According to Daron himself, he always wanted to be a Drummer but his parents got him guitar instead so, they can turn it off when its possible. Daron went to  'Rose & Alex Pilibosl' school, the same school his band mates Serj and Shavo went to,  then he attended 'Roosevelt' Middle School and 'Glendale' High School later, When he was 16, he joined his first band ever (unknown name, probably school stuff), in the beginning of 90s,  Daron met Serj, and created together their new band "Soil" and made  a few songs  before eventually renamed to System of a Down which based on a poem's name  Daron wrote called 'Victims of a Down'.

Malakian now lives in Glendale, California in a home by himself and likes to collect candles, eastern rugs, instruments, and skulls. Daron smokes cannabis, and has stated that if he was the President of the USA, he would "Legalize Weed". Daron has been voted 4th best guitarist of the year by Metal Edge Magazine. Daron has stated in an interview that he hates the Nu-Metal label more than anything.

Malakian co-produced System of a Down's albums with Rick Rubin, as well as The Ambulance and Bad Acid Trip (a band on fellow member Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike Records). He started his own label, EatUrMusic, on which Amen is the first signed band (the label is disconnected later). In 2003 Daron Malakian played in the Celebrity Baseball Game in Hollywood, where a variety of celebrities played a baseball game. He wrote a song about the experience, "Old School Hollywood", which appears on Disc 1 of System of a Down's recent double album, Mezmerize/Hypnotize.

Daron first picked up a guitar at age 12, saying in an interview, "For the first year and a half, I learned how to play by ear, and did alright. After a few years I gained a reputation as being a guitar player in high school. And by 16 or 17 I actually realized it was a good songwriting instrument, and, over anything, that's what I feel like. I don't pretend to be Mr. Guitar Virtuoso".
Daron is well known for playing his Ibanez baritone (between a guitar and a bass) Iceman IC300, with custom graphics done by his father, Vartan Malakian. His father also did custom graphics on the 1978 Iceman, as well as making the horned bridge replacing the stopbar. The guitar was popular in the 1970's and 1980's, and he is fronting its comeback. All of the guitars that he plays on stage have a one-of-a-kind finish and cannot be found in retail, although there was a limited edition Iceman with graphics by 'Vartan Malakian' sold on eBay. He plays through Marshall Amplifiers, uses Jim Dunlop Delrin 2.0mm plectrums and Ernie Ball "Skinny Bottom Heavy Top" guitar strings. Daron now uses a Gibson SG onstage in most of System of a Down's recent live shows. He can be seen with his Gibson SG 61' Reissue in the music videos for System of a Down's B.Y.O.B and Question! and he is seen playing his cream-colored SG in the video for "Hypnotize". From System of a Down's formation, up until their third album, Steal This Album!, Daron used Drop C Tuning on his guitars. On the band's double album "Mezmerize/Hypnotize", Daron changed to Drop Db Tuning, a step up from Drop C. He gave the reason for the change in tuning as to give the new songs "more kick".

 Solo work and Scars on Broadway

Daron has some plans for solo work soon, in December of 2005, Daron said in an interview that he "could release ten solo records tomorrow.". He also said, "I have tons of material laying around. After these albums," (Mezmerize and Hypnotize) "I'm gonna go off and do something on my own, just like Serj. And no, System of a Down are not breaking up. We're just gonna do like KISS and put out our own solo records or something like that." On what direction his album will take, Malakian states: "It will probably be something electronic. Not dance music, but something more experimental. When, or even if, the music comes out it will still be structured, just like System of a Down's music is." Lately, Daron told Rolling Stone more about his new band project titled "Scars on Broadway" has Shavo on it, the new band should release an album by Fall 2006 or later in 2007.

Malakian was involved in a project called Scars on Broadway, with Amen-singer Casey Chaos and Zach Hill from Hella and Team Sleep back in 2003, however the old lineup has been changed to unknown new lineup, the only confirmed name so far  was Shavo (of System of a Down).

Collaborations and Appearances

 Flashes