Watch “Thunderbird” by Hermanos Gutiérrez from the New Album ‘El Bueno Y El Malo’

The sons of a Swiss father and an Ecuadorian mother, Hermanos Gutiérrez 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 didn’t 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 didn’t 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 Años, 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 let’s just do a record for us.”

Their success is proof that unique and imaginative music will find its audience. “My brother and I,” says Estevan, “we did everything by ourselves— all the music, even the artwork. But during Covid, our music was streamed all over the world,” especially their 2020 album, Hijos del Sol. Perhaps because people were looking for an escape from their worries or were traveling to new landscapes without leaving their homes, the music of Hermanos Gutiérrez spread by word of mouth, eventually finding its way to Auerbach. After a twenty-minute conversation, they signed with Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound Records and started writing songs for their forthcoming album.