Biography Wikipedia
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Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kiss, and Alice In Chains. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994-1999, and is the founder of progressive metal/instrumental rock supergroup Planet X. Sherinian is also one of the founding members of Black Country Communion.. His solo albums often feature a variety of prominent guest musicians, including guitarists Slash, Yngwie Malmsteen, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Lukather, Joe Bonamassa, Billy Sheehan, Zakk Wylde and Al Di Meola.
Sherinian has distinguished himself by his aggressive "guitaristic" approach to his keyboard style. He has appeared on the cover of keyboard magazines across the world, including the November 2011 issue of Keyboard Magazine, which declared Sherinian a "Keyboard hero for a new generation". He has also been called the "King of the Keys" by Guitar World magazine and the "Caligula of Keyboards" by Alice Cooper. His main musical influences include Elton John, Van Halen and Jeff Beck.
Biography
1966–1999
Sherinian was born in Laguna Beach, California of Greek-Armenian descent. He began taking piano lessons at age five in Santa Cruz, California. After his junior year at Soquel High School, he received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he was the roommate of future Megadeth guitarist and Trans-Siberian Orchestra musical director Al Pitrelli. He has since studied with other keyboard players, including Mitchel Forman, T Lavitz and Russell Ferrante. His first professional gig after leaving Boston was with ex-Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles. Sherinian got his first big break with Alice Cooper in 1989 to tour in support of the platinum selling "Trash" album. After touring with Alice Cooper, Sherinian played offstage keyboards on the 1992 KISS Revenge tour.
In 1994, Derek replaced Kevin Moore in the progressive metal band Dream Theater, originally just for the band's promotional tour for Awake. On February 1995, however, he was made a full-time member of the band. He recorded the albums A Change of Seasons (1995), Falling Into Infinity (1997), and Once In A LIVEtime (1998) with Dream Theater before being replaced in January 1999 by Jordan Rudess due to creative differences and turmoil within the band. Sherinian remained on good terms with the band, and reunited with Dream Theater for a one-off concert in 2004, which was recorded and released as When Dream and Day Reunite (2004). The band's performance of "Metropolis Pt. 1" featured an extended improvisation between Sherinian, Rudess, and guitarist John Petrucci.
During the late 1990s, Sherinian released two albums with the progressive rock supergroup Platypus, which also featured Dream Theater bassist John Myung, Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein, and King's X guitarist Ty Tabor. The group released two albums, When Pus Comes to Shove (1998) and Ice Cycles (2000), before disbanding in 2000.
1999–present
Since 1999, Sherinian has recorded seven solo albums, featuring performances by numerous highly acclaimed musicians.
Sherinian's first solo album, Planet X (1999), written and recorded with Australian drummer Virgil Donati, led to the formation of a band of the same name (Planet X). Guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine was recruited to complete the band. Sherinian has stated that his intention when forming Planet X was to create a group of musicians that "played their instruments so fiercely, that they would strike fear in the hearts of all musicians".
In 2001, Derek teamed with drummer Simon Phillips and guitarists Steve Lukather and Zakk Wylde to record Inertia, followed by Black Utopia (2003). For Black Utopia, three new faces joined Sherinian’s group: bassist Billy Sheehan, rock guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, and jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. With respect to this fusion-influenced lineup, Sherinian stated:
I have always been a fan of jazz fusion, but from the perspective of a rock player crossing over to jazz, not vice versa. I think that is how Jeff Beck (who Sherinian stated he hopes to play with in a recent interview) approached his classic instrumental records and I like to follow in that path.Sherinian also calls the album "a lot darker and heavier than [Inertia]". In Japan, the cover of Black Utopia was altered to remove the cross in the title without Sherinian's consent; Sherinian has commented that the cross "meant nothing" and was added for aesthetic purposes.
Sherinian extended further into the fusion realm by collaborating with guitarist Allan Holdsworth and violinist Jerry Goodman (formerly of the Mahavishnu Orchestra) on Mythology (2004). In addition to another appearance by Phillips, other musicians appearing on this recording were Zakk Wylde, John Sykes, Steve Stevens, and Tony Franklin.
