Meet Matt Mercado of Sonic Palace in Oak Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Mercado.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Matt. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My first experience in recording audio was when I got my first “porta studio” in high school. I quickly put that to work recording my own music as well as friends musical projects. By the age of 19, I realized music was going to be what I wanted to spend my life doing.

I upgraded to a Tascam 8 track reel to reel and began recording my band as well as other rappers and bands. We formed the band “Daisy Chain” that later changed to “Mindbomb” and after getting attention in the local Chicago scene got signed to Mercury Records.

While working with top-notch L.A. producers I learned a lot about the recording process that I didn’t learn in school, mainly about how to approach recording an album and how to sharpen your skills for pitch and timing.

After my band broke up I formed new projects and my aim was to get my band and clients that I recorded that best sound quality possible and that’ when I opened Sonic Palace in 2003. I was frustrated with the studios and producers I had worked with never being able to achieve the ultimate sound I desired, so I set off on a path to achieve it myself.

I studied all I could about audio engineering and spent countless hours mixing and remixing until I was able to get the quality I was after. I’m still learning new tricks and methods every day, it’s a very unique field.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I would say the sailing has been relatively smooth since I’ve learned to deal with each artist and their personalities. They’re paying me and it’s their project, they are the ones who are going to release the music and perform the music for years to come. In the end, everyone has to be satisfied with the outcome so there is some give and take on both sides.

I remember the first year my studio opened I was working with a band that booked out the studio for weeks. The singer of the band and I butted heads and the band ended up pulling out and going to another studio. I was left with an empty studio for a couple of weeks and quickly released I had to approach artists differently in order to stay in business.

When you record at Sonic Palace, YOU are the star. I give my advice that I’ve learned in the many years of recording, but in the end, I compromise to get the best results possible.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sonic Palace – what should we know?
Sonic Palace is a recording studio that specializes in recording Rock, Hip Hop, and Pop among other genres. I’ve always recorded rock since my early days, but when I opened Sonic Palace there where many Hip Hop artists that needed my services.

It took me a couple of years to get the hang of Hip Hop and I would say that I didn’t fully understand the genre until I worked on the “Sonic Six” mixtape. I composed all the beats in the mixtape and had some of the top rappers in my studio do their thing. After building a project from the ground up I achieved a better understanding of the nuts and bolts of Hip Hop and in the end, it has made me a better Hip Hop engineer.

I would say the most proud moment for Sonic Palace happened recently on the week of December 16th, 2017 when the music I produced at the studio had two Billboard Mainstream Rock top 40 hits in a single week. It’s hard to get a billboard top 40, but the studio had two and one week and that’s a great feeling.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I learned a lot from engineers because I’m not afraid to ask questions about techniques I don’t know. When I started off recording full-time Bob Pucci at Metropolis showed me the ropes. Doug McBride at Gravity has always been open about sharing secrets and I’ve put some of his tips to work.

A lot of credit goes to Mark Nawara of Pavement Records for believing in my work and giving me a shot at producing some of the artists on his label. When we delivered with three billboard top 40 hits in 2017 that was fantastic for everyone involved.

I appreciate the utter devotion Mike Penny, who is a freelance engineer at Sonic Palace has for the art of audio engineering, he is all in. And I get a lot of help from Amir and Chris who do freelance recording at the studio as well.

My family has also been very supportive of the studio as my Dad is a silent partner and he loves bragging to his buddies about his side project. It’s a joy for me to record every artist at Sonic Palace and I’m great full for the opportunity to make music every day.

I’m thankful to my wife Karen for taking care of my scheduling and keeping me booked up solid.

Pricing:

• A Room with Engineer Matt Mercado $50 per hour
• B Room $40 per hour

Contact Info:

• Address: 6545 West North Avenue
  Oak Park, IL 60302
• Website: www.sonicpalace.com
• Phone: 773-295-8330
• Email: sonicpalacestudio@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Karen Linnea Photography, Innocent X, Tauzha, L.H., Dead Freddie, Adriana Elise, Kirra

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