Erwin Khachikian was born in Tehran, Iran to an Armenian family. He first discovered his love for music at the age of ten. Being raised in a household surrounded by music, Erwin initially became influenced by his fathers talent on the guitar and the organ.
Erwin began his classical training at eleven years old and continued his instruction when he moved to the United States 2 years later in 1987. Throughout junior high, high school and college, he studied music privately and in school, simultaneously attending the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles.
After graduating in 1996 from Cal State University of Northridge, with a BA in psychology, he began his career as a professional musician.
These past 13 years have been blessed musical journey for Erwin. Since the mid 90s he has been in the studio and on the road with different well known artists. He is a member of Serj Tankians (System of a Down) solo project called Serj Tankian and the FCC. Since Aug of 2007, the band has toured with The Foo Fighters, Ozzy Osborne, Metallica, REM and Rage Against the Machine and appeared on TV shows, such as Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and Carson Daly. The nd has performed in sold out arenas and festivals al over the world and including shows in front of 80,000 fans in Germany (Rock am Ring).
Between the years 2001 and 2004, Erwin produced /arranged 2 albums Neghab and Bi sarzamin tar az bad for a well known Persian artist, Siavash Ghomeyshi. The success of these albums and the live shows got him recognized as a producer in the Persian scene. He has toured the US and Europe and the Middle East with other artists such as Andy and Mansour.
From 2001 2006, Erwin was a member of the Space Rock band Slow Motion Reign that was signed with Columbia Records/Serjical Strike Records. The band released an album in 2004. During this time he had the opportunity to support and perform with artists, such as Neal Schon of Journey, Cliff Hue of Supertramp and Jerry Cantrell of Alice and Chains and Ozomatli.
Erwins solo project called Karmandan is currently in progress. A full-length album is due late 2009. In addition he continues to produce songs for upcoming TV series, write his own songs and produce tracks for various artists.
Not only does Erwin create his own unique and innovative sounds, he is also able to adapt to various music styles, from soft rock to hard rock to pop and to classical. It is this musical versatility along with his great passion that has made him the great musician that he is.
Still going strong after ten years as a professional in the business, Erwin ways that the most important thing is to keep balance and peace in your life and always be open to learning new things. Using nature as a way to find his inner peace and keep his creativity fresh and alive, it seems that Erwin will continue to be a successful and sought out performer and producer of music. Liked and admired by many in both his professional and personal life, we definitely have much more to see and hear of Erwin Khachikian.
