Spotlight on Hermanos Gutiérrez: “Our music can’t be pinpointed”

Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez were born in Switzerland, but their music is deeply rooted in Latin America – their mother is from Ecuador. This heritage is clear in the instrumental guitar soundscapes that the duo create, which are infused with rhythms and cadences learnt from bolero, milonga, cumbia and salsa. At the same time, their music is removed from these genres too, taking place in another space, a desert, the cosmos, a childhood neighbourhood, a nostalgic vision from the past. “We leave the space for each person to add their own personal journey,” Alejandro tells me before their recent sold-out show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

They remember the day when they started to play the guitar together in Alejandro’s flat in Zurich. Estevan had come to visit, “I told him to bring the guitar as I wanted to connect with my brother through music. I showed him some ideas I had for a song, and he added the melody,” says Alejandro. “It felt so magical and natural. We felt that the song was complete, we didn’t need a singer because our guitars were singing,” Estevan continues. “My roommate was listening from the next room and he came and asked ‘What band is that you’re playing?’ and we replied, ‘It’s us!’” Alejandro exclaims.

At that moment they realised they were onto something and started to think about who they were. “I take great inspiration from salsa music, so I thought of Hermanos Lebrón [Lebrón Brothers] and suddenly we knew,” Estevan says as he snaps his fingers. “Hermanos Gutiérrez!”

They began crafting instrumental guitar songs with no need for a singer or lyrics – the magic was flowing through them. Their childhood memories, and their visits to Ecuador while growing up in Switzerland, are a constant source of inspiration. Their grandfather introduced them to the artist Julio Jaramillo, an Ecuadorian singer from the 50s, known as ‘The Nightingale of America’. “Our grandfather showed us how a person can cry from [fraught] emotion and happiness at the same time. He was a very emotional and beautiful person, and as a result a great inspiration,” says Alejandro.

In 2017 they recorded their first album, 8 Años (8 Years), in Berlin, the title referencing the age difference between the two brothers. “It all happened very organically and naturally,” says Estevan. This album was followed by El Camino de mi Alma (2018), Hoy Como Ayer (2019), Hijos del Sol (2020) and Eternamente (2021). Their music began reaching more and more people until Dan Auerbach, the guitarist and vocalist of nu-blues band The Black Keys, heard Hermanos Gutiérrez and wanted to work with them. Auerbach, also a much-in-demand producer, produced their two latest albums, El Bueno y El Malo (2022) and this year’s Sonido Cósmico (2024).

El Bueno y El Malo, was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2023 Americana Music Honors & Awards. It’s an album that evokes the soundtracks of spaghetti Western films, like Ennio Morricone’s score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and it gave the brothers a ‘music from the desert’ tagline.

With Sonido Cósmico, they wanted to uproot from the desert. “We didn’t want to repeat ourselves and write El Bueno y El Malo Volume Two, so we started to work on new ideas until suddenly we found this special sound. It was a magical moment and very beautiful as we realised that we elevated the Hermanos Gutiérrez experience from the desert to the universe to space. That’s how Sonido Cósmico was conceived,” Estevan explains.

Their songs are born from a feeling, a memory, an imagined place, or a moment in their life. ‘Lágrimas Negras’ was written last year when on tour. “I was playing the guitar in my room. Though I never play in hotel rooms, that day I was longing for home, for my sons and started to play,” Estevan says. He then showed the idea to his brother Alejandro while doing soundcheck and “as always” his brother played what was missing in the song.

‘Abuelita’ comes from their Ecuadorian roots. “We saw a village, children, the life in Latin America and we thought of our family, our roots. This song has a special meaning because ‘Abuelita’ is our grandmother but is also [about] our mum,” Estevan says. Alejandro is a record collector of Peruvian cumbia and Estevan of salsa from the 60s; these two genres have deeply affected their music. “We listen very attentively to the unique sounds of cumbia and salsa from the 60s and get inspiration from it,” says Alejandro. The title-track of Sonido Cósmico (Cosmic Sound) is a clear example, as there is a song by Los Mirlos called ‘Sonido Amazónico’ (Amazonic Sound) and they liked that idea of a song that describes a specific atmosphere. “That’s one of the many ways cumbia has inspired us,” Alejandro says. “I want people to connect that cosmic sound with Hermanos Gutiérrez.”

They both arrived at the guitar via different paths. Estevan learned to play when he was eight years old. The first song his teacher taught him was a milonga from Argentina. “I fell in love with this sound that brings melancholy and nostalgia. During my first 15 years, I only played milongas and that’s why I play the guitar with the finger-picking style,” Estevan says. Alejandro, on the other hand, learned to play via YouTube tutorials. “Estevan was always playing the guitar at home and when he left, I was longing for that sound in our house,” Alejandro explains. “At that time, I lived in Ecuador and when I came back he could play the guitar. I was very impressed,” Estevan continues.

During our conversation, the two brothers have this dynamic where they take turns answering the questions or one answers half of it and the other answers the second half. When they create new songs, one starts playing a new idea and the other knows exactly what the song needs to be complete; their sound centres on the interplay between the two of them switching between lead and rhythm guitar roles.

“Sometimes when people ask what kind of music we play? Pff! It’s not easy. It isn’t Latin music, it isn’t salsa, nor cumbia, it’s not Western. Our music can’t be pinpointed,” Estevan says. Though they’re inspired by the music they first heard through their grandfather in Ecuador and their passion for milonga, salsa and cumbia, “what we played from day one was Hermanos Gutiérrez,” Estevan says bluntly.

The brothers’ special connection has been described as ineffable, just like their wordless music. They thread stories with their guitars and enrich any space with their music passing this energy onto the audience. As they play at London Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the audience is enthralled; the brothers have taken them on a road trip to the desert and as they introduce the songs of the new album, the energy reaches higher, for the stars.

This article originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today