Derek started playing a plastic ukulele at the age of six. After experimenting with numerous tunings on the tiny instrument, it suddenly and without warning snapped in half; emotionally traumatizing the small boy. Months later, he gravitated to his father's baritone ukulele, learning his firstchords. As a young adolescent, his father brought him home a shiny new electric guitar. Derek, who had been swimming at a neighbor's house, gleefully ran over to see the new instrument. Still barefoot and wet from the swim, he reached for the guitar, now plugged into the family stereo, and in one electrifying moment, became painfully aware of the traumatic undercurrents of pursuing a musical life.