You listen to Bob Dylan and you can't help but think of the 60s, it's very relational and if artists...
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You listen to Bob Dylan and you can't help but think of the 60s, it's very relational and if artists are true artists and not just mere musicians they need to be truthful because the music doesn't come from them it comes from the universe and it's to be shared. At best, we're skilled presenters, and I say that at best.
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Composing is what I love most from what I do. Each genre has a unique expression that you cannot sup...
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Composing is what I love most from what I do. Each genre has a unique expression that you cannot supplant with another. All the records co-inspire each other though they are not tied conceptually in any way to another.
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I've got my own studio, and I've got four- to five-hundred unreleased tracks. I've got stuff that's ...
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I've got my own studio, and I've got four- to five-hundred unreleased tracks. I've got stuff that's electronic, orchestral, jazz, I've got rock, I've got metal, you know, I don't have polka.
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When I was younger, I was listening to a lot of Armenian music, you know, revolutionary music about ...
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When I was younger, I was listening to a lot of Armenian music, you know, revolutionary music about freedom and protest. In the 70s I was listening to soul and the Bee Gees and ABBA, and funk.
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Pretending that we live doesn't make us alive.
Pretending that we live doesn't make us alive.
Sometimes it's better to have a benign dictator than a dumb democracy, to be honest.
Sometimes it's better to have a benign dictator than a dumb democracy, to be honest.
People get so attached to a position which they identify themselves with that they just spurt it out...
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People get so attached to a position which they identify themselves with that they just spurt it out, but they can't really give you a viable reason why they feel that way.
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I'd rather let the music speak for itself.
I'd rather let the music speak for itself.
As an artist, you never want to write the same song again, you always want to challenge yourself to ...
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As an artist, you never want to write the same song again, you always want to challenge yourself to writing in a different way.
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I'm a huge Beatles fan, but I've only really gotten into them as an adult.
I'm a huge Beatles fan, but I've only really gotten into them as an adult.
The best way to do that is to pick up a new instrument or an instrument that you don't typically wri...
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The best way to do that is to pick up a new instrument or an instrument that you don't typically write on and see where it takes you. Whether it's using an acoustic guitar, or piano, or electronics as tools, all of these lead to creating different types of songs and I used all of these methods for this record.
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Civilization is a failure. We need to think what we can do together in love and peace.
Civilization is a failure. We need to think what we can do together in love and peace.
Capitalism unchecked is not a democratic system.
Capitalism unchecked is not a democratic system.
I think every artist should follow their vision, their hearts is what they need to reveal, not somet...
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I think every artist should follow their vision, their hearts is what they need to reveal, not something that society is looking out for.
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I believe very firmly that indigenous populations had a really good, intuitive understanding of why ...
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I believe very firmly that indigenous populations had a really good, intuitive understanding of why we're here. And we're trying to gain that same understanding through psychology and intellect in modern civilization.
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It's probably a combination of personal and non-personal matters that have led us to where we are mu...
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It's probably a combination of personal and non-personal matters that have led us to where we are musically.
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If you allow for a purely capitalistic society, without any type of regulation at all, you will get ...
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If you allow for a purely capitalistic society, without any type of regulation at all, you will get one monopoly that will eat all of the smaller fish and own everything, and then you'll have zero capitalism, zero competition - it would just be one giant company.
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I've always tried to listen to a lot of different music from around the world.
I've always tried to listen to a lot of different music from around the world.
We first fought the heathens in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs a...
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We first fought the heathens in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change.
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I hate injustice, and I can't help but speak against it. But I don't want to get involved in politic...
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I hate injustice, and I can't help but speak against it. But I don't want to get involved in politics.
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We first fought... in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrori...
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We first fought... in the name of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change.
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I think anytime that you go to the extreme of any mode of economics, be it capitalism or communism, ...
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I think anytime that you go to the extreme of any mode of economics, be it capitalism or communism, you have these feedback mechanisms that make the system turn in on itself.
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People think our music's very aggressive or angry or whatever, and it's just the opposite, really......
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People think our music's very aggressive or angry or whatever, and it's just the opposite, really... I like laughing. And I like being really calm before a show, and smiley.
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[on the Armenian Genocide and The Promise (2016)] It's been an honor to be an impartial ear and eye ...
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[on the Armenian Genocide and The Promise (2016)] It's been an honor to be an impartial ear and eye to the film. The best way to counter high-budget disinformation campaigns by the Turkish government is to move people with the truth via the arts. I've been doing it for years with music and wanted to help do it through film somehow. [2017]
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I'm not comfortable with just entertaining. Although I like entertaining, I also like bringing forwa...
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I'm not comfortable with just entertaining. Although I like entertaining, I also like bringing forward the truth of our times as minstrels used to in the old days.
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In the last few years I've been listening to jazz more than anything else. I listen to a lot of worl...
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In the last few years I've been listening to jazz more than anything else. I listen to a lot of world music and experimental here and there.
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Harout Pamboukjian is one of the biggest Armenian folk singers in the world. In the '70s, he was mak...
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Harout Pamboukjian is one of the biggest Armenian folk singers in the world. In the '70s, he was making these records that were really Zeppelin-influenced.
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I have a more direct avenue to expression as an artist than I ever would as a politician.
I have a more direct avenue to expression as an artist than I ever would as a politician.
The percentage of Americans in the prison system, has doubled since 1985.
The percentage of Americans in the prison system, has doubled since 1985.
People always ask me 'do you think there should be more bands doing political music?' and I say 'abs...
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People always ask me 'do you think there should be more bands doing political music?' and I say 'absolutely not.'
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As long as people are living their truth or their vision, whether they're activists or not, that's t...
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As long as people are living their truth or their vision, whether they're activists or not, that's the important thing.
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Awareness in our society has flipped all types of injustice on its head.
Awareness in our society has flipped all types of injustice on its head.
The most important thing about music that I've learned after all this time is that to me, it's a way...
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The most important thing about music that I've learned after all this time is that to me, it's a way of reaching the truth.
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I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
Sometimes a good love song can change the world and create positive energy more than any political s...
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Sometimes a good love song can change the world and create positive energy more than any political song can.
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