Serj Goldman

Kitchen, road, studio. And Velar.

What fills my time between work days.

Start in the kitchenBack to the work
Serj in an old armchair under an arched rotunda
Off the clock.

The kitchen is alchemy

Odd pairings, rare techniques, things from scratch.

Easier to ask what I have not cooked.

Steak tartare with a quail yolk on a wooden board, Velar watching from the edge of the table
Tartare with a quail yolk. Velar waits at the edge of the frame.
  • Strawberries with black peppera perfect pair
  • Chinese silk omelettesteamed
  • Pho bofrom scratch
  • Onigirihomemade
  • Kimchimy own
  • KvassI brew it myself

Behind the wheel

years old when I started driving. Officially.

I like driving out into nature. Behind the wheel, work thoughts drop away on their own.

Serj by a silver Mustang convertible in the mountains of Georgia
In the mountains of Georgia.

Raised on 2007 culture and actively bringing it back.

Extreme vocals

I sing screamo and rock, using fry scream. Breath and technique keep me present: during a warm-up the work chats don’t exist for me.

References

  • Thirty Seconds to Mars
  • Bullet for My Valentine
  • Bring Me the Horizon

Music in FL Studio

I write tracks in FL Studio: synthwave, trap, pop, whatever wants out in the moment. My father was a radio amateur, so I grew up among amplifiers and Soviet synthesizers.

Serj as a child at the keys of a Soviet synthesizer, black and white
Then: a Soviet synthesizer.
An Akai MPK mini keyboard on a desk next to a laptop
Now: an Akai MPK mini on the desk.

Latest drop

Writing was hard lately. Then I found it again and went deep into synthesizing tube sounds from scratch.

  • I'm tired
    3:28
  • cherub
    3:33
  • no way out
    5:23

My own perfume

Mixed with a master at recette world. I wanted church incense with a bit of wine, hence the name pretre ivre, French for drunk priest. It came out darker: leather and resin with oud.

First bottle of a line.

  • 54drops

    Base

    leather, oud, amber, myrrh, olibanum, birch tar

  • 18drops

    Heart

    rose, tonka, black currant, strawberry, grape

  • 2drops

    Top

    bergamot, benzaldehyde

Serj and Velar, a fawn American bully, by a park bench

Velar

Breed
American bully
Birthday
6 January
In Tbilisi since
November 2022
Favourite toy
a piece of PVC pipe

I read about dog behaviour and watch for the calming signals Turid Rugaas described: a yawn, a nose lick, a head turn. It once came in handy in a lecture I gave on non-verbal communication.

I listen to lectures on neuroscience and anthropology almost non‑stop.

It feeds straight into how I design game mechanics. A mission, a reward, the moment a player comes back: all of it runs on attention and motivation.