Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

Courtesy of Smash

When I finally reach Rodrigo Sanchez after several aborted attempts, the busy guitarist is finishing up lunch at a Buddhist center in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“Music is a kind of meditation,” he says as the conversation immediately turns to religious practice. “When we are playing at home or on stage, you have to focus to get in touch with the source somehow, and once you are there, you feel it.”

Sanchez and partner Gabriela Quintero possess the kind of intense connectedness that comes from decades of performing together, as well as the focus that comes from meditation. “We met playing guitar 20 years ago, and that connection is what we’ve been practicing for the last 20 years,” he continues. “Together we do form one kind of expression, which couldn’t happen with different people.”

Buddhism aside, Rodrigo y Gabriela’s roots lie not in quiet contemplation, but in the high-decibel head banging of Mexico City’s heavy metal scene. And it’s their hyperactive metal “shredding” that makes the pair more than another virtuosic Latin acoustic guitar duo.

“We didn’t have much chance to play, but we practiced every day,” Sanchez recalls of his metal days. “Those years are very important to us, because they formed us as musicians—that practice is the source of what we perform nowadays.”

Their group, Tierra Acida, ran into formidable barriers when trying to make a go of it. “The metal scene is massive for American bands, but not for Mexicans,” Sanchez asserts. “The best you can do as a Mexican band is open for a foreign band. It’s impossible to make a living.”

Throwing in the towel, the pair headed for Dublin, where they reinvented themselves as an acoustic street duo. Yet busking wasn’t the hand-to-mouth existence you might imagine. “We made enough money to pay the rent and drink Guinness—it wasn’t painful,” Sanchez recalls. “We didn’t go back to Mexico in four years—I think till today our families have an idea of suffering, but as many times as we told them we had a great time, they just don’t get it.”

On the contrary, Sanchez and Quintero felt liberated giving up their fruitless attempts to crack the music industry. “In fact we didn’t come to Europe to sign a deal,” Sanchez says. “It was the other way around; we wanted to get away from the metal scene in Mexico. We didn’t want to have anything to do with the industry anymore. We just wanted to make money playing coffee shops or whatever. It didn’t matter as long as we had money to travel around. And it was like that for years until we got a guy, who’s still our manager. We were skeptical, but then we did it.”

Opening for Damien Rice at festivals around Europe provided their big break, and in 2006 their self-titled album beat Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Cash to the top spot of the Irish albums chart. Since then, they’ve been a worldwide concert hall fixture, touring Japan last year and tearing up the charts again with their new guitar-hero tribute album, 11:11.

While they appeal to fans of both acoustic guitar music and heavy rock, Rodrigo y Gabriela can point to another element for their worldwide success. “The crowd is so eclectic, and I think the balance comes from the fact that we are male and female,” Sanchez says. “Not just in ages, but in genders, it’s so eclectic, and I think it wouldn’t be the same if it were two guys or two girls. The fact that we are male and female is a good balance. There is something strong about it, but I’m not quite sure what it is that attracts people.”

For their Japan shows, the duo will be playing up their metal background. In recent tours they’ve ditched their seated format and returned to a more physical style. “The show has evolved because we have new material and we are now moving around the stage as we used to do in the rock band,” Sanchez says. “I feel liberated standing, walking and even running around. And that makes the statement clear about our background. Some people still think they are going to see two guys sitting and playing Spanish guitars.”

Rodrigo y Gabriela
Mexican guitar duo. Jan 14, 7pm, ¥6,000. Zepp Tokyo, Aomi. Tel: Hot Stuff Promotions 03-5720-9999. Jan 18, 7pm, ¥6,000. Bunkamura Orchard Hall, Shibuya. Tel: Smash 03-3444-6751.