Belgian progressive house duo Pedro Mercado & Karada unveil their highly anticipated album #100 on Chrom Recordings, marking a major milestone for the label. This release isn’t just another album; it’s a celebration of Chrom’s journey and the duo’s deep-rooted history with the label.
Curated with precision, #100 features seven standout originals, each representing a chapter in Chrom’s evolution, alongside three brand-new tracks created exclusively for this release. The album’s opening track, Panorama, serves as a metaphor for their artistic journey—catchy, melodic, and timeless, staying true to their unique sound without following fleeting trends.
Pedro Mercado, a Belgian DJ with a long and successful international career, and Karada, known for his legendary “Last Flight” release on Lost Language, have been shaping the electronic scene for over a decade. Since their first collaboration in 2008, they have consistently delivered music that resonates worldwide, landing releases on iconic labels such as Parquet, Proton, Frequenza, Natura Viva, and Beatfreak.
With #100, Pedro Mercado & Karada solidify their legacy, bringing together years of experience, innovation, and passion into one defining release. This is not just an album; it’s a tribute to their journey and a statement for the future of Chrom Recordings.
Connect with Pedro Mercado on Soundcloud / Spotify / Instagram
Connect with Karada on Soundcloud / Spotify / Instagram
Hey guys, super nice to have you here! First of all, can you tell our readers some more about yourself and how it all started?
Karada: My producer career under the name Karada really started in 2003 when my track “Last Flight” was released on Lost Language, the sublabel of the famous UK label Hooj Choons, with a remix from Markus Shulz. The track was played all around the world and was even charted on the BBC Radio 1 dance charts.
Pedro: I started to DJ in 1996 and in 2008 I met Karada who is from the same region in Belgium as me. We immediately clicked, and Karada took me under his wings in his studio. Our first cooperation was “Something Phat”, which was released in 2009 on Creamminal Records, a sublabel of Bonzai.
You both have really impressive release stats with appearances on respected labels such as MUKKE, ICONYC, Parquet, Movement, Krafted, Particles, Awen, Dear Deer, Beatfreak, Manual and many others. What do you consider yourself as a highlight so far?
Pedro: In 2011 we scored an Ibiza hit with “Hallelujaaahhh”, which was released on La Factoria, the label of Wally Lopez. Ibiza has been my second home for many summers so this really meant a lot to me. There was a time when I could hear our track in every corner of the Island, magic times 🙂
Karada: I’m a big vinyl lover. In 2012 we got our first vinyl release together with “Behind the Sun“ on Gold Records, a sublabel of the Berlin-based Kling Klong Records from Martin Eyerer. This track got remixed by Rodriguez Jr & Shadow Child. Next to that one I also have some more vinyl releases with other musical projects which I’m very proud of.
Before we talk about your album, tell us a bit more about Chrom Recordings. Chrom has a nice reputation in the Progressive House & Melodic Techno scene, and even in Indie Dance lately.
Pedro: In 2017 I founded Chrom Recordings together with Mike Chrom from Planet Ibiza. Since then Karada and I mainly released our collabs on Chrom because it gives us more musical freedom and more control over all the rest of the music: artwork, timings, remixes, promo etc. I worked really hard on the label, and with great results I can say: Chrom has grown into a very credible label & successful brand with many followers & important industry support, and regular appearances in the Beatport Features & Charts. I’m also proud of the artist roster we have built during all those years: a great mix of new promising talents and established experienced known artists such as Aves Volare, Modeplex, Rauschhaus, SNYL, Fernando Lagreca, Yves Eaux,… who also release on respected labels such as Stil Vor Talent, Einmusika, 3000 Grad, Steyoyoke, KATERMUKKE, Sincopat, Perspectives Digital, Selador,… which are all labels that are very close to our sound.
Karada: For me, Chrom Recordings stands for Quality music. Together with Pedro, we already released many times on his label and I hope that many more will follow in the future.
Let’s talk a bit about the album now. What can you tell us about it?
Pedro: The album is called “#100” referring to the 100th release of Chrom Recordings, a significant milestone for the label but also for myself because it also refers to the number of times I appeared on Chrom in terms of Original tracks, EPs and Remixes, of which 37 in collaboration with Karada! So it was pretty logical we had to do something special with this.
Karada: The album was carefully created and we have put a lot of time into this. It had to be something special. You can therefore assume that the songs were made with a lot of passion with a combination of hardware and software. By the way, with every release, it’s always nice to still use hardware.
#100 is out on your favourite music outlet. Check it out.
What was your creative vision behind this album? Did you set out to create a specific mood or story?
