Manuel García is a folk-popular Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Education
García studied History and Geography Education at the University of Tarapacá in Arica and then moved to Santiago in 1994 to study professional guitar performance (“interpretación superior en guitarra”) at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile with fellow musician Luis Orlandini.
Career
However, he left Coré in 1997 and formed his new band Mecánica Popular with Diego Álvarez, Marco Chávez and fellow Coré member Mario Villalobos. Mecánica Popular mixed rock and trova styles and were influenced by the “nueva canción chilena”, trova, rock and even poetry. They released three studio albums between 1999 and 2003 and now, though formally disbanded, they often support Manuel García in his solo performances.
Solo
Since 2003, García has worked on several solo projects, one of the first of which was a documentary about the life of Argentinian musician Atahualpa Yupanqui (2003).
The same year he was invited to open the festival Mercat de Música Viva de Vic in Barcelona, Spain. The album received good reviews in the national Chilean media
García’s second solo album, Témpera, was released in 2008 with a sound closer to trova, and rock, with references to Violeta Parra and Atahualpa Yupanqui.
His raw guitar sound recalls fellow Chilean musician Chinoy, with whom he has shared a stage on several occasions. His third album was called South/T (2010).
Its electric sound (including guitar solos) reveals a variety of influences, though it is considered a simpler album, free of the complex arrangements seen in the previous two.
His final record to date, Acuario, again surprised fans with electronic sounds that sometimes recall Gepe or Javiera Mena. Manuel Garcia is part of the line-up for the third edition of Lollapalooza Chile taking place in Santiago in April 2013.
Membership
His professional career began in 1995 when he founded the band Coré (which also included later members of Chilean band International Illimani). In 2005, he released his first album, Pánico (Panic) in collaboration with two members of Mecánica Popular, Christian Bravo y Diego Álvarez.