Amir Derakh
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| Amir Derakh | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Amir Davidson |
| Born | June 20, 1963 Schenectady, New York |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Years active | 1984 – present |
| Associated acts | Orgy Julien-K Dead By Sunrise |
| Website | amir-derakh.com |
Amir Davidson (stage-named Amir Derakh) (born June 20, 1963 in Schenectady, New York), is an American musician of Persian ancestry. As of 1997 he is the guitar/synthesizer player for the band Orgy. He was once a guitarist in the bands Rough Cutt and Jailhouse.
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[edit] Career
After graduating in 1981 from Mission Bay High School 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.
Besides Orgy, he has a side band called Julien-K, and made a guest appearance on Crazy Town's The Gift of Game album. Julien-K released a remix of Chester Bennington's solo song "The 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 Chemical Brothers.
Derakh performed backing for Chester Bennington when he performed his 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 bands, including Coal Chamber.
[edit] Personal life
Derakh is 1/2 Iranian, 1/8 Irish, Austrian, Hungarian, Russian. He attended UCLA and earned his certificate in producing/engineering. [1]
Derakh also is an avid guitar designer. He has worked with Grover Jackson of Jackson Guitars 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?" Amir also has a son named Michael Melody Davidson. [2]
[edit] Discography (Producer/Engineer/Mixing and Arranging)
- Orgy - Punk Statik Paranoia - co-producer/engineer - 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
- Zoolander - Soundtrack - co-producer/engineer/mixer for orgy - hollywood - 2001
- Spineshank - The Height of Callousness -pre-production & song arrangements - Roadrunner - 2000 - Grammy Award Nominated
- Scream 3 - 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 - 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 - 1997
- Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber - engineer / mixer - Roadrunner - 1997 - Gold
- The Eels - Beautiful Freak - engineer - Dreamworks - 1996 - Gold )
[edit] Trivia
- The stage name Amir Derakh is a play on words, meaning "I'm here to rock". However, Derakh is also a shortened version of his birth father's surname.
- Amir had an acting role in the Disney movie Freaky Friday.
