Los Miserables is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band formed in the early 1990s shortly after the demise of the military regime of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

. The band is known for its songs charged with strong

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

political ideas and anti-establishment commentary. The band has clearly presented itself as activist in its work with major participation in political events, international charity concerts, human rights events, and volunteer work in impoverished Chilean communities. The band has modeled itself in some ways after the famed Chilean band

Los Prisioneros Los Prisioneros ("The Prisoners") was a Chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Chile, San Miguel, Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago, in 1982. Considered one of the most influential Latin-American bands of all time, they've been evaluated as pio ...

, who left a void after their initial break-up in 1990. The band achieved major success in Chile in the mid-1990s, and is well known in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. They have recorded 8 albums, including three live albums, and received gold records in Chile. The band has also contributed songs to major Chilean movie soundtracks including the main song for the Chilean film '' El Leyton'', a film by famed director

Gonzalo Justiniano Gonzalo Justiniano (born 1955) is a Chilean filmmaker. Select filmography * '' Guerreros pacifistas'' - 1984 * '' La Victoria'' - 1984 * '' Children of the Cold War (Hijos de la guerra fría)'' - 1986 * ''Sussi'' - 1988 * '' Candy or Mint (Calug ...

, of the films ''

B-Happy ''B-Happy'' is a 2003 Chilean-Spanish-Venezuelan drama film directed by Gonzalo Justiniano and written by Justiniano, Sergio Gómez, Daniela Lillo and Fernando Aragón. It stars Manuela Martelli accompanied by Eduardo Barril, Lorene Prieto, Felip ...

'' (2003), ''

Amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...

'' (1994), and '' Caluga o Menta'' (1990). They have also performed in tribute albums to

Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and PCCh, Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a bro ...

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...

, and

Members

; Current members *Claudio García –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, drums (since 1990) *Óscar Silva –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

(since 1990) *Patricio Silva –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, bass (since 1990) *Juan Francisco Contreras –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(since 2009) *Marcelo Aravena – rhythm guitar (since 2011) ; Former members *Alvaro Prieto – lead vocals (1995-1999) *Rodrigo Silva – drums (1998-2004) *Francisco Silva – rhythm guitar, vocals (1995-2011) *Rodrigo Arias –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, drums (since 1990)

Discography

* ''Ritmo marginal'' (1990, demo album) * ''¿Democracia?'' (1991) * ''Futuro esplendor'' (1992, re-released in 2006) * ''Pisagua 1973'' (1993) * ''Te mataré con amor'' (1994, re-released in 2006) * ''Pirata'' (1995, live album) * ''Sin dios ni ley'' (1996) * ''Cambian los payasos... pero el circo sigue'' (1997) * ''Miserables'' (1998) * ''Retroceder nunca/Rendirse jamás'' (2000, compilation live album) * ''Date cuenta'' (2000) * ''Gritos de la calle'' (2001) * ''Pasión de multitudes'' (2003) * ''El ruido de nuestras vidas'' (2004, compilation album) * ''Por los que ya no están'' (2004, live album) * ''La voz del pueblo'' (2005) * ''Siete pecados capitales'' (2006) * ''Luna, una historia de muchas vidas... '' (2007) * ''Alegria y subversión'' (2009) * ''Tributo a

La voz de los '80 ''La voz de los '80'' is the debut studio album by the Chilean band Los Prisioneros, released independently under the Fusion label on December 13, 1984. Produced by leader, vocalist, and songwriter Jorge González, who credited it to the name of t ...

'' (2010) * ''Politicamente Incorrectos (soeces y anacrónicos)'' (2013)

References

External links

Los Miserables Official SiteLos Miserables Biography
Chilean rock music groups Chilean punk rock groups {{Chile-culture-stub