Y marks the spot

Since they first arrived here from their native Mexico City five years ago, Rodrigo y Gabriela have charmed Irish audiences. With their unique combination of deft rhythmic guitar playing and Latin good looks, the couple have brought a refreshing new dimension to the live circuit.

Like many visitors to Ireland they actually ended up staying here by accident.
“We wanted to come to Europe and to travel around and do a bit of busking,” explains Gabriela. “The first place we chose was Ireland after a Mexican friend had recommended it. She had been living here for over ten years. She had lived all over Europe in fact and she said that she liked Ireland the best. She just said to us, ‘Go to Ireland - it’s a very musical country and you’ll love it’. So that’s what we did. We went to Spain and Denmark after that but we decided to come back to Ireland.”
The couple started busking on the streets of Dublin and soon discovered that Grafton Street was the most lucrative area in town. “The best earning spot was outside Brown Thomas,” say Rodrigo. “But all of the other buskers wanted to play there too. At the time there was this guy playing a guitar/piano thing and he was the king, so we had to get to know him, which we did. The other buskers were quite friendly to us and we’d usually do it on a rota basis. We’d play for a while and hold the spot for someone else. When we finished we gave money to the other buskers and vice versa.
“What people forget is that everybody’s doing it because they need the money,” he adds. “Busking is not the romantic thing that people think it is. It’s a serious business. You have to pray that the weather is good, as you can’t play in the rain. Mostly you have to be very positive about it.”
How have Irish musicians taken to them and have they picked up anything since they’ve arrived?
“We get on very good with them,” says Gabriela.
“We met a lot of them busking. Damien Rice got very big since we met him first but he still asks us to play on his gigs sometimes. We like traditional Irish music as well and I love the bodhrán. Some people think my right hand style on the guitar is very like the bodhrán.”
To most Irish ears, Rodrigo y Gabriela play a blend of traditional Mexican, Flamenco and jazz style with the odd heavy metal riff thrown in. How would they describe their style?
Rodrigo: “I think it’s important to say that we don’t play traditional Mexican music. We were in Mexico two months ago and we did a showcase for the big TV company and the Mexican president was there. It was as different to their ears as it is to people over here.
Gabriela: “We don’t play Flamenco music either. Some people think we are Spanish but Flamenco players are very purist and they hate anyone messing with their music. We do a mix of music, the kind we like to hear. We are influenced by Latin rhythms but we play heavy metal riffs and we like rock and punk as well. In Mexico, traditional music is not a big thing anymore. It’s really dead. American pop music is what is popular over there. Metallica and bands like that play the stadiums and U2 can go there and play five nights in a massive place.”
The duo’s third album – entitled Rodrigo y Gabriela - Live Manchester and Dublin, was recorded in Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral and at the Manchester Academy It features several brand new compositions from the duo and some cover versions including a take on the Dave Brubeck classic ‘Take 5’ interwoven with Metallica’s ‘One’.
Gabriella: “The record company said we should do a live album because they said people enjoy us much more live than on record. We weren’t really that exited about doing it until we heard a recording of the Manchester gig – Rodrigo records every show we do on a mini-disc. It was then that we realised we should do a live album. We had another recording from a gig in Chirstchurch. So we told the record company we didn’t need to record one – that we have a live album done already! Those gigs captured the excitement of what we do best and it means people who see us live and like us can buy a record of what they’ve just seen.”

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Live Manchester and Dublin is out now on Rubyworks. Rodrigo y Gabriela are playing the Latin Quarter Festival (Temple Bar) on July 30 and the Woodstock Festival, Co Kilkenny in August.