The Rich Roll Podcast - Rodrigo y Gabriela: Musical Mystics On Mettavolution, Meditation & Mastery (+ Mini-Concert!)

Episode Date: November 4, 2019

It’s one thing to be an artist. But to become a successful creative — revered for your art — is quite another thing altogether. Even more rare are the few who deftly navigate the vicissitudes of an acclaimed artistic career (or any career for that matter), with a highly conscious, devotional approach. Musicians Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero – popularly known as the Mexican acoustic rock guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela — are not only incredible masters of their craft, they fully embody this ethos. It's a sensibility that has carried them from obscurity in Mexico. To busking on Grafton Street in Dublin. And ultimately to playing premier sold out venues all across the globe. Along the way, Rod & Gab have performed at the White House for the Obamas. They've collaborated on film scores with world renowned composers like Hans Zimmer. And lent their talents to television shows like Breaking Bad — all while staying true to themselves and their utterly unique Metallica meets Flamenco artistic sensibility. For those unfamiliar with this dynamic duo, prepare to be amazed. I had the good fortune to witness them perform live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles the night before this conversation. Unlike anything I had previously seen or heard, it was a transcendent experience that defies attempts to adequately describe. Fortunately, I don't have to. Today, in addition to the quality conversations you've come to expect with this show, we expand the format to weave a mini-concert into the experience — a rare treat certain to delight. Beyond the acoustic wall of sound, this is a conversation about a creative spark that began with heavy metal roots in Mexico City. It's about how busking on the streets of Dublin led to a huge break. And the extraordinary career that followed. We discuss the influences and evolution of Rod and Gab's unique style. The importance of mastery in their musicianship and personal lives. And we explore the role meditation, spirituality and veganism has played in their self and career development. Gab and Rod call it Mettavolution. Intercut with live performance, along the way they share amazing stories. What it was like playing Letterman. Performing for the Obamas. And working on big Hollywood films like Pirates of the Caribbean. Lastly, this is an episode you're going to want to watch on YouTube. It's one thing to hear Rod & Gab perform. But it's another thing altogether to observe their mastery in motion. To bear witness, visit bit.ly/rodrigoygabriela477 I’m in love with these two. I'm super excited to share their unique gifts with you today. And I sincerely hope you enjoy this experimental twist on my typical format. Peace + Plants, Rich

We knew we wanted just to play guitar and at some point after quitting the band and we was like it doesn't matter if we play no coffee or background music and for us to stick to our guns when we left Ixtapa and went to Dublin that was kind of for the goal. So like we're not going to do anything else but playing music. And we quickly realized that we had to play on the streets and it was the best experience ever. Yeah, well, but I must say that adding to the redefinition of success, the experience with the band was quite intense because instead of focusing on music and stuff we were focusing on how can we play here how can we do this and that drained us that's why we we said now we we don't like we we can't quit music and as a matter of fact now we're going

to embrace music and that's how how we said, okay, whatever. We can go and play in anybody's wedding, anywhere else, background music, whatever. But for us, every single note is going to have a meaning. That's Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriel Quintero. And this is The Rich Roll Podcast. The Rich Roll Podcast. How's it going, everybody? How you guys doing? My name is Rich Roll. I'm your host.

So, it's one thing to be an artist. It's another thing, a quite rare thing, in fact, to become a successful creative, any career for that matter, with a high-vibe devotional approach in a consciously elevated way. My guests today, musicians Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriel Quintero, otherwise known as the Mexican acoustic rock guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, are not only incredible masters of their craft, they fully embody this ethos, a sensibility that has carried them from obscurity in Mexico to busking on Grafton Street in Dublin to playing premier sold-out venues across the globe. Along the way, they have performed at the White House for the Obamas, collaborated on film scores with world-renowned composers like Hans Zimmer, and lent their talents to television

shows like Breaking Bad, all while staying true to their utterly unique Metallica meets flamenco artistic sensibility, as well as themselves. I've got so much respect for these two, and this episode, in which we try something new format-wise, is an utter delight. I've got a few more things I want to say about it before we dive in, but first, shall we support the fine establishments that make this show possible? Why, yes, we shall. We're brought to you today by recovery.com. I've been in recovery for a long time. It's not hyperbolic to say that I owe everything good in my life to sobriety. And it all began with treatment and experience that I had that quite literally saved my life.

And in the many years since, I've in turn helped many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment. And with that, I know all too well just how confusing and how overwhelming and how challenging it can be to find the right place and the right level of care, especially because unfortunately, not all treatment resources adhere to ethical practices. It's a real problem. A problem I'm now happy and proud to share has been solved by the people at recovery.com who created an online support portal designed to guide, to support, and empower you

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wonderful, and recovery.com is your partner in starting that journey. When you or a loved one need help, go to recovery.com and take the first step towards recovery. To find the best treatment option for you or a loved one, again, go to recovery.com. Okay, Rodrigo y Gabriela. If you're unfamiliar with this incredible dynamic duo, prepare thyself to be amazed. I had the opportunity to see them live at the Greek in LA the night before this conversation, and I gotta tell you, I was just stunned by the sounds that these two are able to make with just two guitars. I've never seen or heard anything like it before this because there really isn't anything else like it. In many

ways, their music defies any attempt to truly describe it, but I don't have to because today, in addition to the kind of conversation you've come to expect with this show, we're going to play around with the format a little bit to weave in a private mini concert into the experience, which I promise you is an incredible treat. As far as the conversation goes, we cover their backstory from heavy metal roots in Mexico City to how busking on the streets of Dublin led to a huge break, and the extraordinary career that followed. We discuss their influences, origin, and evolution of their unique style, the importance of mastery in their musicianship and in their personal lives, including the role that meditation,

spirituality, and veganism has played in their self and career development. Intercut with live performance along the way, they share these incredible stories, like what it was like to play the David Letterman show, the White House for the Obamas, and working on big Hollywood films like Pirates of the Caribbean. Lastly, this is one I think you're going to want to watch on YouTube. Hearing Rod and Gap perform is one thing, but actually seeing them do their thing takes it to a whole new level. So you can find the video version on the episode page at richroll.com or at youtube.com forward slash richroll and hit that subscribe button while you're there. And that's it.

slash richroll and hit that subscribe button while you're there. And that's it. I'm in love with these two. Super excited to share them with all of you guys today. And I hope you enjoy this experimental twist on my typical format. Thank you. Thank you. തതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതതો������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� I'm delighted to have you guys here. Thank you for having us. The experience last night at the Greek was transcendent. It was incredible. And I'd seen lots of videos of you guys performing

and listened to obviously digital recordings of your music, but it didn't really prepare me for the experience of what you guys do before a live audience. It's really amazing. And to see you carry and hold such a powerful vibration, I remember just kind of canvassing the audience and looking out at everybody, just so fixated and impacted by the beautiful art

that you guys put out in the world. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. It's cool to have you guys here today and perform a little bit. We're opening up the format, which I'm excited about. So I think what I'm interested in hearing about, what you guys do is so different.

