Amir Davidson, professionally known as Amir Derakh, is an American musician and record producer. He is currently the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

ist and the synthesizer player for the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Julien-K Julien-K is an American electronic rock band based in Long Beach, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic. The band's name comes from the movie ...

, and was the guitarist for the band

Dead by Sunrise Dead by Sunrise (formerly known as Snow White Tan) was an American rock supergroup formed in 2005 by vocalist Chester Bennington who was best known as the lead vocalist of Linkin Park. The band also consisted of Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Bran ...

. He was once the

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnersh ...

player in the rock band

Orgy In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...

, and has also played guitar in the bands

Rough Cutt Rough Cutt is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles who released two studio albums on Warner Bros. Records in the mid-1980s. Rough Cutt never achieved the commercial success enjoyed by many other Los Angeles bands of that time but vari ...

and Jailhouse.

Career

After graduating in 1981 from

Mission Bay High School Mission Bay High School (MBHS), is a public high school located in the San Diego, California community of Pacific Beach. It is a magnet school with emphasis on Academic Studies. In Fall 2006, Mission Bay introduced International Baccalaureate c ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California, Derakh played lead guitar for local bands Armed & Ready and Emerald. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to replace

Craig Goldy Thomas "Craig" Goldy (born November 6, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Dio and Giuffria. Early musical life Goldy was born in San Diego, California. Before Dio, he played in the bands Vengeance, R ...

in Rough Cutt. He made a guest appearance on

Crazy Town Crazy Town (sometimes abbreviated as CXT) is an American rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. Crazy Town is best known for their 2000 hit single "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' ...

's album, ''

The Gift of Game ''The Gift of Game'' is the debut studio album by American band Crazy Town. It was released on November 9, 1999 in the U.S. by Columbia Records. The album yielded the band its biggest hit to date with "Butterfly" which reached number 1 on the ' ...

''. Julien-K released a remix of Linkin Park lead singer

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, ...

's solo song "Morning After" which appeared exclusively on the soundtrack for the 2006 film, '' Underworld: Evolution''. Derakh describes the sound of Julien-K as Depeche Mode meets Nine Inch Nails. Derakh performed backing for Bennington when he performed the song "Let Down" during 2005's '' ReAct Now: Music & Relief'' televised concert. He also made an appearance in the 2003 version of the film ''

Freaky Friday ''Freaky Friday'' is a comedic children's novel written by Mary Rodgers, first published by Harper & Row in 1972. It has been adapted for several films, including versions in 1976, 1995, 2003, and 2018, and was reinterpreted as a horror film f ...

'' and has worked with many other popular bands, including Coal Chamber, Spineshank, Danzig, the eels, Red Tape, Mumiy Troll and Estados Alterados. Derakh owns two highly successful restaurants in Orange County, California. 2145 & Lola Gaspar, plus a recording & mixing studio in Long Beach, California.

Personal life

Derakh is of

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

, Hungarian, and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

ancestry. He attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and earned his certificate in producing/engineering. Derakh is an avid guitar designer. He has worked with Grover Jackson of

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guita ...

and has personally designed several of the guitars he currently plays (the most famous being The Disruptor). One of his motivations for designing his own guitars is his desire to create something unique yet functional, and having the public wonder "Wow, what is that guy playing?" He also designed a signature model for Yamaha called the AES-AD6 which was made in a very limited factory run and is highly collectable. Derakh has a son named Michael Melody-Davidson.Popgurls.com
According to Metal Sludge, his stage name is meant to imply the phrase "I'm Here to Rock," with the spelling of the last name as a tribute to his Iranian heritage.

Discography

*"Slaves to Humanity" - ''Battleground'', "Behind My Back", "Riot Addict", "I Love It" - producer/engineer/mixer - 2020 *"The Intemperate Sons" - ''Running Man'', "Believe", "Wading in the Gray", "Going Crazy", "Remission" - mixer - 2020 *"Ghostfeeder" - ''Invited to the Murder'' - mixer - 2020 *"Hospital Lies" - ''Ultraviolet'' - mixer - 2020 *

- ''Harmonic Disruptor'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2019 *"By An Ion" - ''Shadow Knife'', "Faces" - mixer - 2019 *"Ghostfeeder" - ''Star Beast'' - mixer/addl. production - 2018 *"Estados Alterados" - ''Lumisphera'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2018 *

- ''Time Capsule - A Future Retrospective'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2018 *"Grey Saints" - ''Steam Catcher", "Crash'' - producer / engineer / mixer - 2017 *"Lovelesslust" - ''Fashion'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2017 *

- ''California Noir, Chapter Two - Nightlife In Neon'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2016 *"Fourwaycross" - ''Discipline'' - mixer - 2016 *'' Beta Test'' - Movie Score/Soundtrack - 2016 *"Lovelesslust" - ''The Car Crash That Ended Her Life Came as No Surprise'' - mixer - 2016 *

Mumiy Troll Mumiy Troll (russian: Му́мий Тро́лль ) is a Russian rock group, founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by vocalist and songwriter Ilya Lagutenko (). The band's name translates as "mummy troll" and is a pun on '' Mumintroll'', the children's ...

