La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros

The Bird-Making Machine was born when Charly García sought to expand the sound of Sui Generis with two keyboards on stage, something uncommon in Argentine rock at the time. The band brought together Oscar Moro on drums —a former member of Los Gatos and Color Humano—, José Luis Fernández on bass —who came from Crucis—, and added Gustavo Bazterrica on guitar after seeing him perform in a show in Córdoba. Later, Carlos Cutaia joined to reinforce the keyboards, completing a quintet that sounded like Genesis, Yes, and Steely Dan, but with its own twist: elaborate melodies without losing accessibility. The result was a symphonic rock that, amid the genre's heyday in Argentina, dared to sound different.

The group debuted at the small venue La Bola Loca in Capital Federal, where they rehearsed with a female choir —Ana María Quatraro and Héctor Dengis— before gaining traction in the circuit. Charly summed it up this way: “We want to make music that is understandable, but without simplifying it.” However, in 1976, Argentine audiences still preferred the massive shows of Sui Generis, and the two albums they recorded —La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros (1976) and Películas (1977)— went almost unnoticed. Their style, with its time signature changes and dense arrangements, clashed with what was expected from a local band at the time.