It defies categorization. It's the result of so many different influences. So when somebody asks you, how do you characterize your music? How do you answer that or think about that well we have probably two different answers here but in together together together now you're together but not together yeah so but I think the way i see it we come from a rock background we play we used to play heavy metal and we did that for many years we had bands gab joined my band later we come from a thrash metal background and we still i mean we love it

but we always both we grew up uh uh surrounded by yeah cool uh cool parents that were listening to you know to different styles and listen to jazz and and bossa nova flamenco and you know and so I guess when we left Mexico City in 1999 and we went to Ireland, all these influences, I mean, we left heavy metal a little bit behind, and then we only carried two acoustic guitars. And I think all these influences just came up, you know, out of nowhere,

and just a mix. But I think basically it's rock, acoustic rock. That's the way I would basically it's rock acoustic rock and that's the way I would put it yeah Gabriella you said you disagree a little bit well it's an interesting story because you begin in Mexico City but then you're in Ixtapa for a while, right? Together, before you go to Dublin. Yeah.

So you have this band experience there. So what motivated you to say, like, we're going to pick up and go to Europe? Well, I think it was a mix of things at that time when we had the band. It was this metal band we wanted to sound like metallica and sepultura testament and all those the usual the slayer the usual suspects of metal and and for us we would have this illusion of of do big with the band and all of these things. And I used to play the electric guitar with the Marshalls, and Rod played the other guitar and the Scream a little. And then his brother played the bass,

and a friend played the drums. So we were like a proper Mexican. Right, legit Mexican metal band. Exactly. What is the metal scene in Mexico? It's huge. Is it? It's huge.

But it's all underground. And so we couldn't really play much. We were internationally non-famous and struggled to make it. And also we worked in another works. and also we worked in another works. Like I used to teach some classes to kids and I teach them like Metallica riffs or something like this to make some money. I had no money.

And then Rod, I think he worked in a TV station doing music. And then at some point we said, you know, it's just living this. For us it was, at least in Mexico City, it was so big. It's so big, and for some people, we don't like cities anyway, whatsoever. But nevertheless, Mexico City is 25 million people living there. And it was quite a big thing. And for me, it was like, oh, but the beach is just like a few hours away from here and then

because me and Rodrigo we always jam with the with the acoustic guitars we always jam into different not just metal music we loved all guitar music so a lot of people said oh well like my aunties you know they said why do you don't play that instead because it sounds nicer you know with the acoustic and it has more mellow so we figured it out that we can go to ixtapa and play for like aunties and just like a tourist and play this mellow acoustic guitar and save some money and go to europe so we reset our definition of success at that time but we started playing like Slayer tunes in acoustic. That's when we didn't have enough material.

Exactly, we didn't have enough material. So we had to play like three hours in the hotels and stuff like that. So we said, well, we need to just start just doing these acoustic metal tunes, right? All the ballads. Yeah, all the ballads. They weren't into it? Yeah, I? All the ballads. They weren't into it? Yeah, I mean, the tourists are like,

that's an interesting Mexican tradition. I would think that would be really cool because it would be very different but also recognizable for somebody. It's like, oh, I know that song. The chosen people went like, hey, that's Metallica. But not all Canadians.

They were not that familiar with Slayer. So we kind of got away with it. Right. But the idea was we're going to go here and we're done with taking a paycheck anywhere. No matter what, we're going to earn our living playing music. We're going to live as lean as possible, as minim as possible so that we can commit a hundred percent yes so we was there we reset everything we said okay now our definition of success for us would be play guitar and keep as a learning musically speaking and uh and. Travel the world and start in Europe.

But before Europe, we need to take some money. Get a little bit of money. So we went to Ixtapa, and that's how we started to think, okay, we can play in the hotels and the lobbies and the restaurants, and then we can save money. And at the beginning, it was a little like, whoa, because everybody says, no, no, no, no. We went to at least 30 hotels, and they all say no.

But at some point, one guy said, a pizza guy, he owns a pizzeria there. He said, okay, I can't pay you, but you can play, and you can put like a glass. Yeah, exactly, for the tips. And he gave us wine and pizza for free. So we were like. And you're at the beach already.

Yes, yes. We were so happy. And we eventually, because a lot of people saw us, like the hotels, they were like, oh, these two guys are playing this crazy. Well, no, it wasn't like crazy at the time. It was just like they want us for the wedding, so we would start playing weddings and cocktail parties and all of that. So we became super busy, and we didn't save money until the last month

before we went to Europe. But I like how you redefine success in your own terms, right? It doesn't have to be a record contract or playing a venue like you played last night. It was just, we're at the beach. We don't have jobs. We're making a living playing music. We're committed to mastering our craft. And like, that is success.

Yeah. Small victories that you really need to i mean probably at the time um we didn't i mean we weren't aware of these small victories but we we we knew we wanted just to play guitar yeah and at some point after quitting the band and uh we was like well it doesn't matter if we're playing a coffee or background music. I'm not going to be selling swimming suits, you know? I prefer to play guitar. And there's nothing wrong with those kind of jobs,

but I just wanted to play guitar. And for us, to stick to our guns, when we left Ixtapa and went to Dublin, that was kind of the same goal. So like, we're not going to do anything else but playing music. And we never thought, I mean, after nine months of playing hotels, we said, okay, we're going to go to Dublin

and find a hotel or at least a pub. But it doesn't work like that. Yeah. Well, it's all about Grafton Street. Yeah, right. Which you quickly realized. Exactly. We quickly realized that we had to play on like that. Yeah. Well, it's all about Grafton Street. Yeah, exactly. Which you quickly realized. Exactly. I quickly realized that we had to play on the streets.

Yeah. And it was the best experience ever. Well, the Busker culture there is really amazing. Yeah, it is another ball. But I must say that adding to the redefinition of success, the experience with the band was quite intense because emotionally we were grasping so much to get things. Like we were our own managers in our own way.

