John Dolmayan has ended his collaboration and endorsement deal with Tama Drums. The 52-year-old musician talked about his decision in a social media post.
He wrote: “It’s time to make a change, as of today I will be parting ways with @officialtamadrums. I became a part of the Tama family in 1999 when my dear friend @genep918 signed me up for an artist discount after all systems gear was stolen during a tour with FEAR FACTORY. Since then I’ve been a Tama guy. I had incredible relationships with their artists’ reps including Gene, Rob, Aaron, and Sam—great people and more importantly, friends. Most of them have moved on from Tama and now, sadly, so am I. I’m not sure where I’ll go (if anywhere) but what’s important to me is that I play amazing-sounding drums and continue my journey of improvement and artistic growth. I want to thank Tama drums for an amazing ride, I wish them the best.”
Last month, John Dolmayan announced his new comic book series “Dead Samurai”. A zombie thriller set in 16th-century feudal Japan, it will be out on October 9 via Diamond Distribution.
Dolmayan has always had a passion for acquiring and collecting rare comics; a hobby that began long before he joined Grammy Award-winning and multiplatinum rock band SYSTEM OF A DOWN.
Dolmayan withdrew from the comic world when he joined SYSTEM OF A DOWN in 1997, though he never gave up collecting.
Those pop-ups then led to the launch of Torpedo Comics in 2003 — Dolmayan’s first brick-and-mortar comic book shop in Las Vegas. It has since grown into three more stores located throughout Southern California, all specializing in rare and hard-to-find titles.
In July, Dolmayan announced in an Instagram post that he had secured a patent for a “reusable, rechargeable, and completely secure shipping container that can replace cardboard boxes.” Dolmayan wrote that containers could “eliminate massive amounts of waste” by being used for shipping as well as food delivery.