Amir Davidson, professionally known as Amir Derakh, is an American musician and record producer. He is currently the guitarist and the synthesizer player for the band Julien-K, and was the guitarist for the band Dead by Sunrise. He was the g-synth player in the rock band Orgy, and has also played guitar in the bands Rough Cutt and Jailhouse.

Career

After graduating in 1981 from

Mission Bay High School Mission Bay High School (MBHS) is a public high school in San Diego, California, adjacent to Mission Bay (San Diego), Mission Bay in the community of Pacific Beach, San Diego, Pacific Beach. It is a magnet school with emphasis on academic stu ...

in San Diego, California, Derakh played lead guitar for local bands Armed & Ready and Emerald. He moved to Los Angeles to replace Craig Goldy in Rough Cutt. He made a guest appearance on Crazy Town's album, '' The Gift of Game''. Julien-K released a remix of

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

lead singer

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...

'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 Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

meets

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

. 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'' 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, Irish, Austrian, Hungarian, and Czechoslovakian ancestry. He attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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 brand of guitars sold by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Jackson was originally an independent manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars named after its founder, the American luthier Grover Jackson. Th ...

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 * Julien-K – ''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 * Julien-K – ''Time Capsule – A Future Retrospective'' – producer/engineer/mixer – 2018 *"Grey Saints" – ''Steam Catcher", "Crash'' – producer / engineer / mixer – 2017 *"Lovelesslust" – ''Fashion'' – producer/engineer/mixer – 2017 * Julien-K – ''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 – ''Malibu Alibi'' – co-producer/engineer/mixer – various tracks – 2016 * Julien-K – ''California Noir, Chapter One – Analog Beaches & Digital Cities'' – producer/engineer/mixer – 2015 * Mumiy Troll – ''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 * Mumiy Troll – ''SOS Matrosu'' – co-producer/engineer/mixer/remixer – various tracks – 2013 - #1 Russian Album * Julien-K – 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 * Dead by Sunrise – '' Out of Ashes'' – pre-production and engineering – Warner Bros. - 2009 *'' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (video game) – producer/engineer/mixer for Julien-K score – Activision – 2009 * Julien-K – '' Death to Analog'' – 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 heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

– 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 * Orgy – '' Punk Statik Paranoia'' – co-producer/engineer/mixer – D1 – 2004 *Red Tape – ''Radioactivist'' – producer/mixer – roadrunner – 2004 *'' Sonic Heroes'' – Soundtrack – producer/engineer/mixer for Julien-K – Sega – 2004 *'' Freaky Friday'' – Soundtrack – producer/engineer for Halo Friendlies – Hollywood – 2003 – Gold * Coal Chamber- '' Giving the Devil His Due'' – engineer/mixer – Roadrunner -2003 * Coal Chamber – ''Dark Days'' – pre-production & song arrangements – Roadrunner – 2002 * ''Valentine'' – pre-production & engineering – Warner Bros. - 2001 *'' Zoolander'' – Soundtrack – co-producer/engineer/mixer for Orgy – Hollywood – 2001 * Spineshank – ''

The Height of Callousness ''The Height of Callousness'' is the second studio album by American metal band Spineshank, released on October 9, 2000, through Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Garth "GGGarth" Richardson alongside Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan an ...

'' – pre-production & song arrangements – Roadrunner – 2000 –

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

Nominated *''

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

'' – Soundtrack – remixer for Orgy – Wind-Up – 2000 – Gold * Orgy – ''Vapor Transmission'' – co-producer/engineer – Reprise – 2000 – Gold * Danzig – ''Satan's Child'' – mixer – E-Magine – 1999 * Coal Chamber – ''Chamber Music'' – mixer – Roadrunner – 1999 * Spineshank – '' Strictly Diesel'' – producer/engineer/mixer – Roadrunner – 1998 * Orgy – '' 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 re ...

– 1998 – Platinum * ''Strangeland'' – soundtrack – mixer for Coal Chamber – TVT – 1998 *'' Bride of Chucky'' – 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 – ''Coal Chamber'' – engineer/mixer – Roadrunner – 1997 – Gold *

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...

– ''

Beautiful Freak ''Beautiful Freak'' is the debut album by American rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the second album released by record label DreamWorks. Background ''Beautiful Freak'' is the first album using the full band name Eels, ...

'' – 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)