John Dolmayan Quotes

John Dolmayan shares blunt, plain-spoken thoughts on music, fame and just doing what you love.

14 quotes

1. For the longest time, I didn't know the name of anyone in Led Zeppelin. I didn't care about what they looked like or ate. I wanted to listen, not read about them. I've always had that philosophy. I never started playing drums to get chicks or money or anything else. Long before I had concepts of those things, I wanted to be a drummer. That's the basic concept of what I do. I'm a drummer. I play drums. We are artists as drummers, and people should realize that. Not everyone can sit down and use all four of your limbs simultaneously to create something out of wood and plastic. We're creating something beautiful, and it may not sound pretty, but if you listen with the right ear, it sounds very pretty. If you try and listen to a song without drums, you haven't got anything.

2. We never expected anything, actually. I think we still don't expect anything. We were proud of the album when we finished it, so whatever success it has we are just like, 'Wow, cool.' It's not going to change the way we work or think. I'm as proud of this record now as I was when we finished it.

3. You've gotta let things go in life.

4. My band is stupid, and we're gonna continue to be stupid, I guess.

5. If you're in love with a girl, you go out with a girl and you break up with her it doesn't mean you should disassociate with her. You know, you still have ties.

6. When you're passionate about music, you don't give up on it.

7. The fact is I don't write songs, per se; I've written a couple here and there, but that's not my forte.

8. There's four individuals in the band. I don't speak for any of the individuals except for myself, and neither does Serj. But because he had that platform of writing lyrics, the perception was out there that that's how the band felt at all times, where I don't even think Serj necessarily felt those ways at all times.

9. The definition of a band is the selflessness. That's what a society is, isn't it? We're all thinking, like, together we make something great. Alone, we might not even survive.

10. Don't believe everything the famous people tell you - they don't know anything for the most part.

11. I started selling in the early '90s, because at 18 years old, it's tough to go to your parents and say, 'Can I have some money for comic books?' Initially, I started off by losing a lot of money trying to sell books at conventions and stuff like that until I figured out how to do it.

12. It's hard to take a stand. Most people are just trying to earn a living, take care of their families, give their kids a little bit of a better life than they had, and that's their focus - trying to stay on top of credit card bills and their mortgage and rent, or whatever it is.

13. No matter what, Daron is one of the best songwriters I've ever seen in my life.

14. I find it really difficult to keep my mouth shut when I see injustice.