After graduating in 1981 from Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California, Derakh played lead guitar for local bands Armed & Ready and Emerald.

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, Underworld: Evolution.

He also made an appearance in the 2003 version of the film Freaky Friday and has worked with many other popular bands, including Coal Chamber, Spineshank, Danzig, the eels, Red Tape, Mumiy Troll and Estados Alterados.

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.