Pedro: We selected 7 leading original collabs over the 7 years we have existed, the ones that best reflect our signature sound. In addition to these, we created 3 brand-new tracks to make the album complete. One of those new ones is the opening track “Panorama”, a metaphor for our oeuvre on Chrom and a perfect example of our unique sound: always catchy, always melodic, without following hypes, but to create timeless masterpieces!
Karada: Indeed we wanted to tell a story with this album and each song has its own story: it had to be an album that reflects our unique sound. I hope we have succeeded in this. But I think so because the moments when we make music together in the studio are always a lot of fun, with a lot of inspiration.
Acid Meets Melodic: The album blends acid lines with melodic techno grooves. How did you approach balancing these two elements in your tracks? And what inspired this acid-infused melodic groove (artists, places, or experiences).
Pedro: Clearly this has something to do with our roots, Karada and I share the same musical background: the golden era of the Belgian New Beat, Acid & Trance scene. I was a big fan of Oliver Lieb and Emmanuel Top. The latter produced numerous top acid trance tracks (Turkish Bazar, Cactus Rhythm, Acid Phase, Seven days and one week,…) under different monikers which were hammered in some legendary Belgian clubs when I was a clubbing kid. He was very popular in my region because he was living close by.
Karada: I think the acid sound will always exist. Many manufacturers always make copies of the original TB303 synth again and again. I use the M303 from Acidlab in my modular synth to create this sound. This module is no longer made nowadays and just like the original TB303 it now costs much more in the 2nd hand circuit than what I paid it new at the time. It remains a fantastic sound!
What studio set-up did you use for this album: DAW, hardware, software, plugins,…? Were there any new techniques or influences you explored?
Karada: We use Cubase as main sequencer. As already mentioned creating the sound is usually done in a combination of software and hardware. I’m a big fan of Eelektron gear and the modular synthesizer also plays a big role in producing music. It should remain fun and I am not really in favor of doing everything with the computer mouse.
Pedro: All the hardware equipment is in the Studio of Karada, so when I work alone in my studio on our tracks I only use Cubase. And I use the same setup as Karada: with VSTI plugins from u-he (Diva, Hive,…), Spectrasonics (Omnishpere) and Lenner Digital (Sylenth1).
Dancefloor Impact: How do you envision these tracks being received on the dancefloor? Were they designed with a specific atmosphere or crowd in mind? What message or lasting impression do you hope this release leaves with listeners?
Karada: The intention is that our music can be listened to on the dance floor as well as in the living room, car,… as long as you can just enjoy the music. There are already so many problems in this world and what could be more fun than making music. It really connects people from all over the world. It’s always great fun when we get good feedback.
Pedro: I always try to look for balance, both in life as in music. In music, this means that my tracks can be listened to inside the club but also outside the club. So not too soft, but also not too hard. I think intimate clubs are perfect for my sound, and that’s also where I love to play the most as a DJ.
What’s next for Pedro Mercado & Karada? Are there upcoming projects, collaborations, or performances fans should look forward to?
Pedro: In the first place I’m a DJ, so I hope I can play out the tracks from our album
in as many locations and for as many people as possible. The official presentation of our album will take place on Saturday 22/02/2025 at Kadinsky, thé Progressive House hub of Amsterdam.
Another important gig will be on Friday 02/05/2025 also in Amsterdam, where we will celebrate 8 Years Chrom Recordings at Club John Doe. Later next year we will be back again at ADE of course with our own label showcase in collaboration with you guys from Tanzgemeinschaft. And I hope we can do some more label showcases in other countries too.
Production wise I’m currently working on some collaborations with other people, but my main focus will be as always my collaborations with Karada for my Progressive/Melodic side. But next to that, I’ll also be focussing on my Organic & Afro House project, called AkpaLa.
Label wise my main focus will stay on Chrom Recordings, but I’m also A&R Manager at the Planet Ibiza brand which has 3 labels at the moment: I Am Boho, Planet Ibiza Collective and Planet Ibiza Music.
Karada: Since 2022 I also work under my own Dub Techno alias The Open Circle with numerous digital releases and also some vinyl releases. There was also a collaboration with the Berlin DJ Angel Lebailly. A new release will soon be released on the well-known dub techno label Greyscale and on many other labels too. I also regularly make a podcast, and I’ll keep running my own label Lost Entity which stands for electronic experimental music and more Hypnotic Techno.
Next to that, my main focus will be as always my collaborations with Pedro for Progressive/Melodic. The challenge is to always continue and perhaps try to do something live with the hardware as well in the future.
Thank you
