Geronimo Mercado, a multidisciplinary artist from Puerto Rico, draws from his Latino upbringing to explore diverse art forms, particularly music. As a composer, he embraces eclectic influences and collaborates with underrepresented storytellers, including minority and female directors.
His Film music credits began with the film "12 Hours" which won 2 awards in 2002 at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. His works continued with films like "Miente", the official Puerto Rican selection to the Oscars; "200 letters" starring Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), garnering recognition at the Premios Platino Awards, and "Broche de Oro" staring Jacobo Morales (Bananas), the most celebrated movie of Puerto Rico.
His continued collaborations led him to compose over 30 films, spanning both Spanish and English-speaking markets, including Hollywood productions such as “Ana” starring Andy Garcia (The Godfather III) and Dafne Keen (Logan); “Speed Kills” starring John Travolta (Pulp Fiction), and “Driven,” starring Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Jason Sudeikis (Downsizing), official selection of both Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.
He recently finished “Art of Love” based on the bestselling novel “Simone” from Eduardo Lalo adapted by award winning writer and director Betty Kaplan. Also, “WAKE” with award winning director Avi Youabian (Walking Dead, Arrow)
Mercado, a Berklee College of Music graduate with dual majors in Film Scoring and Music Business, holds an MFA in Sound Arts from Columbia University. He's an alumnus of LAFCI and a CANNES Marché du Film Spot The Composer Fellow. In his artistic journey, he's studied under renowned mentors like Miya Masaoka (Sound Arts), Brad Garton (RTC Mix/Computer Music), John Kessler (Kinetic and Multimedia Sculpture), Zosha Di Castri (Contemporary Composition), Sanford Biggers (Installation and Performance Art) and Miller Puckette (Max MSP/PD). Also, Angel Velez, Bill Ross and Conrad Pope (Conducting and Orchestration).
Apart from film music work, Geronimo ventured into other musical and visual arts genres. Mercado champions the experimental instrument "Reactable Live," which he continues to use as his modular system for scoring. This practice led him to diverse artistic collaborations and performances on live stages like the Electric Daisy Carnival under the pseudonym “Rec Deselby”.
As a Sound Artist, Geronimo explores in times of constant disruptive changes and overstimulation, to push unity and self-awareness through various mediums of technology, sound and composition, allowing the creation of subjects that appeal to the core of individuals and their natural conditions. Mercado received an AICA Award (International Association of Art Critics) for the depiction of the Puerto Rico Rainforest sounds and relationships with his installation "Sound Circles/Immersion" as part of a group exhibition “Poetic Science” presented by the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Heritage in Chicago. He also exhibited other Sound Arts pieces like “Victrolian Man,” “K@lostrum," and “Memorial to a Sound Ghost” (dedicated to Pauline Oliveros) at the Rubin Museum in NYC and other galleries in San Juan, New York, Cuba, China and Japan.
Mercado divides his time between Puerto Rico, New York, and Los Angeles, refining his artistic practice and cultivating his unique voice. Additionally, he's commissioned to premiere an opera titled "The Teflon King" in 2025, showcasing his ongoing evolution as an artist.