Moenia

Mœnia
Mœnia performing, 2007. Alex Midi (centre left) and Alfonso Pichardo (centre right).
Background information
Origin	Mexico City, Mexico
Genres	Electronica Synthpop Indie pop
Years active	1985–1990 (as 5mentarios) 1991–present (as Mœnia)
Labels	Universal Music Sony Music EMI OCESA Seitrack
Website	http://www.moenia.com/
Members	Alfonso Pichardo Jorge Soto Alejandro 'Midi' Ortega
Past members	Juan Carlos Lozano

Mœnia is a Mexican electronica/synthpop/ambient group. Popular within the Latin club scene while simultaneously pioneering a darker, more experimental, more poetic side of Spanish-language electronica, Mœnia has had three top-20 hits. Along with Aleks Syntek, Mœnia is often considered one of the first successful experimental Mexican music composers and performers, finding commercial viability in a market normally dominated by Latin ballad crooners, teenage vocal groups and musical styles with more mass appeal like cumbia and ranchera. Mœnia is also popular in other parts of Latin America, including the Argentinian and Chilean music markets, where they have also charted. Some of their most recognized singles include "Estabas Ahí," "No Dices Más" and "Manto Estelar".

The group's formation dates back to 1985 while attending junior high school. The project began when sophomore year student Juan Carlos Lozano along with Alfonso Pichardo and Jorge Soto shared various musical tastes such as punk and New wave. At the same time in this era Spanish language rock music was also having a tremendous impact on Latin American listeners. Their musical influences include New Order, Erasure, OMD, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy among others. Later on in their high school years the trio would compete in school organized music recitals, played live sets in small nightclubs and even recorded a few demos. It was during this time when the three had a very clear vision of what they intended to do in the music scene. The band's first moniker was that of ' 5mentarios ', its line up originally consisted of Alfonso Pichardo as lead vocalist, Juan Carlos Lozano as lead guitarist, Jorge Soto on keyboards, Abraham Rodríguez on synthesizers and Carlos Mercado on drums. Rodríguez abandoned 5mentarios in mid 1990. Alejandro Ortega (Alex Midi), a self-taught musician on guitar and synthesizers joins the band in early 1991 soon after finishing college.