And so we took our own photos. It was like the totalest final tap Mexican version. It was even funnier. We sort of got so emotional. You still have those photos yeah yeah yeah and so

we instead of focusing on music and stuff we were focusing on how can we play here how can we do this and

that drained drained us that's why we we said no we we don't like

we can't quit music and as a matter of fact now we're going to embrace music. And that's how we said, OK, whatever. We can go and play in anybody's wedding, anywhere else, background music, whatever. But for us, every single note is going to have a meaning. And that was once we just came there. And that was one, once we just came there and we didn't, the mistake there was not to save enough money since it was nine months of spending.

Yeah, but that probably just put a little fire in us. We need somewhere to sleep. this idea of letting go of of results or being results driven like hey we need to like you know control this process so that we go from here to this other place and instead saying listen we just love playing guitar and like how can we just set our lives up so that we can play and that's the win and let go of trying to control wherever this leads us and just being in for wherever it's going to go yeah yeah because this this drive of trying to control things for us in our experience was the opposite it came exactly the opposite of what we wanted so it was for a look well let's try not care about that and see what happens so you're you're you're in dublin and you're busking and you're on grafton street and this is sort of like correct me if i'm wrong but in my imagination

this is sort of like uh the beatles in in in hamburg right like just you're putting in your reps you're playing every day all day long and over time through that consistent process you start to find your sound and this you know this thing that's so identifiable in what you do yes and we sorry um the thing is we were playing no it's good no we are um we're kind of um doing the same um playing the same music we were playing at hotels like covers and Santana

and Slayer and whatever but and this is in Grafton Street but someday this you know

urge of just composing writing your own music again but away from metal you started to you know to

really really push us to do something and then so we became we started writing our own music there like the first versions of what you just heard yesterday right like 20 years ago and it's funny I mean when we played those tunes that we were writing in in in our little room in dublin on streets people gave us more money and that that was you know the the thing that made us write more not i mean we were not looking for management we're not looking for venues to play because we were done with that yes but you need to say a very important fact. That, as you know, our skills on Money Wise wasn't very good because we just didn't have a clue. So what we did was when we came to Ireland, there was a one-way ticket.

We arrived in Dublin April, 4th of April 1999. in April, 4th of April, 1999. And then we had, essentially, we ran 1,000 sterling pounds in a week because we were paying, I don't remember why, but the thing is, one week after, we had no money. And we were like, shit, what are we going to do? Did you have a place to stay when you got there? That's another story.

Because, yeah, I remember this Mexican girl we met before we went. It was like, oh, oh, by the way, I live in Dublin. I'm on holiday in Mexico. And for us, it was like, oh, how coincidence. It's incredible. And then she said really nicely, look, when you arrive to Dublin, I'm going to be in Poland. You guys can stay in my house. And this is the direction.

So you guys can stay 15 days. So you need to spend money. In those 15 days, you will find another place to live. And we're like, oh, wow. Life is great. The universe is showing up. Exactly. Like, oh, wow, life is great.

The universe is showing up. It's the power. Exactly. But when we arrived to the house, even the taxi, because the taxi man was so nice, he came and took us to this house, and we saw a note at the door. And then the taxi said, uh-oh, there's a note at the door. And I said, oh, sorry, sorry guys you can't stay here so that's why you just just changed the plan completely and uh and then eventually and we ran out of this thousand sterling pounds because we went to an agency it was crazy and the thing was that we had this little card that we never used.

And I said, okay, now with the power of the freaking saint, whatever, credit card. So we put it into the ATM machine. And we said, okay, let's put 600, whatever. And it just gave us the money. We need these paper things. Give me some of that paper. But then we had to pay that with credit. Right, it was an advance.

Exactly, it wasn't like we were, oh, now we're in Europe, relax, let's wine. No, we had to go and we had to play in the Irish summer, which is winter, and I had to play in the streets. And it was every time we just played this crazy in order to pay that stupid amount of... It was just like almost like... But you could get a little cash every day

and you're getting instant feedback on the music that you're putting out there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. In that sense... And it's not... Actually, you make more money, I don't know now, but back in the day,

when we stopped busking and started playing pops and coffee places, we made more money in the streets. I had Amanda Palmer on the podcast. Oh, yeah, she's great. When she left, she was a street performer in Cambridge doing this eight-foot bride thing, and she was doing really well. And her Dresden Dolls partner was like, come on, we got a tour in the band. And that was like a big pay cut to pursue music and tour.

She had to think about it. At first, she didn't want to leave that because it was, that was, believe it or not, that was like security. Yes. Being on tour is expensive. Right. Yes. Thank you. අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි Thank you. අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි Thank you. so I think it's it's sort of reductive to say, I mean, I'm sure people ask you all the time,

like, well, what was your big break? Like, what was the moment where it kind of tipped into a different gear? And it seems like one of those moments for you, as reductive as it probably sounds in the grand scheme of things was Damien Rice seeing you guys, right? And taking an interest in what you were doing.

I would imagine that really changed things. Oh, totally. Yes, because that introduced us to venues, the proper venues. He had a band which was successful to like previous years before we arrived to like probably 97 and then he left the band and he started his solo career I started working on his big album right oh yeah and and he you know

we were basking and suddenly we saw this hippie guy just sitting in front of us like in the street sit and and we became friends with him and he liked it you know and we became friends yeah and and we did and he was building his solo career uh he was actually uh afraid of basking in dublin because he he i mean some people knew who he was because of the band he was in so he would go to go away and busk there uh because if they saw him they would think oh he hit hard times or something exactly i don't know what he had his reasons and then um so we were um kind of celibate like living life in Europe while he was

working hard he went on tour he was making like doing his own things like going to

Germany and secret gigs here and there like you know and then we decided to go away from Dublin for six months

we went to Denmark we were busking in Denmark busking in Denmark busking in Barcelona went back to Ireland and then

Damien was already like with his new album it was number one yeah and we ran into each other

in Tower Records like the old record store and and he said like hey I'm gonna play a show in Beaker Street do you wanna just open for and and he said like hey i'm gonna play a show in beaker street you would

you want to just open for me is it like that would be great and that day that day let me get back to you that day we met uh nile which is still our manager that day i mean he was working with damien that they split and um nile we met that night we met our manager that day. I mean, he was working with Damien that day split, and that night we met our manager, and we're still with him. Wow, that's amazing. And so here you are. How many albums now? Five albums. Four studio, I think four studio.

And three live albums? Yeah, three live. You played at the White House? Yeah. That's great. How is that? That's great. That's real that night. White House? Yeah. It was great. How was that? It was great. It was surreal that night.

