Manolo García
Who is Manolo García?
Manuel García (Barcelona, El Poblenou district, August 19, 1955) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and amateur painter. His music is defined by a pop-rock sound blending Arabic, flamenco-tinged and melodic rhythms with rich, surreal lyrics. Throughout his career he has kept his private life well away from the spotlight. He is related to singer Carmen García, of the group Carmen.
From childhood he combined his interest in music with visual art: at age seven he was already staging small shows on his home terrace, mixing painting with industrial materials like drums and plastics, and he later trained himself in design, eventually studying at the Escola d’Arts Aplicades i Oficis in Barcelona. He also worked as a house painter and, once in the record industry, as a sleeve designer, producing several hundred album covers over six years.
Career
His first real hands-on experience with live music came as drummer for the local band Materia Gris, with whom he performed for four years at local festivities across Catalonia, and later with Silma y su Conjunto, where he began singing after the band’s regular vocalist, Silma, handed him the microphone. During those years he also played drums and sang on recordings by other artists, including the 1980 album “Tengo una idea” by Argentine-born, Spain-based singer Sergio Makaroff.
He was a member of Los Rápidos and Los Burros before achieving commercial success as frontman of El Último de la Fila. After the group disbanded he launched his solo career, starting with the album “Arena en los bolsillos” and continuing with a second record made between Barcelona, Paris and Girona, regarded as one of the most popular in his catalogue.
Notable discography
For his fifth solo album he recorded part of the record at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles — used over the years by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and The Rolling Stones — with session musicians including guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Kenny Aronoff, with final mixing by Tom Lord-Alge in Miami. The album’s release coincided with the publication of a book, “El fruto de la rama más alta,” featuring the artist’s own writing, drawings and paintings alongside the album’s lyrics.