In January 2020, Mexican guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela found themselves in a position most musicians around the world could only dream of – picking up their first ever Grammy Award for their lauded LP Mettavolution, in the Contemporary Instrumental Album category. Just a few months later, however, their massive momentum was dramatically halted, by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It didn’t really matter at that point anymore!” Gabriela says of their Grammy win, speaking from her and Rodrigo’s studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. “It was like the apocalypse, but a tropical version of it. I was thinking, ‘This is the beginning of the end.’ In the music industry, people were freaking out. And in our hometown here, a lot of people got sick, and I knew a lot of people that died.”

In that context of global uncertainty and grief, the pair – who famously kicked off their career busking in Dublin – escaped away into their studio, and began to experiment on new music. Gabriela notes that they had “no expectations, or any professional agenda” at the time.

“When we finished, we thought, ‘Okay, if this isn’t the end of the world, and the world is still going to be around, this might be the new album!’” she resumes. “But we still didn’t know.”

The resulting album, In Between Thoughts… A New World, was also shaped by the duo’s growing interest in the Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.

“Our species have been trying to explain what reality is, what consciousness is, and where consciousness comes from,” she reflects. “And the only thing science can say is, ‘We’ll keep working on it!’ But we don’t have an answer. That’s the mystery, and that’s the point where me and Rod got inspired to work on something along those lines.”

They’ve also been busy in their local community in Mexico. Gabriela’s passionate about Mexico’s current generation of young musicians and artists “creating a better world, and a culture that’s less marginalised” through their work.

“There’s a lot of things our government should do, that they don’t do,” she notes. “But it’s in our hands to do a lot of things. If people start doing things that are progressive, we can avoid the creation of environments for violence.

“Here in our hometown, me and Rodrigo get involved in a lot of community work,” she adds. “That’s important for us, because it’s a way to contribute, and also to make sure we can help and team up with people who are working on those areas – like drugs, violence, and lack of education. Also environmental causes. I’m a vegan and an activist, so I do a lot of work around that too.”

Later this year, Rodrigo y Gabriela are set to make their long-awaited return to these shores for headline gigs in Dublin and Belfast. Following many years immersed in Irish music, they still feel a deep-set connection to the scene here.

“We lived there for 10 years, so Ireland is like our second home,” she smiles. “We missed it a lot. We love the city centre, so if we have time, we’ll go and have coffee, and maybe go to a pub in Dublin. Because we’re vegans, we love Cornucopia, so we’ll definitely go there!

“There’s a very Irish part of us still,” she adds. “We were probably Irish in a past life!”

In Between Thoughts… A New World is out now. Rodrigo y Gabriela play Vicar Street, Dublin (October 16) and Mandela Hall, Belfast (17).