For Obama. Yeah. Yeah. Because we didn't know. We were on tour, of course, like a long, long tour in Australia. And then at some point, their manager rang us and said, hey, the White House rang the office. And they said, I want you guys to play there.

But they didn't say anything because it's all secret and all of this. It was about, okay, we immediately assume it's going to be a party with some politicians and we're going to play like that. Like in the background. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we said, okay's we have to say yes and then it was the last day of the of the tour yeah and so when we arrived in in in dc

we were so jet lag so tired so tired and had to get up even adriana which was our a friend she traveled with us she fell fell asleep for the first time in years. She never fell asleep because we were that tired. So when we arrived to the White House, and me and Rodrigo, just like this, nothing fancy. Yeah, almost wearing shorts. I was wearing shorts. I'd see the photos today and be like, oh, my God.

I was wearing shorts. I see the photos today. Oh, my God. We both with jeans and like this. And so we came through security. And then these guys like men in black. And they took us to this. Oh, come on.

Come here. You too. And they took us to the White House. And they took us to this crazy, incredible place inside. And, oh, this is the room. This is the, this is like a museum kind of thing. And they left us in a little room there, like, for maybe five minutes, just waiting, waiting. And then they took us to this place where it was full of photographers. And then we just step in,... And there was the president there,

and Michelle Obama was like, what is my dream? Because we were just like, oh, hi, Michelle. Hi, Obama. It was a Mexican president there, too. And they said, oh, what's your name? And I said, well, my name is Camila. What's yours?

I love you too. And then you can see in the photo we're like, this is also bad dress. And then we had to perform for a good bunch of politicians. I mean, they had this thing celebrating something between Mexico and the States. And then Beyonce was playing half an hour. And we were playing half an hour. Right.

But they had built this beautiful stage outside the White House. And Obama just liked our music. He said, like, the first thing he said, like, I have your music in my iPod. And he even was using some of the music at the campaign. And, yeah, he was a fan and he loved music, as you know. And it was great just to be there. And we performed half an hour. Then. And we performed half an hour.

Then Beyoncé performed another half an hour. It was surreal. What a crazy experience. From busking to the white house. Yeah, I mean, that's, like, I just wanted to punctuate that. Like, that arc is so insane. You know, and when you're walking through a public square, whether it's in Europe, in the United States,

or in a subway station, and you see somebody busking, it's very easy to be dismissive or like, oh, wow, man, it must be hard for that person. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But you don't really think that the possibility exists that you could transcend that paradigm into what you guys get to do now. Yeah. into what you guys get to do now. Yeah, and as you said, being on the streets is so magical because you're seeing life through completely another perspective because you are almost invisible. You are not playing any role.

You're just in the streets. And we got a lot of really crazy experiences in the streets. we got a lot of really crazy experiences in the streets. And even then, I think we dedicated a tune called Viking Man to one homeless guy in Denmark. And it was this homeless guy that we considered was like our angel because there was police, there was very strict. And that policeman looked exactly like that cartoon Top Cat policeman. It looked exactly the same.

And he came like, oh, no, you can't play this. This is for blah, blah, blah. And we were okay. And the homeless was like, blah. And then he came and said, he's not here. And, you know, sometimes we start arguing as we normally did. And then he came and said, you two stop and play, you know, just scream at us like this. And he was just taking care of ourselves in his own crazy way because he was drunk and all of these things.

And we felt like it's just another dimension almost in the street. And it's also good for us. It's never going to change the fact that when you walked into a street, I always looked and who is there and just acknowledge and honor whoever, even if it's just somebody like so wasted, you know, still a human being. Yeah, and it can't be about expectations. It has just to be about the love of the music and just, you know is still a human being right yeah and you it can't be about expectations it has just to be about the love of the music and just you know the just being present for whatever's going

to happen exactly exactly it was so sweet and cute last night gabriella like after you guys uh you know came back out for the encore and you're like, you're like, okie dokie, we're gonna play another show. Because it's such a contrast with the power with which you play and the ferocity and you're shaking your head

and you can't even see how fast your hand is moving and it's just like, I'm like, what is even happening here? I can't even wrap my head around this. And then you're like, hi.

I can't even wrap my head around this. And then you're like, hi. Probably because I'm Gemini, so one twin is like this and the other one goes like this. Yeah, it's like this weird duality, I guess. I don't know. But when you're up there on stage, and even just now when you perform for us, I noticed you both close your eyes, and it's almost like you're entering this trance-like state when you're playing. And it feels more like you're – it's sort of beyond – the experience is beyond music in that it feels like you're just transmitting like a signal like an energy right like there's a there's like a you are a channel for something that comes from the beyond and you're there to transmit it yeah yeah that's intention i mean that is intention and i think that happens

that's why music is mystical i mean that's why god is it gathers people and people go there to, you know, to feel something, right? Yeah. And when we started, I don't think we were aware of that power. Nowadays, after many years of touring and, there are some years of struggle because there is a point you know you at the beginning you're like so like I'm gonna do this you don't even know why you just feel something right and then you get comfortable you know you just like two or three albums and then you just make you know your life is very comfortable right as a musician as a touring musician and um you hit a point when you really kind of forget

that feeling of and then you have to to to meet it again you have to meet the reason again you have to find it to look for it because somewhere kind of just got lost you know and that happened to us like four years ago we're in Japan and we were like I think you know we we've been just asleep for the last first day you know yeah and we kind of made a deal in Japan we're in Japan so like let's let's get this together we didn't know how let's get it back and because we are like touring the same places playing for the same people it's like it's good but what why are we doing this right you know and then just that combined with personal

experiences that you need to transcend you think well you feel like okay this is what i do best right i mean we have different interests but music is the thing that we feel and how can we use this to heal ourselves but not only that but just to share something that people to inspire people to do something with it that is really really really powerful the people to inspire people to do something with it that is really really really powerful and um nowadays we try to do it i mean we have left a little bit of that ego thing that is always there like thinking that people is there for you it's not it's not true you know what i'm saying it's not true and when you're on the stage uh these days when we're on the stage we we try to i mean we can play good some days some of the days

we are more nervous some of the days but that doesn't really matter you know as long as you are try to be present and try to to to connect with them try to i mean we are energy for sure i mean it's not i mean it sounded like a few years ago sounded crazy, but now science is telling you different things. And all these new neurologists are coming with different stories about how we broadcast the signal, right? And that's what I want to do every night. I would try to send stuff and to share whatever comes to me that day. And I think you're doing the same.

