Henry Mena is a Brooklyn-based
singer/songwriter
who for more than a decade (1992-2003)
led the pioneering Rock en Español act La Ruta.
He has since performed solo to promote
his first English-language release:
a 2002 acoustic EP, The Avatar Sessions,
which was re-released in a remastered digipak format
(and as a digital download) in December 2007;
and with a new band, The Henry Mena Ego Trip.
A full-band album, Beautiful Insults and Compromises,
is due for an early 2010 release.
Mena was born in NYC's Washington Heights who for more than a decade (1992-2003)
led the pioneering Rock en Español act La Ruta.
He has since performed solo to promote
his first English-language release:
a 2002 acoustic EP, The Avatar Sessions,
which was re-released in a remastered digipak format
(and as a digital download) in December 2007;
and with a new band, The Henry Mena Ego Trip.
A full-band album, Beautiful Insults and Compromises,
is due for an early 2010 release.
but raised in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Originally a drummer, he switched to bass
and sang in various Santiago area bands,
notably Via Contraria and Sociedad Anonima.
After moving back to NYC and formally switching to guitar,
Mena formed La Ruta in 1992, along with
bassist/vocalist Carlos Guzman and drummer Luis J. Ruiz.
With the departure of Guzman in 1999, he became
sole writer of all of La Ruta's original material.
While his own music has close stylistic ties
to both power pop and the singer/songwriter vein,
the breadth of Mena's musical interests is quite ample,
as evidenced by his work with
metal act JLS and latin jazz heavies Sonido Isleño.
credits:
La Ruta / Amarillo Pollito EP (1996)
Producer, vocals, guitar, bass.
La Ruta / Adios, Ruperto (1998)
Producer, vocals, guitar, bass.
La Ruta / Bailando En La Tierra de los Zombies EP (2001)
Producer, vocals, guitar, bass, programming.
Henry Mena / The Avatar Sessions (2002)
Producer, vocals, guitar, keyboards.
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other selected credits:
Sonido Isleño / El Asunto (1999)
Vocals.
JLS / Serpiente En El Huerto (2001)
Background vocals.
also:
- Toured Spain as bassist for JLS (2001);
- Co-produced tracks for singer/songwriter --and La Ruta bassist-- Alex Guerra (2002);
- Guitarist in Alex Guerra's live band (2003)
- Featured bassist with electronica/groove maven Nova (2002);
- Bassist for singer/songwriter Mark Elliot Miranda (2004-2005).
