Biography

Derell was born, Prince Derell Byrd, on August 26th 1982 in Charleston, South Carolina to Everly and Varrie Byrd. As his father was in the military, he spent his early childhood years moving to different places. At the age of 8, his family moved to Jacksonville, Fl where they settled.
Derell got into music in the 6th grade by joining his middle school’s band and playing trumpet. He did this primarily for attention and to feel unique. As a middle child, he fell into the cliché mindset that he was being overlooked. Later in the same year he started taking piano lessons because his mother loved the idea of raising a child that played the instrument. “She seemed so excited at the idea when she asked if anyone wanted to take piano lessons. I couldn’t say no. Plus, I would get more attention.”
Derell’s desire to please others spilled into writing music: he spent his high school years at the highly acclaimed Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, where he wrote a song for a friend, and while the friend liked the words, he wanted dirtier lyrics. But Derell didn’t feel that was his style--if he wrote dirtier lyrics he would no longer be true to himself.
For this reason, Derell believes music is a subjective endeavor. He tosses the opinions of others to the wind and writes music for his own sake, and he encourages other artists to do the same. After all, the industry is changing; the Internet and new recording technology put the creation of music in the hands of musicians. That’s why he is never discouraged by news of major labels dropping artists: “I’m hoping that everyone gets dropped from their label and the majors shut down. Then the music business will be in its purest form--people just making music. And that’s where we’re headed.”
Derell often looks for new ways to develop his music, experimenting with different sounds and instrumental and vocal arrangements. And his lyrics cover many topics. “I write what I know, and I don’t know about some of the things that most other artists do. I don’t have a lot of positive experience in the matters of love, and relationships. So I don’t write a lot of lovey-dovey songs.” Nevertheless, listeners can expect to hear interesting things from the weird mind of Derell.
In addition, listeners will hear a medley of genres in his songs, like R&B, hip-hop, and rock, and even hear the influences of his favorite artists: Prince, Phil Collins, , and R. Kelly. Prince is the best example of staying true to oneself: the legendary artists did all of the instruments for his debut album "For You" because the other musicians did not play the way Prince wanted them to. Phil Collins wins Derell’s respect for using the background music to complement his vocal melody. “I think today it is too often the other way around. It’s all about the beat, or that instrumental hook, and the vocals are just there as decoration. There, of course, is nothing wrong with this; I do it too. Just not all of the time.” Meanwhile, R. Kelly was Derell’s first major influence. He studied the legendary artist’s lyric and vocal style, and then how R. Kelly arranged his songs, from instrumentation to phrasing. He also likes the versatility of R. Kelly, breaking the mold with new sounds in his music.
Derell is also an elementary school music teacher, and he learns just as much from his students. “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is how little I know. Kids have a way of showing you how ignorant you are when they ask you questions you don’t know the answer to.” He constantly teaches himself new things so he’s prepared for hard questions from his students. The knowledge he accumulates goes into his music, too.
For Derell, joining a major recording label, selling one million copies of an album, and performing for half a million people in a concert is not the measurement of success: success means creating music you like in your own way and on your own terms. Staying true to your artistic creativity and integrity is the key. Derell carries out this principle in his music every day.
Derell is currently working on his sophomore album, "Daydreams in Electrospace."