John Dolmayan
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John Dolmayan (born July 15, 1973) is the drummer for the Armenian-American alternative metal band System of a Down. John's bandmates are vocalist/keyboards Serj Tankian, guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian, and bassist Shavo Odadjian.
With System of a Down
He has thus far recorded five albums with System of a Down: System of a Down (1998), Toxicity (2001), Steal This Album! (2002), and, most recently, Mezmerize (2005), and Hypnotize (2005). John's currently the only member of the band that was not in the original lineup (1995), Andy Khachaturian was the original drummer for System of a Down.
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. His technical skills have also been lauded and he is known for keeping excellent time.
John's facial expressions are famous for being constantly foreboding and angry-looking, which together with his usual smart dress sense, make him appear to some as a member of the Russian Mafia. 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 is very rhythmically sound 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 few 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 Mezmerize single "B.Y.O.B" and more clearly in "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song" from the same album. 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.
During System of a Down's hiatus after Ozzfest, John has said instead of doing music, he will start a comic book business. He says that music and comic books were his two favorite things as a kid. He lives in Las Vegas.
He has also won "DRUM!" Magazines 2006 Drummer of the year
Equipment
John Dolmayan's drumkit 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, which can be heard vibrantly throughout "Hypnotize", 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.
When he first started his career with System of a Down he used a few Paiste Dimension cymbals as well as signatures. At that time, some of his cymbals were 22" and 24". He currently uses 20" as his largest cymbal.
External links
- [John Dolmayan Bio at SOADFans]
- [John Dolmayan page at drummerworld.com]
- [Tama's info on John's "Toxicity" Kit]
- [Paiste's info on John's "Toxicity" Cymbal layout]
| System of a Down |
| Serj Tankian | Daron Malakian | Shavo Odadjian | John Dolmayan |
| Andy Khachaturian |
| System of a Down discography |
|---|
| Albums: System of a Down | Toxicity | Steal This Album! | Mezmerize | Hypnotize | |
| Demos: Demo Tape 1 | Demo Tape 2 | Demo Tape 3 | |
| Singles: War? | Sugar | Spiders | Metro | Prison Song | Chop Suey! | Toxicity | Aerials | Innervision | Boom! | I-E-A-I-A-I-O | B.Y.O.B. | Question! | Radio/Video | Hypnotize | Lonely Day | Kill Rock & Roll |
| Categories |
| | |
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