Since 2002, Sherinian has toured with several well-known artists, including Billy Idol and Yngwie Malmsteen. Derek's fifth solo album, Blood of the Snake (2006), features contributions from Idol, as well as former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, John Petrucci of Dream Theater, and Brian Tichy; Phillips, Franklin and Lukather make return appearances. A video for a cover version of Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" was released along with the album. Sherinian also worked with duduk master Djivan Gasparyan on the song "Prelude To Battle" on the release, written for his great grandmother who survived the Armenian genocide. In 2009, Sherinian released his sixth solo album, Molecular Heinosity, again featuring Zakk Wylde, Tony Franklin and Brian Tichy. Later that year, Sherinian also performed a one-off acoustic gig with Alice In Chains to launch their Black Gives Way To Blue album.
In 2010, Sherinian became a founding member of supergroup Black Country Communion with Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, and Joe Bonamassa. releasing their eponymous debut. 1n 2011, Sherinian performed on a second Black Country Communion record titiled "2", followed with a nine week tour of the United States and Europe. In September of that year, Sherinian released his seventh solo album titled Oceana, reuniting with Simon Phillips and Steve Lukather, and featuring a guest appearance from BCC bandmate Joe Bonamassa. In January 2012, Sherinian performed at two shows with Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, and Tony MacAlpine for the Guitar Center Drum Off, and Sabian Live. Sherinian will record Black Country Communion's 3rd studio release this June.
Influences and collaborations
In a 2000 interview, Sherinian cited his early keyboard influences as being Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer and The Nice), Rick Wakeman (Yes), and Elton John. Other influences include guitarists Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, and Eddie Van Halen. Sherinian enjoys co-writing material with fellow musicians, and often finds that he writes better material with drummers. Sherinian cites Van Halen's guitar playing as having a direct influence on his aggressive unique approach to keyboards in terms of technique as well as tone; his unique signature lead patch contains numerous elements of guitar sounds such as distortion, harmonics, and palm-muting, eventually leading to playing a gig with Eddie for a party at Van Halen's home in 2006, of which Sherinian said "It was the highlight of my career, it was completely surreal." Sherinian's work with noted Toto guitarist Steve Lukather on the 2001 solo CD Inertia was cited by Lukather as "probably my best recorded work in my whole career. Great record! I'm very proud of it!".
Sherinian's collaborations with top musicians were featured in a 2007 article in Guitar World magazine, where guitarist Zakk Wylde offered "People want to play with him because he’s that good. He can play everything from the easiest licks on a piano to the most complex Beethoven sonatas with ease." Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci added "...Derek -considering the fact that he’s heavily into guitarists and rock music, his history, and the range of all the great guitarists he’s worked with —plays with a fire unheard of from most keyboardists.” Sherinian explains that he enlists a variety of guitarists because he "[does not] think there is one guitarist who can cover all the styles featured on [the] albums." Sherinian often tailors songs for specific guitarists, such as Holdsworth and Wylde for "Day of the Dead" (off Mythology); in this respect, he seeks to take certain aspects of genres and make them "collide in an eloquent way".
Equipment
Derek Sherinian currently uses and endorses Clavia, KORG, Moog keyboards. Sherinian was presented the G2 Modular synth serial number 001 by Clavia representative Bengt Lilja in January 2004. As an KORG endorsee, Sherinian was one of the first artists to adopt the Korg Trinity keyboard series in 1996. In collaboration with KORG sound designer Jack Hotop, they created Sherinian's signature "guitaristic" lead sound (the "Monster Lead", made famous on the Dream Theater album "Falling Into Infinity") on the Trinity, as well as other, more "modern" and "aggressive" keyboard patches, owing to his fondness of guitar tones and technique. Derek is currently using the KORG Kronos in the studio and live. Derek also uses the Hammond B3 organ; he thinks that "every rock keyboardist should have a distorted Leslie and a Hammond as part of their sound."
Derek is also known for being one of the first keyboardists to use vertical keyboard stands, influencing a new generation of keyboardists. A more detailed list of equipment can be found at Sherinian's Web site ([1]).
Sherinian currently uses the following gear: Korg Kronos 61, Moog Voyager XL, Clavia Nord Lead 3, Clavia Nord Elerctro 3, Clavia Nord Stage 2 88. His vintage gear includes: 1977 Yamaha C9 Conservatory Series Grand Piano.Moog Taurus Pedals. A 1974 Fender Rhodes Stage Piano, and a 1962 Hammond B3, two Leslie 147 speakers, all modified by Ken Rich Sound Services. Sherinian also owns Beachwood Manor Studios, located in Burbank, California. In the studio, Derek also has a Muse Research Receptor 2 ProMax loaded with Omnisphere, Trillian, Albino 3, M Tron 2, B4 2, Ivory 2, Predator, Massive, and many other soft synths.
