He began playing spontaneously without even having a drums, he percussed jars, bottles and all kinds of objects until at age 14 his father gave him a drum set. At 17 he suffered the early death of his father, forcing him to have to earn a living prematurely. He entered to study architecture at the University of Valparaíso, then art and then mathematics, until the 1973 Pinochet coup ended all his university aspirations and his youth surrounded by the revolution of flowers and psychedelia. In the 1960s, three musical groups were all the rage at carnivals and schools in the Valparaíso Region; "The Masters", "The Psychedelics" and the "High Bass". "The Masters" was made up of the three González Morales brothers –Patricio, Fernando and Tilo– plus Fernando Hurtado. "The Psychedelics" emulated The Beatles, led by Frankie, as Francisco Sazo called himself then. And the High Bass was a Viña del Mar group made up of Claudio Parra and Eduardo Parra, Mario Mutis, Gato Alquinta and Gabriel Parra, later renamed as "Los Jaivas".