Hermanos Gutierrez

Photo by Larry NiehuesWhen Alejandro and I play together, its like we are driving a car, says Estevan Gutirrez, one half of the guitar duo Hermanos Gutirrez. Its like we are taking a road trip. Sometimes were driving through a desert. Sometimes were traveling up the coast. But always we are in nature, and we see the most beautiful landscapes, sunrises, sunsets. The music these two brothers make evokes expansive plains and rough wildernesses, saguaros and surfs, spaghetti westerns and Morricone soundtracks, Lynch and Jarmusch. With their guitars they travel through landscapes haunted by vaqueros, cancioneros, wanderers, fugitives, lovers, familyand whatever ghosts their listeners bring to the music. Each album is a journey on its own, says Alejandro Gutirrez. We just have to go with the music, trust in ourselves, and see where it takes us.El Bueno Y El Malo is their most epic journey yet: Working with the Black Keys Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville, theyve crafted ten vivid compositions that highlight their intimate guitar playing, where one brothers rhythms and the other brothers melodies twine around each other so that they become inextricable. Together, they generate what Estevan calls a deeper, darker energy defined by complex arrangements, sophisticated playing, and most of all their very close relationship. We have such different personalities and such different approaches, says Alejandro, but in the end we have a strong balance. Because were brothers and because we love each other, theres always this connection.The sons of a Swiss father and an Ecuadorian mother, Hermanos Gutirrez have only been playing together for a few years, but music has always been a point of connection for them. I started playing guitar because of my brother, Alejandro says. He was always playing, and I loved the sound of it. Then he went to Ecuador for a year, and as an expression of missing him, I started playing the guitar as well. I learned by trying to imitate other songs, but soon realized that I didnt like playing covers. I wanted to play my own music.In the mid 2010s Alejandro moved to Zurich, not too far from the small village where his brother lived. One night he invited Estevan over and told him to bring his guitar. Together, they worked out a few melodies that quickly turned into fully realized songs. They didnt intend to start a band together, but soon decided to record an album. They booked time in a studio and soon emerged with their full-length debut, 8 Aos, named for the age difference between them. Their only ambition was to make a keepsake for themselves and their families: We love collecting old vinyl, so we thought we should make our own, says Alejandro. But it was also a moment for us to reconnect. Music helped us to be together in the same moment and create something new. So lets just do a record for us.