GW Which are quite impressive. I know that, strictly speaking, you don’t play flamenco music, but clearly the way you attack the strings with the separate fingers on your right hand owes something to that style.
GABRIELA It does relate to it. My mother was a music lover when I was young, and she played a lot of flamenco, which I loved. But unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to learn that style properly. It’s hard for me to explain what I actually do with the right hand, because whenever I try to figure it out, I have to slow it down. [laughs] But basically, with Rodrigo I became both the bassist and the drummer in the band.
GW As you kept working out this new sound, were there any other guitarists whose work inspired you?
RODRIGO We used to play a lot of music by [virtuoso world-music guitar duo] Strunz and Farah. Actually, we tried to play their music and couldn’t. They’re just amazing. I learned a lot from Jorge Strunz’s playing, especially the more exotic scales he uses. I also had a video by Al Di Meola that helped me with how to use the pick for acoustic playing, and another video by Paul Gilbert that gave me all the speed I have. I’d say those three players were the main influences on me.
GW Your mention of Di Meola makes perfect sense. I can hear a lot of him in your solos.
RODRIGO Hearing him was particularly important to me because he mutes the strings a lot with his right hand. I’d done the same thing when I played electric, and I didn’t want to lose that. So when I play now, I still palm mute, much like I would do if I were playing electric.
GW Tell me about the cover of Metallica’s “Orion,” on your latest album. Was that one of the metal covers you used to do back in Mexico at the hotel lounge?
RODRIGO No, we began playing that more recently, though we used to play “One,” in the old days. For this album, we really wanted to do a sincere tribute to Metallica, to show people how amazing this music is when you listen to it without distortion. Because it’s one of our favorite Metallica songs, we wanted to keep it pretty close to the original, unlike what we did with “Stairway to Heaven,” which is very different from the Led Zeppelin version. We heard from Metallica that they love our version, and that makes us feel great.
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