Yeah. When you came on stage to open the evening, the first thing you did was express gratitude. Yes, of course. You're saying, I'm so grateful to be able to be here tonight. And not just me like, oh, the two of us get to be up here, but how grateful, how amazing is it that it we're just it's this beautiful night we're under the stars at this incredible venue and we

get to participate in music that in and of itself right yeah like back to the roots back to just pure artistic expression yes yeah that's the way beautiful right and right? And the new album is called Metavolution, right? So you got a chance to kind of explain what that means. So talk to us about that. Well, what I explained was meta is a Sanskrit word for compassion and love and kindness. But that leads to the Western translation. Apparently, if you speak Tibetan or Sanskrit, it has more deeply meaning and everything. And Volusia comes from evolution. So in our own world, in our own vision, as an artist, we wanted to portray a vision of a world whose humanity and their talents and their science

and all their intelligence is in service of life. And that is possible, but you need to practice. It's like this practice skill. And being compassionate and practice compassion, it is a whole other level. You need to transform your person. You need to become someone else almost because it's just meaning that you have to face your fears and everything else. And also face the fact that we are not perfect and sometimes we don't like to see how bad we are. Yeah, no one likes to look at that.

No. We can read about, oh, my family did this to me. We all have lots of opinions about how everyone else can change. Exactly. But what about what am I doing? And that's what it is all about. So in my world is take your own responsibility and just expand the circle of compassion. Just add more and include more.

That's the idea. Right. Metta, M-E-T-T-A, which means loving kindness. There is a loving kindness meta meditation practice and technique i've had sharon salzberg on that podcast who's the big you know yeah i practice her it's a beautiful practice so it's just so cool that you name your album that yes um and it's interesting because it's so like at times the album so album's so, it is like a, it's like a trance-like, there's a, there's like a, you can kind of, it's a trance-like thing. It's almost like mantra, you know, in the way that mantra works with meditation.

Like, it just puts you, it changes your state to just be in it right yeah and i think mantra and when you hear all this singing and crazy though all the indian music that raga right which is all they have different tunings and it's just like to me it's like it's just like it takes you to another level because every time I go, even like the... Singing bowl. Yeah, those are like, if I hear it, I go like... Like a dog sound. Exactly. It just goes... We've been practicing in Meta for years. I mean, we do different stuff.

I mean, you meditate, right? Do you? Yeah, we do different stuff. I mean, do you meditate? Do you? Yeah, I do, yeah. You're challenging me. Well, I get nervous because it's like, I have people on the show who are like, I do it for an hour every morning and every night. And like, I'm certainly not consistent in that regard.

Do you know, I started doing meditation in 2004 with a like kind of Buddhist teacher and since then I've been practicing for some time I was doing meta and then recently I found Joe Dispenza, which is incredible stuff that he's doing. And so I mix. I do meta. I do the Wim Hof stuff, which I love it. And I do the cold exposure and the breathing. And I practice a lot of the Joe Dispenza stuff. And I think you do some of the stuff as well, right?

You practice. And I think you do some of the stuff as well, right? You practice. I'm not as disciplined. Once he is into something, he does it 100%. And I don't like that. I can't just act, whatever. To me, what is very important is to say, why do you meditate? And why do you want to be?

It almost sounds like super selfish. But the way we see it and the way we both see it is like humanity is an instrument. So it's everyone tune itself. We tune that we might function as a collective something. And that's the way I see it, because compassion is not just going inward. And I said, I don't want to know about any negativity in the world. You have to bring it into the world. Exactly.

That's the hard part. And the hard part, because when you do things for others and you get involved in an activist work and in some sort of an organic says you want to do good things you're gonna face your own fears and your ego projected into other people and that's why sometimes you can't go forward you can't make a change because you get sick of it. And just like, oh, those guys, I hate them. And then it's like nothing is done. So you need to work on your own self in order to,

when you go out in the world, you actually do things. You are efficient in your own activism. So I think we all, in my view, we all should be activists. But before activists, it's important to tune in. Yeah, you got to do that first. Exactly. That's the part that people don't like to look at. It's true in life.

And I think it's reflected in your music, like the fact that you, Rod, you know, like you're experimenting with all these different practices. I mean, that's sort of your sensibility around what you guys do on stage, right? It's a confluence of all these different influences. You're a 100% guy. You're an emotional Gemini person.

And that combination creates this soup that produces something magical and beautiful. And excuse me, i think it's interesting when people try to characterize specifically what you do as as like flamenco like primarily flamenco oriented because certainly there's a flair of that but it's not that like it's something totally your own it is very different it is is. Flamenco is an incredible, almost sacred. Yeah, sacred. And we lived in Spain and we knew incredible players

and incredible people there. You see people, wow. We love flamenco, by the way, but we're very respectful of flamenco. So that's why we said, no, we don't. Especially because we know they hate when people are confused. Right. Or they're like, in Spain, they... Actually, the purists hate Paco de Lucía, for instance,

which is a god of flamenco guitar, because he experimented a lot. And then we have a friend um vicente amigo which is a genius and the way he plays is incredible and that's flamenco so what we do is more rock and roll and i am i developed a way to kind of play the drums because we were on our own playing in the street and sometimes i felt people was gonna get bored which we just playing so guitarist of and like scales and really nice arrangement and then we answer you know then i thought of people it's gonna get bored they're gonna go you know so for me it was important to to keep the the. And I knew that you can see flamenco or some mariachi or some other musics, they do rhythms with the hand and they play it.

It's not like I invented it. But I knew I didn't know how to. And my way to trying to figure it out, it makes me discover new ones, new ways. So that's why it's just like, okay. I mean, it is truly a percussive instrument as much as it is a string instrument. Yeah. It's incredible.

I think your Irish... It's Bada, right? The Baron, yeah. Yeah, yeah. The Baron. I think that's because we had this friend in Ireland who's an amazing Baron player. It's sort of the Irish version of flamenco, right?

Exactly. And then this guy taught me a lot. Well, it's Irish traditional music. Yes, he taught me a few moves. And then because baron plays with a stick, that's the way they play it. But I practiced without... Like banging a stick on the guitar itself?

Yeah, on the baron, the drum. Oh, I see. Okay. It's a drum. It's very beautiful music. We loved Irish music. And so I started practicing like this, like this. And a lot of the movements comes from that technique instead of flamenco. Thank you. Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� Thank you. Well, on stage, the sound is so massive.

