Midweek must-watch: Hermanos Gutiérrez - ‘El Jardin’
These Ecuadorian-Swiss brothers are building quite a following, but let's rewind to the beautiful two-minute video that started their journey in 2016
Before I get into today’s short newsletter, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for being here and helping Record Shop Stories to grow on Substack. I hope you’re enjoying the posts. Your feedback, suggestions, tip-offs and ideas are always welcome–you can email me back by hitting reply to this email.
I’ve got a cracking record shop story coming up for you ahead of Saturday’s Record Store Day. I’m not revealing which shop it is yet, but let’s just say this lovely spot on the south coast of England could show some of the larger indies a few tricks…look out for Friday’s email for more!
Between full Record Shop Stories, I’m also going to send a short newsletter like this one every Tuesday or Wednesday. The aim is simply to share a brilliant musical moment, captured on video. Y’know, the kind of thing that blows your mind the first time you see it on YouTube.
Check out today’s first instalment!
Hermanos Gutiérrez are no longer an unknown quantity. They’ve built a following of nearly three million listeners on Spotify, and are touring hard this year with their sixth album, Sonido Cosmico, coming out on 14 June.
These blood brothers have a fascinating and varied backstory, as I discovered listening to their interview with Broken Record last autumn.
Born to an Ecuadorian mother and a Swiss father, and growing up mainly in Zurich, Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez have a magical musical bond. They make music to lose yourself in, not just listen to. Within minutes, they have you itching to book a flight to South America or one of the southern states, hire a car, and cruise across vast, dusty landscapes with los hermanos playing on loop.
Their music began to reach a wider audience when they signed to Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in 2022, before releasing their first label-backed album, El Bueno Y El Malo.
I love the story that the brothers recount in the Broken Record interview about how they were signed to Easy Eye. Tom Osborn, general manager at the label, decided to show Dan Auerbach a clip of their first video–‘El Jardin’–before a routine weekly meeting. Apparently Dan watched the first 15 seconds on the laptop, closed the lid and said ‘Yeah… let’s have a call with the boys.’
See what you think…
If that’s whetted your appetite for more, or you’re already a fan, make sure you check out their Tiny Desk concert from early 2023, below. Gorgeous stuff. Find out more at www.hermanosgutierrez.ch
These guys are utterly amazing! I remember being sent their Tiny Desk set a while back and I was immediately mesmorised. I hadn't seen that original set though, thanks for sharing. Their sound is so stunning and smooth, plus I love how captivating they are to watch. Would love to see them live for sure. Btw the new single is 👌