In conversation with Hermanos Gutiérrez

Brothers Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez started playing music together as Hermanos Gutiérrez in 2015. After the release of their fourth album, Hijos Del Sol, the duo caught the attention of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who immediately signed the band to his “Easy Eye Sounds” label.

Since then, they’ve released two records on the label, with the latest, Sonido Cósmico, arriving this June.

WUNC’s Brian Burns recently caught up with the Gutiérrez brothers before a sold-out show at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.

This is an excerpt of an edited transcript of that conversation. You can hear the full interview by clicking the LISTEN button at the top of this post.

Tell us about how you linked up with Dan Auerbach.

Alejandro Gutiérrez: “Dan’s manager showed him a video of us playing one of our first songs in our backyard. He saw 10 seconds and immediately closed the laptop and said, ‘We’ve got to call these guys in Switzerland.’ After that we had a quick phone call and flew out to Nashville and started recording music together.”

For people who don’t know, tell us what the title of the record translates to in English and why it was the right title.

Alejandro Gutiérrez: “‘Sonido Cósmico’ means ‘cosmic sound.’ Our favorite place is the desert, so our last record was based there. With this record we wanted to create something new, so we’re trying to lift up our music and lift Hermanos Gutiérrez into space and it feels good.”

Outside of your own music, I know you’ve frequently participated in Dan Auerbach’s Record Hang DJ nights. Tell us what those nights are like.

Alejandro Gutiérrez: “This is our passion, because we are vinyl lovers. My brother loves cumbia music and I love salsa music, so we like to go back-to-back and play one cumbia and one salsa track. It’s a fun way to connect with people in a different way.”

Sonido Cósmico is out now on Easy Eye Sound.