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<\/p>\nThe music that Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela make is sometimes characterized as \u201cacoustic speed metal.\u201d The pair\u2019s flamenco-influenced instrumental approach has certainly attracted fans from the metal scene, but Rod y Gab\u2019s style draws from flamenco and classical guitar as much as anything else. They\u2019re not rigid musical Luddites, either; across a superb series of albums \u2013 and on worldwide tours \u2013 the two guitarists haven\u2019t been afraid to push the boundaries of what\u2019s considered acoustic music. The result is a deeply textured, often high-energy body of work. On April 26, Rodrigo y Gabriela released their sixth studio album, Mettavolution<\/i>; alongside a clutch of original tracks is an inventive reading of the epic-length Pink Floyd classic, \u201cEchoes.\u201d A tour in support of the new album brings Rodrigo y Gabriela to Atlanta\u2019s Fox Theatre on June 1.<\/p>\n
The technical brilliance of guitarists Rodrigo S\u00e1nchez and Gabriela Quintero sometimes results in their being labeled as \u201cshredders.\u201d But there\u2019s an important distinction to be made between what they do and the style of others in that category like Yngwie Malmsteen. \u201cMelodies come first,\u201d S\u00e1nchez emphasizes. Until recently, the duo employed an established approach to developing songs. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve done is write the melody,\u201d S\u00e1nchez explains, \u201cthen Gab adds harmonies, and then together we come up with the structure of the song.\u201d<\/p>\n
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But for the songs on their latest album, Rod y Gab took a slightly different direction: S\u00e1nchez composed songs that included vocals and lyrics. In fact there\u2019s a conceptual continuity to the songs. \u2018But you guys don\u2019t know it,\u201d he says with a laugh. Because Mettavolution<\/i> is still an instrumental album. \u201cWhat we did was record the instrumental versions of those songs,\u201d S\u00e1nchez explains. \u201cNot because we don\u2019t want to share the concept, but because we play instrumental music.\u201d<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez believes that the emotional content and ideas within the lyrics come through on the instrumental recordings. \u201cFor us, they do,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen our producer, David Sardy, heard the idea and the way that we worked the songs, he said, \u2018Oh my God: now it makes sense.\u2019 And when we tell people about it, they understand; they feel that there is content behind the melodies.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the duo\u2019s earlier releases \u2013 beginning with re-Foc<\/i> in 2002 \u2013 Rodrigo y Gabriel limited themselves to acoustic instruments. But on Mettavolution<\/i> they\u2019ve widened their scope. \u201cWe use electric guitars, percussion and some synths to give it a little different touch from everything we\u2019ve done before,\u201d S\u00e1nchez says. \u201cBut it\u2019s still respecting the core of what we are.\u201d Sometimes the sounds on the album suggest other instruments; parts of the album\u2019s title track seem to feature a Hammond B3 organ, but what you\u2019re hearing is actually guitar.<\/p>\n
The nylon string guitar isn\u2019t typically thought of as an electric instrument, but in the hands of Rodrigo y Gabriela, it can be. \u201cWe started using Fractal [amplifier modeling and effects processor] units,\u201d S\u00e1nchez says. \u201cThose units are made for electric guitars, but if you are patient enough and work on the presets with the nylon string guitars, you can come up with your own sounds. That\u2019s what I did for the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
During that period, S\u00e1nchez recorded demos of the songs that would eventually form Mettavolution<\/i>. And then he brought them to their producer. \u201cDavid is a geek in terms of having weird equipment; he has a lot of crazy instruments, but he was not really familiar with Fractals,\u201d he says. \u201cSo what we did was to try to emulate the Fractal sounds with stuff that he had in his studio.\u201d The duo experimented, using more \u201corganic\u201d effects like a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet, eventually finding the sound textures they wanted. \u201cBut now in live situations, we\u2019re going back to the Fractals,\u201d S\u00e1nchez says with a laugh. \u201cBecause [otherwise] we cannot reproduce everything that we did in the studio!\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledges that some fans of Rodrigo y Gabriela\u2019s earliest material have resisted the changes the duo has made along the way. \u201cI\u2019m sure that always happens,\u201d S\u00e1nchez says. \u201cEspecially with the ones who knew our music from day one, they probably prefer the acoustic version.\u201d Pointing out that what they do is still \u201cabout 90% acoustic,\u201d he says, \u201cI don\u2019t see anything wrong with us adding effects to acoustic guitars. I mean, it\u2019s even better, because we have now more a chance to create different sounds and different textures in order to keep writing interesting music.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you like it or not, we need to experiment and come up with new stuff,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause otherwise we get bored. And if we get bored, well, we are not going to write music.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Happily for all concerned, Rodrigo y Gabriel haven\u2019t gotten bored. In fact, they\u2019ve expanded their reach into many new musical areas, applying their unique talents to the world of film soundtracks. They worked with film score composer Hans Zimmer on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides<\/i> and with Henry Jackman on the Shrek<\/i> prequel Puss in Boots<\/i>. S\u00e1nchez says that he and Quintero learned much of value from those experiences. \u201cIt\u2019s such a different world altogether; we would certainly like to do more.\u201d He says that they have had to turn down some opportunities because of touring commitments.<\/p>\n
One lesson learned from film work S\u00e1nchez has taken to heart is the value of simplicity. \u201cWe feel for the first time that we\u2019ve written simpler music, but with much more personality,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes, in the past, I think we wanted to complicate more the structures of the songs; we probably felt that was needed because we didn\u2019t have more [instrumental] elements. And it was a little too complicated sometimes.\u201d He says that the new songs on Mettavolution<\/i> \u201chave melody and structure that are easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
But S\u00e1nchez doesn\u2019t believe that the changes in songwriting and arrangement will be a jarring shift for listeners who enjoyed the duo\u2019s 2014 release, 9 Dead Alive<\/i>. \u201cMost of the material on the previous album and this one kind of align,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The 18-minute version of \u201cEchoes\u201d is a centerpiece of Mettavolution<\/i>. Using a mostly acoustic arrangement, Rodrigo y Gabriela put their spin on the lengthy tune while remaining true to the space-rock feel of the original, right down to the impressionistic, musique concr\u00e8te<\/i> middle section. S\u00e1nchez views the original version \u2013 occupying the entire second side of Pink Floyd\u2019s 1971 album Meddle<\/i> \u2013 as a turning point in the British band\u2019s development. \u201cThat was the song that gave Floyd the direction we all wanted them to take,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been Pink Floyd fans forever, and \u2018Echoes\u2019 has always been special to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The path to actually tackling \u201cEchoes\u201d was a long one for the duo. For years, S\u00e1nchez says, \u201cwe never touched that song.\u201d But nearly a decade ago, while touring in support of the 2009 album 11:11<\/i>, Rodrigo y Gabriela decided to make a music video for \u201cHanuman\u201d (a track dedicated to Carlos Santana) based on the look and feel of the film Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii<\/i>. \u201cAnd then, since we were kind of familiar, again, with the whole concert, I remember I told Gab, \u2018We should work on a version for \u201cEchoes.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n