They’re acoustic guitar geniuses, they’re huge in Dublin and they love them some Metallica. And those are just a few of the reasons why we love Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, best known as Rodrigo y Gabriela.
You probably wouldn’t guess just by looking at ‘em — the alt-folk-looking Mexican metalheads appear more Death Cab For Cutie than Megadeth. But they’re hugely inspired by the aforementioned, plus Slayer and Testament and frequently cover Led Zeppelin and, of course, Metallica.
The couple, who first started playing music together in a thrash band in Mexico City, got their break in Ireland, after performing on the streets broke, penniless and with a then-severely limited knowledge of English.
True to their genre-defying universal magnetism, they attracted Dave Matthews, who signed them to his label, ATO. They’ve shared bills with acts as diverse as soft rock kingpin John Mayer, British art-pop band Muse and British garage MC The Streets. They’ve rocked Letterman, played tastemaker TV show Later with Jools Holland, where they were voted best act of the night, and had their most recent self-titled album produced by the legendary John Leckie, who’s tooled albums by everyone from John Lennon and George Harrison at Abbey Road Studios to Radiohead. They don’t play flamenco, yet they’re not gypsy. They don’t have lyrics, yet they don’t improvise. Their rhythmic music is fast and furious, outrageously energetic, epic and explosive and breaks through any and all language barriers. And that’s why they’re MTV’s Artist Of The Week.
Watch exclusive live performance footage, videos and more, and whether you’ve been a die-hard R&G fan since their days busking on the streets of Barcelona or are a recent convert, tell us what you think.