Amir Derakh

"Amir Davidson" (born June 20, 1963), known as Amir Derakh is an American musician & producer. He is currently the guitarist and the synthesizer player for the band Julien-K, and guitarist for the band Dead by Sunrise. He was once the guitar synthesizer 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 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 lead singer Chester Bennington's solo song "Morning After" which appeared exclusively on the soundtrack for the 2006 film, "". 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 "" 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, Spineshank, Danzig, the eels, Mumiy Troll, Estados Alterados, Ghostfeeder and Red Tape.
Derakh owns two 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 Russian ancestry. He attended UCLA and earned his certificate in producing/engineering.
Derakh 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?" 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.
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.