Born the daughter of a third and second generation Puerto Rican-American couple on February 02, 1989, the second of three children of the Moreno family, Carmen came into the world quietly and without much fan fare. Though this was something she'd make up for in her later years. Her upbringing was a relatively typical one in Jersey City, New Jersey: homework, dances, fights with younger sister, Dulce, chasing after older brother Miguel. Summers were spent in the Poconos chasing fireflies and winters waiting in anticipation for the sporadic harsh snows that always came with the new year for a chance to go sledding before melting or being plowed away. The quintessential tom boy, Carmen was notorious for wearing dresses and sneakers as far back as first grade - a complete contradiction to the feminine hobbies her mother kept her in such as ballet and piano.

Perpetually donning scabbed knees beneath her stockings and a wild mane only partially contained by the extravagant braids her mother gave her in desperate effort to eradicate any confusion about the girl’s gender, Carmen was breaking the rules long before she even knew any had been set into place for her. By the time her teenage years rolled around, though, Lydia had lost the privilege of input into Carmen's style choices which included a slew of secondhand items from thrift stores, Miguel, and guy friends in the form of jeans, flannel and band shirts, and her beloved Converse sneakers.

It was during these formative years, somewhere in the midst of dating, school work, and a part time job at Pac Sun, that she met John. The instant best friend that would someday turn complete stranger. Carmen was absolutely unaware of the impending tragedy as they shared everything from their love of certain bands to books and films. It was during a conversation about her formal music training that he had begun to request she sing for him, which she did, eventually, after months of hounding. It took another year before she reluctantly caved into his suggestions of taking performing seriously that their band The Fever was formed.

The romantic nature of their relationship never fully bloomed, but lingered in the shadows laced within the quiet spaces between them. Their intimate connection was obvious, but never moved beyond a solid and profound friendship. By the time she’d graduated high school and moved out on her own, Carmen had experienced her own metamorphosis as the front woman of the band. She’d fallen in love with performing and the power she wielded in the form of a microphone, on stage, engaging moderately sized groups of people who loved their songs and knew them by heart.

Unfortunately, just as the group was about to sign their first contract with a record label and were in the process of preparing for a coast based tour, the whole of the monument they’d built came crumbling down. Five years littered with accusations, disagreements on where and how the sound progressed, late nights and early mornings, and most importantly, John's growing drug addiction, they were too inexperienced to know how to manage it all and before they even made it onto their shiny new tour bus, it was all over. The consequences from the breech of their contract included having to give up the band, its name and songs entirely, something Carmen was more than happy to do at the time. Her parents aided her to the best of their ability financially, allowing her to move back home and funding her while she paid her end of the debt off.

Never one to sulk for long or allow herself to stay knocked down, it took less than a year for her to find herself in with a new project, The Mellow Dramatics, which gained local attention and soon, a crazed following. Although she’s mostly recovered from the massive meteor that was John and The Fever, Carmen was forever changed. The experience better prepared her for the uphill climbs that potentially lay ahead and taught her a world of lessons on love, its beauty and wonder as well as its limitations. Generally in love with everyone she meets, Carmen is loving and affectionate with all of the people in her life, but comes with a solid set of boundaries. She doesn’t live her life by any set standard or rules, but rather on her own terms and personal code of ethics.

Currently, she’s continuing to work on music with The Mellow Dramatics, playing local shows throughout the tri-state area and finalizing the odds and ends of their second album. When she isn’t working her empanada food truck in SoHo or playing the keyboard for the band, she can be found anywhere from DJing at local clubs any night of the week to modeling for NYU and SVA life drawing classes, all when she isn't at a bar grabbing a beer or off lost somewhere on a mountain hike. {More to come...}