Derek was born and raised in Southern California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Southern California, and spent years playing music in the Southern California area, as well as around the United States, and in Japan and Taiwan. After the birth of his oldest son in 1999, he moved to North Carolina, where he received Masters of Arts in Teaching Music Education from the University of North Carolina.
Derek began teaching music at Southern Alamance Middle School in 2002, and just recently retired. He was also the Director of Music at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill from 2007 to 2022. He is currently the Minister of Contemporary Music at Christ The King Lutheran Church in Cary.
