RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
From the Mexican metal scene to busking in the streets of Dublin, guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela have been on a quite a ride.
Appropriately, when I catch up with Gabriela Quintero, she’s on the other side of the world, having just played a gig in Niem, France. Touring the globe is a constant for these virtuosos now thanks to their ever-growing popularity. An inspirational trajectory, considering how they started out.
“Well, it just kind of developed,” says Quintero when I ask where they learnt to play. “We started playing metal music – there’s not a school for that. Then… we changed to acoustic guitars. Hearing all the musicians here and there, you start to develop your own sound.”
It’s a sound fused from the high-powered riffs of heavy metal and the fast, passionate rhythms of flamenco. However, it’s also a sound that refuses to remain static. At the core of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s music is a desire to surprise and evoke feeling.
“It’s something you don’t want to define in words,” says Gabriela. “It’s always moving and it’s always alive. And so it’s never going to be the same and for us that is the important thing. It just connects with us whenever we are playing, so you switch off your left brain. So it’s just [a] dream, you know. No words.”
This element of experimentation and diversity is evident all their work. Since their Dublin days they have recorded four studio albums, such as Rodrigo y Gabriela and 11:11, collaborated with Rage Against the Machine, Metallica and Hans Zimmer for the soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
More recently, they completed a side project called Area 52. For this, they rearranged songs from previous albums by morphing them with slower Cuban rhythms. This involved travelling to Cuba, working with a Cuban Orchestra and Latin jazz pianist, Alex Wilson.
While there won’t be a new album next year, the touring juggernaut isn’t stopping for these guitar gods. Rodrigo y Gabriela will be in Australia early new year for several shows. Describing it as a ‘friendly visit’, they will play well-known songs along with three new pieces and present a special guest.
“We always hope … that people leave adrenalised by the music,” says Quintero. “It’s a very rock sort of gig… very high energy, and so we hope people will have the best time.”
Jan 2 2013, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, $79-99, 9250 7777, sydneyoperahouse.com
