom on the left of the snare, where a second snare would usually be.
He uses a double-bass pedal with the left pedal unusually on the
left of the hi-hat pedal. He has 2 splash cymbals (10" and 8") as
well as a 6" bell chime mounted over the hi-hat, and an 8" bell
chime to the right of his 2nd tom. He has two 18" china cymbals
(thin and heavy), one on the left, one on the right. He also uses 2
timbales around the left floor tom.
His new setup uses 2 basses instead of a double-bass pedal. Now he
has 3 toms in front of the snare, and only one tom to the right.
Most of his cymbals have moved, and so have his timbales which are
mounted to align with the toms.
As a burgeoning collector-comics entrepreneur, Dolmayan has many
friends in the industry, and after years in the making, he finally
had this completed comic book-inspired drum kit which is completely
decorated in original comic art by a host of top
professionals in what is possibly one of the coolest comic
collectibles ever created. [for more details with photos check
Here and Here].
When he first started his career with System of a Down he used a few
Paiste Dimension cymbals as well as signatures. Back then some of
his cymbals were 22" and 24". Now he just uses 20" as his biggest
(ride and Power Crash). In Summer 2006, right before Ozzfest tour,
John told the press in several interviews his intention to make an
online comic company, "I've got over 5 and a half million
comics right now, and I'll probably have about 20 million comics in
a year's time. But it's not really a collection. The reason I'm
accumulating all these books is I'm starting an Internet-based
comic-book company called "Torpedocomics".
That'll be up in November 2007, probably." John said. [read
more] John also, been awarded as the best Drummer of the year
according to DRUM! magazine [read more].
Scars on Broadway "Daron asked me to be involved around
Christmas of 2006 and I agreed, it’s that simple. As for my role in
the band, it will be
similar to that of soad, I'll handle things behind the scenes and do
my best to stay out of the limelight, where I'm most
comfortable." said John Dolmayan in
exclusive interview to
SOADFans on March 2008. More info about Scars can be found
Here. |
