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BIO

 

DEREK has written for some of Electronic Music’s elite - TST, 3T, AvB, PvB and BBenassi to name a few and is one of the most in demand lyricists and vocalists in the music industry.  As one third of multi-million record selling Brit band NoEXIT he has conquered both the UK Top 40 and the US Billboard Top 100.

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The writing was on the wall for Derek to be involved in music in some form from an early age. Derek’s father was part of The Signs, a UK band paying their dues at the same time as The Beatles and signed to Decca Records. “I always remember the house being engulfed with music as a child”, Derek said. “Me and my dad built a makeshift studio at the bottom of our garden with a four-track tape machine. I was always in there. I was fascinated by the whole process of making music.”

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It was a sonic love affair that was to reach dizzying heights early on, when Mcnally formed NoEXIT with fellow singer/songwriters Mark Jeremy Barry and Stephen Adel Burns. Their first single ‘Back Here’ soared to the top of the American radio charts, hit the #1 spot in Japan and scooped countless awards including ‘Song Of The Year’ from ASCAP and ‘Most Played Song Of The Year’ from PRS. Going on to sell over 3 million records worldwide, Derek took to touring the world, performed on national TV, gracing the covers of magazines and became a certified teenage pin-up and not least, a household name. 

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Post-NoEXIT era, Derek headed back to the studio, albeit now in LA rather than his dad’s back garden. It was here, on a random demo, that he heard the blend of rock and electronic for the very first time. “It was ‘Somebody Told Me’ by The Killers. I was completely hooked on the sound, the use of synthesizers in a rock song.” Experimenting with synths back in the UK, his early work with Inhaler collective caught the attention of arguably the world’s biggest electronic artist - TST. The Dutch icon asked Derek if he could remix of one of his tracks but Derek declined and offered to write a song with TST instead. “He sent me a backing track that instantly inspired me and in minutes I was able to write a song.” The track, ‘In The Dark’, became the lead single on TST’s Grammy-nominated album ‘Elements of Life’, scored over 5 million hits on Vimeo and saw Derek join TST on a massive world tour, introducing him in one fell swoop to some of the planet’s finest dance producers. 

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From that moment on the collaborations and offers began to pour in. Working with electronic giant 3T, Derek co-wrote and sang five tracks on Grammy-nominated album ‘These Humbles Machines’ – ‘The Emergency’, ‘Forget Me’, 'Every Other Way', 'Love Can Kill You' and lead track ‘Suddenly’. Teaming up with AvB on his ‘Mirage’ album, Derek wrote the #1 smash hit ‘This Light Between Us’. Across 2010 and 2013 he toured with the record-breaking five-time winner of DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs.  He also co-wrote and performed on the track ‘Love and Motion’ from BBenassi’s ‘Rock N Rave’ album. 


It’s been a busy 2019 so far… 

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Derek has enjoyed success with /\HTS bandmate  - 3T. They released their first album ‘Daggers' to critical acclaim and Howard Jones himself invited them to join him on his North American tour.  Derek and the boys have also just released the brand new NoEXIT album - ‘Powerstation’. He has performed on Good Morning America, successfully written music for TV and Film and has performed over 50 live shows around the world with NoEXIT and /\HTS.  2020 is set to be an even bigger year with the launch of something very exciting…….

 

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