Daron Vartan Malakian was born on July 18, 1975 in Hollywood. Unlike many children out there who listen to Barney and Friends when they were kids, Daron took an entirely different path. At such an early stage of his life, Daron got into heavy metal music. When he was four years old, his cousin played a song of KISS and he was instantly a rocker from then on. You should imagine a four year old kid singing heavy metal songs instead of Barney songs. This is what you call a born rocker. His inspirations as he was growing up were Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Ozzy Osbourne. At first, Daron was not into the guitar. He wanted to play the drums but his parents said that he should get a guitar instead. The logic of his parents was funny. They said that Daron should get a guitar instead of a set of drums because the guitar can be turned off. Luckily, his parent's advice actually helped him. If it were not for his parent's advice, he may have ended completely somewhere else. He is much better on guitar. By the time he was seventeen, Daron was already listening to very heavy metal music. Bands such as Venom, Slayer, Sepultura, and Cannibal Corpse were his favourite bands during that time. When it came to song writing, his inspiration didn't some from heavy metal though. Daron's inspiration back then was the Beatles. Right now, Daron is the guitarist and semi composer of the band, System of a Down, formerly called Soil. Other members of the band include Serj Tankian on vocals, Shavo Odadjian on the bass guitar, and John Dolmayan on the drums. Daron writes most of the band's music and right now. He is taking a lot of responsibility on vocals as well.