Like, it's just the two of you. Yeah. And you're either playing electric or acoustic you're playing acoustic but it sounds like there's 15 instruments going on like how many inputs do you have like there do you are you have like mics inside the guitar like how are you getting all these different percussive sounds and yes we do we do i mean it's been a process. In 2007, we're in Japan, and Yamaha approached us. And since then, they've been working with us together. And it's great.

I mean, we developed 12 years ago. You couldn't find nylon string guitars with piezos. Piezos are like little microphones stick to the body of the guitar, Besides the pickup, the normal pickup. Right. And so in order, we were, and we had, at that time, we had toured Ireland and England endlessly. And our profile had raised quite a bit.

And then we hit a wall the day we were invited to support muse at their first stadium shows in wembley wow so our guitars were not for it you know and we did it it was a pain for our sound engineer i mean i think that because the venue was so large like the venue was so large you know and 80 000 people and and so we knew that we need to we needed to you know to upgrade the whole thing and then we were using different guitars and so we met yamaha and then we i mean this is not an ad of course but it's okay um but um yeah and it's the they developed this system that wasn't anywhere in the market back in the day. And they've been just upgrading the system.

And Gabriela has seven piezos on the body because she plays all around the body, right? So you turn one instrument into seven, basically. Well, yeah, or one amplified one. But knowing where those pickups are in different places all over the instrument. It sounds very complex because the system is very complex. But when we played here, for instance, there's two microphones and two guitars.

And that's the essence of it. So the idea is all that sound, how are you going to bring the sound to the level that... Fill that space, right? Exactly. 500, 1,000 people, 2,000. How are you as an engineer going to bring this level without feedbacks and all of these things? So that's the development of all these technologies, and especially on the guitars. of all these technologies, and especially on the guitars.

And that's why we got the little pieces, which are like a pick of the capture, the sound of the wood. And that's the way it is. I don't know exactly how to do it. You can ask them in Japanese if you want to. You don't have to worry about it. They're taking care of that for you well speaking of doing your thing you know i mean what what's happening is i mean when i was

watching you it's this is this is um mastery in motion like you guys are masters of your craft and I'm sure, no doubt, it's the result of years and years and years of dedication to your craft. But there's something beautiful and just transcendent about seeing a master at work, whether it's a basketball player or anybody who's kind of mastered their discipline

so how do you think about that like how do you think do you even think about that like no when i don't know not in yeah well i don't know not personally but you mean like the yamaha people about about like towards ourselves or what like yeah i mean do you think like clearly like you you want to be the best that you can be right so what is the process of doing that and like how do you think about like becoming the best version of what you can possibly be well not, at least for me, not to center everything in, I know the guitar thing is the thing that I have practiced the most

and probably because of that is one of the things that I do better. But I was never the kind of guy that I wanted to be the fastest or, you know. And now I think it's a whole thing. I feel if I meditate more, if I get to know myself better, I'm going to be calmer when I'm on stage. And that's probably going to help to share more information with others

but that's one part of me and I need to be more to practice more in my compassion towards my crew for example sometimes as you know and so to me it's a

whole thing now I want to become a better person for the rest, for the people around me, and not as a single practice, in this case, as a musician, you know, itself. And I try to do the best I can, but always try to do something for the one that's beside you and try to you know to do something for for the one this beside you and try to be good to gab which I spent a lot of time with with my

girlfriend back in Mexico with my you know the people around you you know and I learned a lot from people like you when I listen when I started listening to podcast like three years ago you probably were the you know one of the first podcast and listening to your guest and your own story your books and it's really inspiring and and i think this thing just passes from you to me from me to others and that's i think that's that creates a better world yeah to to be master of your craft means to explore mastery of self. Yes. Right? In the broadest sense. Yeah.

But also it's just that this maybe code of your own, you know when you are being a little lazy or you know when you are a little bit too pushy with yourself, so it is to find that balance. And I think once you find that balance, that's when you find, okay, now I'm doing the best I can right now. But sometimes, for me and I think for you too, sometimes we have pushed ourselves too badly.

Or sometimes just not. And I think it is important to say okay I'm not the most important person it doesn't really matter you know if I play if I made a mistake or whatever it doesn't matter but what does matter is just to do whatever you have to do around and like at, at least I do meditate in my own way. I like to run. So then on the stage or when we are playing together, when we are coming up with new music, you are sharp.

You are clear. You are present. Because there's nothing horrible to be, like, hungry or like this, like this, trying to come up with something and i think that's the key to master something is like you make sure your body and your brain all your being is ready available for this as you said like this resource so that thing can come in yeah right yeah yeah and to be in that in in in the worst place is that, I mean, if you, you know, if you are, you play a match, let's say a soccer player and you win 10 nil, I mean, 10 all, I mean, you don't really learn much, right? About that match.

Yeah, it's only when you're tested. And when you lose. And when you test, but the thing is, you need to be open to those moments and you need to convince yourself that you're going to learn from the really dark nights, you know, because if, I mean, you get afraid, but sometimes you get so many of those nights. At some point it's like, well,

you need to find a meaning, you know, to those dark nights. I mean, those can be gifts if you have the right relationship with them. But then the problem is then you become successful like you guys and you get soft. And then you're like, wait a minute, like, why are we doing this? Like, where are we finding our inspiration now? Because life is easy. Yes, and you become like very stupid.

You become like, oh, but now I need everything to be organic and i don't like blue except m&ms yeah what uh well i mean look you guys have blazed a fearless and very innovative artistic life so what is the what is the message that message that you want the young artist out there to hear, somebody who is struggling or trying to find their identity or their path in an artistic endeavor? I think it is very important to keep yourself inspired all the time and not be afraid to maybe look at other artists

and also one thing that is very important except metallica except metallica but i think we we're so judgmental our culture is so judgmental it's so dismissive and so like that that's shit that's crap, that's this, that's... And that is like a boomerang. It just compounds in this massive insecurity. And a lot of great artists and so talented people, they can't bring anything to the world because they're so afraid they're going to treat them

the same way they treat the other people you know so and i think one of the keys or i would say to young people they want to play they want to show they want to it's like there's always people they're not they're not gonna like what you do no matter what there's always there those ones those guys they're always going to be there. You don't want to focus on those. But on the other hand, you can potentially become better and bring things to this world that are worthy for everyone else to see them. So those fears that, oh, my God, am I good or I'm not good, that comes from the judgmental thing.

