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'.

Rich Culture

Daron is effected strongly with being Armenian, obvious influence  of Armenian genocide and other Armenian influences was clearly found in his lyrics with System of A Down Songs. He's also effected with Arabic culture; some songs like Scars on Broadway's 'Babylon' was about Iraq; Daron was reported speaking and saying some arabic phrases in his live shows.

Malakian now lives in Glendale, California in a home by himself, he 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 2005 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 was the first signed band; he did drop the label later, saying in one of the interviews he's not into label works, he's more musician than anything. Malakian has also started new band called Scars on Broadway.

 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".
 

Scars on Broadway Project

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."
Scars on Broadway performed live in the Whisky on April 11, 2008 before the release of their debut album which was later released on July 29 2007

Personal Issues and putting Scars on hold

in October 07 2008, Daron surprisingly sent a message announcing cancellation of all live activities of the band due to personal issues; without clarifying exactly the nature of the issues he's facing, rumors was calming that the band broke up already especially with involving the other members in new side projects and no official confirmation that they will be back - check more details in Scars on Broadway Page.