DerrelL Davis

Derrell Davis was born in the city Los Angeles, but grew up in the suburbs of Chino Hills, CA, a city that introduced him to the art form of Skateboarding at a young age. With skateboarding becoming more and more recognized as a bona fide extreme sport, he began to diligently pursue skateboarding as more than a pastime. After many hours of practice and watching skateboarding videos, Derrell’s focused changed. What caught his attention was the music on the soundtrack to the videos and how it was prominently displayed. Every video he saw was filled with continuous musical selections. So Derrell began to focus more on the music and less on the skateboarding. As his musical interest blossomed, Derrell decided that the music industry was where his future lay.  After a short stint behind the mic, Derrell changed directions and became more focused on recording and producing.  He received an Associate Degree from the Los Angeles Film and Recording School and moved to Oakland, CA for an internship with D’Wayne Wiggins; famed founder and recording artist of the R&B group Toni! Tony! Ton`e! This internship gave Derrell the hands on opportunity to hone his craft from the ground up.  With the assistance of another intern, they worked to help make Mindseed Soundstage and Recording Studio a viable and productive company. And in the process Derrell was offered the position of Audio Engineer and Facility Manager.  This opened a world of experiences for Derrell and sent him on a continuous learning journey that has offered him work on some exciting projects in the Oakland/Bay Area: Oakland’s three day Juneteenth Celebration and as lead Audio Engineer for the City of Oakland’s new entertainment project at the Oakland Airport, all while working with some of the biggest recording artist and stars.  Through a Mindseed contract with Oakland Unified School District, he was appointed to teach basic recording and engineering practices to the youth in a summer program.  An article was written about Derrell as an alum who is working in the industry and living his dream.  Derrell says, “I am not above any job or task that I am asked to do, otherwise how will I learn to do it?”.  Whatever the future holds Derrell is ready, willing and able to embrace and conquer it.