It is a bad habit. It's getting harder and harder because social media just foments that, and I see it in my kids, and it's debilitating. Just leave the phone and just play, practice. I mean, forget about taking pictures for Instagram and for your rehearsal and just send it to your, I mean, that doesn't really work. people like between 12 and 18 years old they are showing now less amount of muscle mass and resistance than 30 years ago and because they don't move right right they're done yeah I mean that's yeah not surprised but it's super high don't know that the percentage very super high it's like it's really worrying so in in this case I mean my advice would like really

focus on music and try to I mean if you're a young musician and you try to to to please others first that's that's I mean you want to play music thinking that you need to be liked by by others i don't think that's a good idea you need to play whatever you really feel is good for you and not to copy i mean it's good to learn from bands and just covers and all that but then you just try to do something different there are so many but especially now thousands and thousands of bands with the same uh layout the same you know it's and it's getting difficult. It's more difficult because, but at some point,

I mean, all of those bands, a lot of those bands, they sound pretty similar. Yeah. And it's hard. Easier than ever to create, harder than ever to stand out. But at the same time, the days of the massive breakout, you know, hit machines are kind of gone. I mean,

every once in a while, you know, there's always a few, but that's not what it's about anymore. It used to just be about radio play. And now look at the career that you've carved out, which is very against the grain. You know, I don't know that this career would be possible 30 years ago in the way that it is now. And, you know, like my 15-year-old daughter, she's constantly discovering new music on SoundCloud, all these unsigned, like these are people no one's ever heard of, you know. Exactly, yeah. And you can really create your niche.

And I think that's exciting for anybody who's interested in creating because the tools are readily available and the importance of the gatekeepers is no longer. Yes. Yeah, but as you said, we can't say black or white. There's benefits of all of the changes, and there's always going to be good things about social media and how an artist that is independent can take advantage

of all those things and all of that, but it's just more to balance things a little bit. Yeah. Well, I, that's coming from that experience of you, that period where you were trying to control everything, right?

Like now you'd like, you have to be your own social media manager and you have to do, you're thinking about all these other things other than the actual art itself. Exactly. So you get, you get, you disperse your creativity, everything, because you are thinking like, like a few months ago,

we got this call with our team and management. Oh, you guys, you need to do social media, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they said, okay, but we try it. We try it. And then we got so distracted. You filled the great theater last night, so who cares? That's what matters. For us, we realized that the more we try to be,

oh, now we're having a cappuccino. It's stupid. It's not stupid for a lot of people, but it's for us. Perfectly posed in the whole thing, right? All right, so what's up with the vegan thing? Oh, what's up with the vegan? Tell me about this. Okay, vegan, when I start a little bit, can I start?

Yeah, of course. Okay, I was born vegetarian. My mom was the hippie, and she was in this some sort of india hindu thing i'm so surprised and then me and my sister we were born vegetarians and mostly into the vegan thing like very healthy sort of thing and then eventually i think was in ireland when i started to hear about vegan and i was like what vegan is i didn't know what it was and this was pre happy pear days right yeah yeah and so our manager had a shared a flat with a vegan guy but he looked so okay i wanted to ask him, but he looked angry. And he had this energy.

And I was like, oh, maybe I would not ask. Because it sounded like he was going to give me a bad time. And I didn't know why. A lecture is coming. Like something like, I didn't understand what a vegan was, honestly. I would try to ask Niall or manager what it is and he's like it's just extreme shit and I was like yes but okay

so one day in a restaurant in a vegetarian restaurant I saw like a pamphlet or something in Cornucopia? Was this in Dublin? Cornucopia is great actually I think it was some of those alternative. I think it was Govindas, right?

Govindas, I think. Oh, Govindas, yeah. And they had this, like, a vegan sort of propaganda thing, and they talked about treatment of cows for dairy and all of these things. And for me, it was at that time, I thought, oh, but you drink the milk, you don't hurt the cow, you don't hurt the chickens. And in this thing, it was just so clear. And for me, it was like, okay, boom.

That was it. That was it. One pamphlet, a very effective propaganda pamphlet. Just like this. Yes, because for me, it was all my life since I was a little girl with me and my sister, we loved to be vegetarians. We loved it because my mom, instead of teaching us how bad meat was, she was more into, oh, look at the beautiful animals,

or look at this beautiful tree, and it was more into an inspiration side of things. So for us, for both of us, it was always this message, but it was also very hard to grow up in Mexico, which has a very strong gastronomic culture and family-based culture, and it was very strong for us to be surrounded with all these people

and have this discrimination against us. Because it wasn't like, it wasn't a bad thing at least, but all the jokes and those kids are like, give them grass. And also, and all poor little girls.

Like, so you don't need you don't need dreams and you don't need this and we were like but inside we were just like this but we didn't care because we ate so deliciously at home we never felt we missed anything you know so for it was easy to just flip into vegan really quick. I've traveled to a lot of places all over the world, and I've said this before, but the place that I had the most difficulty eating vegan was Mexico City. And I did not expect that.

I thought it would be super easy to do it there. Now it's getting, I don't know when was the last time you went there. It was three or four years ago. Yeah, it's incredible. In two years, you know, happy cow that app. Man, it used to be like three restaurants. Now it's like. Yeah, but like if you go to a swanky restaurant,

you say, oh, can I have just, oh, everything would have some animal something. Yeah, it's cooked in pork fat or whatever. Something like this. Yeah, and that's what it makes. They put lard on it. Yeah, you can't just get beans that aren't cooked in lard. But Rod, so how did this go down for you?

I wasn't vegetarian until just being around gab and gab's family i saw them like they were very very very healthy her and her sister and um i just suffered a lot like especially like yeah indigestions and all that like when I was young and then I stopped eating red meat when I was 16 hmm and I was like and I kept doing the healthy quote-unquote meat for years until early 2000s I there's a cat called Mitsubishi and when And when all the information started to come out and YouTube, you know, was created and all that, I saw Mitsubishi one day and I looked into his eyes and I just, you know, you've heard this story before right just he gave me the the message the connection and i said like that's the same as it you know the chicken or the dog that i that i eat and and that's it i really i changed from um zero to vegan in a moment i never went back never miss like the cheese or i i didn't do it gradually like i turned like in a second and that this is only it's already like 12 years ago wow yeah that's interesting yeah so 12 years vegan you're longer right no i think we both came the same vegan the

same the same time all right and now you guys are in the midst of a tour. I can't, I got to get you out of here because you got to get down to San Diego. You know, not only are you playing these shows night after night after night, during the day you have to do stuff like this, right? Like it just monopolizes your existence. So before I let you go,

I'm just interested in how you maintain balance and, you know, what is the wellness equation like meditation? Of course, we talked about that. You guys are eating vegan, but what are the other things that you do to make sure that you are intact so that when you get up on stage, you can be like your best, most authentic self? you can be like your best, most authentic self. Well, lately for me, I have discovered that I don't take life so seriously. You know, before I took life super seriously. So the stress, the stress can, it just burns you out completely. So I found that nowadays I'm more energized because it's less of this toxic stressful thoughts and all of this worrying

about things and it just that really really brings another level but besides that I like vegan food I'm not so much into junk vegan although I try it and I'm so happy that people can enjoy their favorite foods without eating animals. But I'm more into a health sort of juices and a lot of green tea. And I also exercise every morning on tour, go for a run. Not as crazy as he does, but I i run i do some yoga and like real quick and um and then i have a green juice and we tend to eat very the most healthy before like before vegan i was not healthy i was vegetarian but I loved wine and coffee and cheese. I was cheese-sivorous and red-ivorous and a lot of those things.

