Mango Punch!

            

 

Mango Punch! is one of the most in-demand latin bands in Texas for the solid reputation it has built playing to capacity crowds and entertaining at different functions.
      Mango Punch! has shared the stage with several artists of  international stature including Elvis Crespo, Son by Four,  Alvaro Torres, Odalys García and Barrio Boyzz.  In 2002, they were chosen to perform at an exclusive after concert party for Luis Miguel.
       They have participated in festivals in various cities including The Houston International Festival, Fiesta San Antonio, Bay City Festival in Michigan, Grapevine Festival in Dallas/Ft.Worth, Bayfest in Corpus Christi and  BP Power of Freedom.
       Mango Punch! has performed in a number of nationally broadcast programs including A Oscuras pero encencidos, Cotorreando ,and  El Show de SEVCEC, on the Telemundo network.  In Houston they’ve been featured in “This Morning Houston ” (Channel 11, ABC),  “ Houston Ahora” (Channel 45, Univisión), and a Muscular Dystrophy Telethon (Channel 2, NBC). In Guadalajara , Mexico they’ve performed in live programs for the Televisa network.
       In 1996, they initiated a series of concerts where they perform almost exclusively original material. This on-going effort has taken them to prestigious concert halls including Miller Outdoor Theater, Southern Star Amphiteater and Rockefeller’s.  In 1997, they performed at Fiestas de Octubre in Guadalajara , Mexico for a capacity crowd of 8,000 at Auditorio Benito Juárez.
       Mango Punch! has recorded 3 CD’s of original music. Their first CD, the self-titled Mango Punch!, is an independent release which includes the song “Me Convenciste” with which Walter Suhr won 2nd place in the OTI Festival in Houston . Material from the album has received airplay in leading radio programs in Guatemala , Dominican Republic and Houston , TX .
      Their second CD, called Pop/Rock, is more international in scope, where a world-class production won Suhr 1st place in the Latin category of the Billboard Songwriting Contest.
      In September of 2000, they released their third CD entitled “¿Qué me pongo?”signed with Hacienda Records.  The video for their first single received maximum (Powerplay) rotation in October of 2000 on H-TV. The video also received strong airplay on MTV-S and VH1  and on Telemundo’s Ritmo Latino.



Walter Suhr, a native of Guatemala, graduated Magna Cum Laude with degrees in music and computer science from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1989. At that school, he performed extensively with University Singers and the Jazz and Percussion Ensembles. After graduation he pursued music professionally both as a soloist and as a member of the sixties' rock band The Saltwater Cats.

Shortly after, he arranged Susan Trimmer's song "Amanece" intended as welcome to the hispanic soldiers of Operation Desert Storm. The song and the arrangement won a letter of appreciation from President Bush.

In 1991 and 1992 he participated in the Houston finals of the international OTI Festival as both a performer and an arranger of his own original material. In 1991, he won second place with his song "Me Convenciste".

In 1991, he started Mango Punch! as a solo effort. In the band, he writes all the original material, sings lead and background vocals, plays guitar, keyboards and percussion and programs the computer sequences.