- ''Malibu Alibi'' - co-producer/engineer/mixer - various tracks - 2016 *

- ''California Noir, Chapter One - Analog Beaches & Digital Cities'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2015 *

- ''Pirate Copies'' - co-producer/engineer/mixer - various tracks - 2015 - #1 Russian Album *"The Crying Spell" - ''Never Again'' - mixer - 2015 *"Matt's Chance" - Movie Score/Soundtrack - 2014 *

- ''SOS Matrosu'' - co-producer/engineer/mixer/remixer - various tracks - 2013 - #1 Russian Album *

- We're Here With You - producer/engineer - 2012 *'' Sonic Generations Original Soundtrack: Blue Blur'' - Soundtrack - producer/engineer/mixer for Circuit Freq - Sega - 2011 *'' True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2'' - Soundtrack - producer/engineer/mixer for Julien-K - Sega - 2009 *

- ''

Out of Ashes ''Out of Ashes'' is the only studio album by American rock band Dead by Sunrise, which consisted of Linkin Park lead vocalist Chester Bennington and Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Anthony 'Fu' Valcic, Brandon Belsky, and Elias Andra of Julien-K. It wa ...

'' - pre-production and engineering - Warner Bros. - 2009 *'' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (video game) - producer/engineer/mixer for Julien-K score - Activision - 2009 *

- ''

Death to Analog ''Death to Analog'' is the first album by the American rock band Julien-K, which had a limited release on March 10, 2009, with a vinyl release on April 7, the digital release and worldwide release on October 20, and the European/Digi-Pak relea ...

'' - producer/engineer/mixer - 2009 *

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms ...

- soundtrack - producer/engineer for Julien-K - Warner Bros. - 2007 *'' Underworld: Evolution'' - soundtrack - producer/engineer/mixer for Chester Bennington vs. Julien-K - Sony - 2007 * ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' - soundtrack - producer/engineer/mixer for Julien-K - Sega - 2005 *

- ''

Punk Statik Paranoia ''Punk Statik Paranoia'' is the third album by the industrial metal band Orgy. It was released on February 24, 2004, their first independent recording. The album's style is a big departure from the electronic rock Electronic rock is a music ...

'' - co-producer/engineer/mixer - D1 - 2004 *Red Tape - ''Radioactivist'' - producer/mixer - roadrunner - 2004 *''

Sonic Heroes is a 2003 3D platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega as part of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Cha ...

'' - Soundtrack - producer/engineer/mixer for Julien-K - Sega - 2004 *''

'' - Soundtrack - producer/engineer for Halo Friendlies - Hollywood - 2003 - Gold *

Coal Chamber Coal Chamber is an American nu metal band formed by Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón in Los Angeles, California in 1993. Prior to Coal Chamber, the two had also created the band She's in Pain, in 1992. The original lineup also consisted of bassist ...

- '' Giving the Devil His Due'' - engineer/mixer - Roadrunner -2003 *

- ''Dark Days'' - pre-production & song arrangements - Roadrunner - 2002 * ''Valentine'' - pre-production & engineering - Warner Bros. - 2001 *''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...

'' - Soundtrack - co-producer/engineer/mixer for Orgy - Hollywood - 2001 *

Spineshank Spineshank was an American metal band from Los Angeles. The band has released four studio albums: '' Strictly Diesel'' (1998), '' The Height of Callousness'' (2000), '' Self-Destructive Pattern'' (2003), and ''Anger Denial Acceptance'' (2012). ...

- '' The Height of Callousness'' - pre-production & song arrangements - Roadrunner - 2000 -

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

Nominated *''

Scream 3 ''Scream 3'' is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy ...

'' - Soundtrack - remixer for Orgy - Wind-Up - 2000 - Gold *

- ''Vapor Transmission'' - co-producer/engineer - Reprise - 2000 - Gold * Danzig - ''Satan's Child'' - mixer - E-Magine - 1999 *

- ''Chamber Music'' - mixer - Roadrunner - 1999 *

- '' Strictly Diesel'' - producer/engineer/mixer - Roadrunner - 1998 *

- ''Candyass'' - co-producer/engineer -

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

- 1998 - Platinum * ''Strangeland'' - soundtrack - mixer for Coal Chamber - TVT - 1998 *''

Bride of Chucky ''Bride of Chucky'' is a 1998 American black comedy slasher film written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. The fourth installment in the ''Child's Play'' franchise, it stars Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, a ...

'' - soundtrack - mixer for Coal Chamber - CMC - 1998 *Rod Stewart tribute album - ''Forever Mod'' - ''Portrait of a Storyteller'' - producer/engineer/mixer/arranger - DeRock - 1997 *

- ''Coal Chamber'' - engineer/mixer - Roadrunner - 1997 - Gold *

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

- ''

Beautiful Freak ''Beautiful Freak'' is the debut album by American rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the first album released by record label DreamWorks. Background ''Beautiful Freak'' is largely the solo work of musician Mark Oliver Ev ...

'' - engineer - DreamWorks - 1996 - Gold -

Nominated

References

External links

Self-description
*
PopGurls Interview: Amir Derakh

Farm2.static.flickr.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derakh, Amir Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American people of Iranian descent American people of Austrian descent American people of Hungarian descent American people of Russian descent American people of Irish descent Rough Cutt members Julien-K members Dead by Sunrise members Musicians from San Diego Orgy (band) members University of California, Los Angeles alumni 20th-century American guitarists Industrial metal musicians Year of birth missing (living people)