And that doesn't help for play or being sharp or anything like this. Yeah. Well, this is not very heavy metal of you. No. It's like green juice, running, yoga, vegan, lifestyle, meditation. Meditation. But that's the new metal, running, yoga, vegan, lifestyle, meditation. Meditation. But that's the new metal, I would say. Yeah, a lot of metal guys are doing that.

Yeah. Yeah, it's true. Heavy metal, M-E-T-T-A-L. Exactly, exactly. And for me, it's the same. I do a lot of exercise. I play soccer when I'm home. I have my team there.

You called it soccer. Well, for you to understand, Rich. I get it. I'll take that condescension. Keep going. And then I do, yeah, we try to eat healthy. I like, of course, I love Beyond Burgers, and I love, you know, but in the States, it is easy.

You go to Whole Foods and you use massive salads, you know, when we are on tour. It's the easiest thing, just to keep it in the healthy side. And then I run. like running and a lot and I try to especially not to focus so much on tour when we are on tour not to focus so much on the fact that we are on tour and we are like it's important to be very kind of concentrated because you are doing that.

But if you focus all your attention of that, then you get stressed. You know, it's like, oh, fuck. I mean, I need to play a big show tonight or whatever. So we have different projects. Gav has an amazing co-op in Siwa, like a nonprofit. That's not a co-op. It's not a co-op. It's a nonprofit organizationop, it's a non-profit organization non-profit, like vegan food and yoga and stuff like that

I think I read something about it a little bit of that, but it's very community based, it's just very, it's not fancy or swanky we wanted to, me and my sister we wanted to share it with people who has no access

to information maybe no access to information. Maybe to access to food is a little better in Mexico, especially good food in the sense of fruits and vegetables will be far more accessible because the price is not as high as if you live in Germany, for instance. But people wouldn't know how to cook or how to use all those vegetables. And over there, they use a lot of oil and a lot of fried tortillas.

That's what I love. But it's 40% of the population in Ciguatanejo has diabetes. And it is very hard. So people like it, and they have received it and we talked about animals and all that and they go like okay that's sort of convinced some of them quite convinced but we have to because these are our values and that's the way we feel it should be done yeah cool but that idea of having something outside of your music. Yeah, man.

To keep you excited. Yeah, for many reasons as well. You need to do other things not only for that, but financially it's a good idea, you know. And I have a cafe restaurant in Ixtapa, a vegan cafe restaurant that my girlfriend runs. And it's called La Raiz de la Tierra, which is cool. It's my place to go when I go back home.

I have a restaurant, a vegan restaurant. And your client. And I'm your client. You guys should work together. Not in that one. Not in that world. All right. I got to launch you guys out of here or I'm going to get strung up on my heels. You got to get down to San Diego.

So listen, an honor and a privilege to talk to you guys. Thank you for having us. I'm so touched that you spent some time with us today. Your artistic expression is beautiful. It's touching so many people and it was just a thrill to be there last night and see you guys do what you do. Thank you. I honor you and have so

much respect. Not the same. You're an inspiration for us and for many people. Thank you for doing this. Everybody listening, you got to check these guys out if you wanna find tour dates just go to your website right there we go Gabriela you can go to your Instagram page

but you won't see any pictures of you sipping espresso or maybe tomorrow you will now this is your today I want you to take a picture of you guys sipping espresso and put it on your Instagram okay anyway come back and talk to me sometime espresso and put it on your Instagram. Okay? Anyway, come back and talk to me sometime.

Yes. Please. Thank you. Much love. Peace. So much to love. Beautiful beings, both of those people. And what an extraordinary gift, talent, and a pleasure to be able to receive it and be entertained by them today. For even more on Rodrigo E. Gabriela, check the show notes on the episode page at richroll.com and let them know

how this one landed for you by sharing your thoughts directly on Twitter at RodGab, R-O-D-G-A-B, and on Instagram at Rodrigo E., that's a Y, Rodrigo Y Gabriela. If you'd like to support the work we do here on the podcast, subscribe, rate, and comment on the show on Apple Podcasts. That really helps new people discover the program. Tell your friends about your favorite episodes. Share the show on social media. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, Spotify, Google Podcasts.

And you can support us on Patreon at richroll.com forward slash donate. I want to thank everybody who helped put on the show today. Jason Camiolo for audio engineering, production, show notes, interstitial music, Blake Curtis and Margo Lubin for videoing today's experimental show, Jessica Miranda for graphics, Allie Rogers for portraits, DK for advertiser relationships, and theme music, as always, by Anna the love you guys see you back here in a couple days with the return of the great dean carnazes his third appearance on the podcast it's a good one here's a clip to take you out until then if music be the food of love play on my friends peace plants namaste An ultra marathon's a war. The battle is the elements, is the mountain you're facing.

And you throw yourself into it. And it, I don't know, there's something, it tears you down, right? But there's just something so raw and visceral about succeeding and just keeping going. There's something about that. You know, someone has said that without war, you don't know if you're a coward or a hero. And this is your war, right? Everyone wants to fight and see what they're made of. And this is the test. This is where you get to see, you know, nothing holds a mirror to you like running, right? Especially long distances. You see exactly who you are. It's human. It's very human. It's a very human instinct.

And unfortunately, when you travel across this country, so many people are so far removed from that. I mean, they don't have a relationship with their body, first of all. And that's horrible. And they've kind of just got, I think, sucked into this whole world of comfort, thinking that's going to make them happy. And you're bombarded with messaging from marketers and ads saying just that, you know, buy this luxury vehicle and you're going to be happy.

And it doesn't work. It just doesn't, that formula doesn't work. And I think more and more people are starting to recognize that. Thank you.