In childhood it wasn’t a book Derek Ryan kept under his covers late at night – it was a pair of headphones. Listening to the late night shows on the Santa Monica university radio station KCRW he discovered the mind expanding experiences of synthesized soundscapes, adding a whole other dialect to his second language of music (Japanese is his third, but that’s another story). Derek bought turntables in 2003, and never looked back. Ever since, he has dedicated himself to bringing the raw emotional power of melodic dance music to dance floors and headphones from the San Francisco Bay Area to Tokyo to Black Rock City and beyond through DJ appearances and crafting cutting edge melodic dance sounds in original studio productions, remixes, and collaborations. Between rave-reviewed productions and live DJ sets described as “blissfully rippin”, Derek continues to live true to his motto of delivering driving melodic beats to the masses.