Diego Garcia sings the single, “You Were Never There” at Don Hill’s, NYC

Singer Diego Garcia– formerly the front man of Elefant– has gone solo and has returned  to his Latin roots. The Argentinian boy was raised in Detroit and then attended Brown University, where he met the love of his life, fashion designer Laura Poretsky, a beautiful red head with perfect cheekbones. With the advent of Elefant post college, Diego and Laura played a roller coaster ride of on again, off again. He became and “it boy.” She became engaged to a real estate mogul. But then he finally woke up and won her back.  Now, they’re married with a baby girl born last year.

Diego played a solo show at Don Hill’s last week (see video above) and explained his now sound, which cannot be extracted from his love story.

“I made the record to survive,” he says. “I had to heal my heart. In other words, I had to get my girl back. It was time to write a record that only my story could tell. Artists like Sandro, Roberto Carlos and Julio Iglesias were early pioneers in what I like to refer to as a movement of romanticism in music. It only made sense for me to pick up where they left off.”

“For the last four years, I’ve been following my instincts in search for a new sound,” Garcia continues. A sound that could properly deliver my message on love, or I should say, the ‘malady of love.’ Minor keys, cello, nylon classical guitars, light drums, and wooden tambourines helped create a vibe for me to whisper the words into her ear.”

“So with each new song came a little healing until I eventually started feeling ‘better.’ The irony is that as soon as I accepted closure, my heart opened up and the sound was born. I was ready to love again.”