GABRIELA QUINTERO OF RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

ABOUT this week’s guest:

credit: Enrique Leyva

The duo Rodrigo y Gabriela have always carved their own path, and followed their intuition. The story of this now massively successful, mostly instrumental, mostly acoustic duo is incredible. Their career launched not in their home country of Mexico, or in the U.S., but in Ireland. Following the advice of a fellow Mexican traveler who told them that there was a vibrant music scene there, Rodrigo and Gabriela came to Ireland in 1999 armed with only their two acoustic guitars. An album of demos called FOC came out in 2002, and after busking and playing in pubs for a couple of years, they landed an opening slot touring with David Gray. Shortly after came a record deal with ATO Records, and their eponymous 2006 studio album, which debuted at number one and went platinum in Ireland, becoming their international breakthrough. Their origin story goes back to their teens, when guitarist Gabriela Quintero met her bandmate and fellow guitarist Rodrigo Sanchez at just 15 years old, and they bonded over their love of Metallica, Panterra, Megadeath, and Nirvana. Their unique blend of metal and rock influences paired with acoustic guitars and their electrifying live shows quickly gained momentum, and over the decades, they have become a globally renowned band. Rod and Gab have released three live albums, and now seven studio albums, including their latest, OurHome. They've headlined the Jazz/World stage at Glastonbury; sold out major venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music hall, and the Sydney Opera House; and performed to massive crowds in Tokyo and Paris. In January of 2020, Rodrigo and Gabriela hit a new career milestone, and won their first Grammy for their fifth studio album Mettavolution. In today’s conversation, Gabriela Quintero returns to SHEROES to tell us about their latest unexpected journey of recording OurHome in Japan, and how this latest chapter has both brought them back to their roots of acoustic guitar, and also feeling freer than ever with their work. Simultaneously, Gabriela is finally exploring some new sonic territory of her own.

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