A great track is a great track, regardless of the genre. It is this philosophy combined with a profound love of sharing music that has allowed Kered to play for crowds on the sun-drenched beaches of Ibiza to the hedonistic clubs of Berlin, Los Angeles, Munich and more.

His sound reflects a deeper, emotive style that’s combined with peak hour rhythms and melodic overtones. Kered has released music on acclaimed labels such as Definitive Recordings, Nervous Records and ultimately on his own label, Loot Recordings. With a passion for discovering new sounds, Loot Recordings has become a platform for new artists as well as established artists who have become a part of the label’s family.

The adventure continues and we invite you to experience Kered’s celebratory spirit of dance music that’s fused together with mesmerizing soundscapes and sophisticated rhythms.

Balance Selections 172: Kered

Tracklisting:

01. Pedro Capelossi & Leon Lobato – Down the Rabbit Hole
02. ID – ID
03. ID – ID
04. Juan Fierro – Suculento
05. Rashid Ajami – You Don’t Know Me (Madraas Remix)
06. Volen Sentir – Neunivai
07. Ramyen – Najwa
08. Viktop – Snow Angel
09. Mehari – Fame (Luciano Vocal Remix)

Balance Selections Q+A

Name: Kered
Location: Hartford, Connecticut USA
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Alias/Producer name: Kered
Labels affiliated with: Loot Recordings

My last 3 releases:

Silence Path – Alternative Reality (Kered Remix)

Kered & Yoni Yarchi – Except For Maybe

Kered – Find My Way Back

What music did you listen to as a child?

My earliest memories of music were listening to vinyl records on a turntable my parents got me as young child – somewhere around 7 or 8 years old. Music was a big part of growing up, not only in my house, but everywhere you went. Rollerskating rinks were a big thing and MTV was huge. I’d sit at my turntable in the basement playing records by Blondie, Prince, Pink Floyd, Styx and so on. My parents were into all kinds of music. My father is a big jazz person, playing albums from artists like Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Weather Report, Chick Corea and many others. My mother was into more mainstream music, which included artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, etc. My uncle was a DJ in a disco club and we would always listen to records at family get togethers in his room. I remember him playing Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ album and being blown away, and the same for Prince’s ‘Dirty Mind’. It was a special time and having the vinyl album to hold was like a magical world to me. I’d study the liner notes – who produced it, where it was recorded, getting lost in the cover art or the band in the studio.

When was the first time that you realised that you liked electronic music?

I guess we can say things like Kraftwerk, Prince and Michael Jackson were electronic music, but when it comes to house music and techno I remember it well. It was around 1991, 1992 and I was at a friend’s house for a party. At the end of the night, my she asked me if I could give her boyfriend a ride home. I didn’t want to at first because it was 30 minutes out of my way. He convinced me to give him a ride home and promised that he would give me a cassette tape of this incredible new music he heard while spending the summer in Europe. I said, OK. We got in the car, we put the tape into the deck and boom – I was hooked. It was all this wild electronic music I never heard. Intense techno and trance-like sounds from Harthouse, lots of Detroit techno with tracks by Blake Baxter and Juan Atkins and some Chicago house. It blew me away. He let me keep the tape and I wore it out. I played it over and over, soon discovering the rave parties on the East Coast in New England and New York. It was an exciting time.

When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?

I honestly can’t remember who the first DJ was! Locally, it was people like Joe Giucastro and Markie Gee who were playing some great underground sounds at clubs like Riot and The Comet. Hartford is about an hour and a half from New York City, so the sounds here were very influenced by what was happening in New York. These guys were playing very cutting edge music for the time, mixing in the latest house and techno sounds along with classics from Donna Summer, Depeche Mode and others. Being so close to New York, I was in the city quite a bit and some of the first DJs I saw were people like Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, David Morales, Moby… and later at the raves, it was Frankie Bones, Keoki and people like this. The clubs in New York I frequented early on were places like Limelight, Palladium, Mars… The Loft in Boston… then later on, Twilo was a mecca, going to see names like Sasha, John Digweed, Richie Hawtin, Jeff Mills and others.

Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?

There are so many producers I admire, from the more established names to newer faces. Richie Hawtin as Plastikman is incredible. The depth and dark soundscapes he explores takes me away to another place. I enjoy Nils Frahm for deeper moments. People like David Morales for uplifting house, or his Red Zone sounds that are a bit darker… John Digweed and Sasha… Moby… the classics from Detroit, including Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Derrick May. Their music is so timeless. Newer people I admire are Yoni Yarchi, Lucefora, Daniel van Der Zwaag and Silence Path. All of them are a part of my label Loot Recordings and they’re making such inspiring emotive, deep, dance floor friendly sounds.

What was the last album that you downloaded/bought?

I’ll give you two. The most recent is Pantha du Prince ‘Conference of Trees‘ which is deep, spaced out ambient and techno sounds. I discovered this after hearing a track he did years ago and looked into his albums and productions. The second is ‘Tripping with Nils Frahm‘, that is just fantastic. Put it on and sit back, relax and dive into a good book or just close your eyes. Both albums aren’t that new, but they are to me!

What is your current production and DJ set up like?

For DJ’ing I use Traktor with an X1 controller – very simple. This goes into the Pioneer DJM-900 NXS2 mixer, which is nice because it’s an easy set up that isn’t disruptive. I like Traktor for it’s organization, effects and ability to do some things easier than a CDJ. In the studio I use Ableton and a whole bunch of plugins, mostly whatever comes with Ableton and a few extra favorites from Waves or Valhalla.

What releases do you have on the horizon?

I’m so focused on the label that it’s more about the artists on the label than me. That said, I do have 10 or so tracks that are “in the works”. I just need to finish them! The goal is to put our a proper Kered release early next year.

Where can we hear you perform?

At the current moment there aren’t too many in-person club gigs happening, but I did recently play my first show in over a year which felt amazing. It was a small club night for about 200 people. I opened for Roger Sanchez and it felt incredible to play music for a live audience instead of the live streaming. Loot Recordings has a monthly podcast that features the artists on the label and friends, and we also host a monthly radio show on Pure Ibiza Radio in partnership with Deeper Sounds. The Loot Recordings podcast is once a month on our Soundcloud and the Pure Ibiza Radio show is the last Sunday of every month.

Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?

First, I want to say thank you very much for having me be a part of the Balance Series podcast!

I recorded the mix the day after my first club gig, full of some newfound inspiration and hope. The mix contains quite a few tracks from my label that are coming out this year, as well as some new favuorites from other labels and artists. I sketched out the mix in Traktor and then later finished it in Ableton.

My Recommendations

The top track in my DJ wallet currently is:

At the moment it’s Volen Sentir ‘Neunivai‘. Uplifting, summer, positive sounds for challenging times.

If I could recommend only one of my tracks for you to listen to it would be:

My latest production, of course! Silence Path ‘Alternative Reality‘ (Kered Remix)

If I could recommend only one track for you to listen to it would be:

I would recommend Laurent Garnier’s masterpiece ‘Acid Eiffel‘ as the choice. Classic techno that’s over 13 minutes long and it keeps you hooked throughout the entire track. I love how it balances beauty and futuristic techno sounds layered with warm strings and acid sounds. A timeless track for sure!