Article Contributed by jbleicher.com
Published on 2026-06-29
Photo credit: Enrique Levya
GRAMMY-winning guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela have shared a new behind-the-scenes studio video documenting the recording of “Monster,” the first single from their forthcoming album, OurHome, due September 18 via ATO Records. Filmed at NK Sound Tokyo during the album sessions, the intimate footage offers a rare look inside the creative process behind a record that found the duo returning to Japan after a period of creative uncertainty, capturing Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero performing together in the studio where the album ultimately took shape.
Released earlier this month alongside an official animated video created by legendary manga artist Naoki Urasawa, “Monster” serves as the opening chapter of OurHome, an album recorded and self-produced in Japan that reflects the profound influence the country has had on Rodrigo y Gabriela’s creative and personal lives over the past two decades.
Recorded in Japan and self-produced by Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero at NK Sound Tokyo, OurHome marks a new chapter for the Mexico City-bred duo, whose singular blend of instrumental guitar music and fearless musical exploration has earned them a global audience over the past two decades.
One of Japan’s most celebrated creators, Urasawa is the acclaimed author of Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, and Master Keaton, with more than 140 million copies of his work sold worldwide. Inspired by Urasawa’s seminal psychological thriller Monster, Rodrigo y Gabriela’s single explores the tangled contradictions of the human psyche through one of the album’s darkest and most cinematic compositions. The official music video brings the connection full circle, with Urasawa creating original artwork inspired by the song and its themes.
“Monster is such a deep, philosophical story — it’s about a psychopathic killer, but it’s so uplifting and leaves you with a real sense of hope,” says Quintero. “We’d written that track without knowing that Urasawa was a fan of ours, and now he’s making the video for us.”
The admiration was mutual. Urasawa, who discovered Rodrigo y Gabriela through their live performances years before the collaboration came together, says he was stunned when he learned the duo had written a song inspired by Monster.
“I still find it incredible that encounters like this can really happen,” says Urasawa. “Originally, I watched videos of their live performances and thought they were amazing, so I started collecting their vinyl records and CDs.”
After learning that Rodrigo y Gabriela’s new song had been inspired by Monster, Urasawa reached out through the band’s Japanese promoter and soon found himself sitting down with the duo in Tokyo.
“When artists I admire that much bring you an offer like that, there’s no way you can say no!” he says. “The completed track, ‘Monster,’ not only perfectly captures the mood of my work Monster, but the duo’s guitar playing also transports us to an entirely different and elevated dimension.”
The collaboration serves as the opening chapter of OurHome, an album deeply shaped by Rodrigo y Gabriela’s long-standing connection to Japan. After a period of creative frustration and uncertainty, the duo found renewed inspiration in a country that has long served as a source of artistic and personal renewal.
“We’ve always felt drawn to Japan because of the art and aesthetics and attention to beauty,” says Quintero. “There’s also something about being there that invites you to look inward, to reconnect with who you really are and what gives you meaning.”
Returning to the textural fluidity of acoustic instrumentation after the electric-guitar-heavy sound of 2023’s In Between Thoughts…A New World, OurHome serves as both a love letter to Japan and a meditation on the possibility of finding peace wherever you are. The album features collaborations with former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman, Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi, cellist Hiyori Okuda, and guitarist/composer Yukihiro Atsumi. Mixed by five-time GRAMMY winner Dave Sardy of The Who, Oasis, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and mastered by Stephen Marcussen of Nirvana, R.E.M., and The Rolling Stones, the album draws from manga, mythology, migration, philosophy, nature, and personal transformation while remaining rooted in the expressive acoustic interplay that has defined Rodrigo y Gabriela’s career.
Rodrigo y Gabriela will celebrate the release of OurHome with an extensive North American headline tour beginning September 30 in Dallas, including appearances at Austin City Limits, Washington, D.C.’s The Anthem, New York’s Bowery Ballroom, San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, and major theater dates across the U.S. and Canada. The duo will then continue the tour across Ireland, the U.K., and Europe in spring 2027. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit [www.rodgab.com/tour-dates](http://www.rodgab.com/tour-dates).
As they prepare to bring the album to audiences around the world, Rodrigo y Gabriela see OurHome as an invitation to reconnect with what grounds us amid an increasingly chaotic world.
“Every day we face so many challenges, whether it’s economic crisis or ecological crisis or political crisis, so we need to protect what makes us feel safe and connected to our true essence,” says Quintero. “We made this album to celebrate what helps us to find that home within ourselves, and we hope it inspires everyone to figure out what home means to them. It’s a very powerful thing, because nobody can ever take it away from you.”
OurHome is due September 18 via ATO Records and is available now for pre-order and pre-save.
OurHome Tracklist
1. OurHome
2. Somos Como Tú
3. Akatsuki feat. Hiromi
4. Flying Underground
5. Quicksand
6. Monster
7. Astrum In Corpore
8. Is In Your Pocket
9. MADitation
10. Hinomaru Twins
11. Simurgh feat. Marty Friedman
Fall 2026 North American Tour Dates
Wednesday, September 30 - House Of Blues - Dallas, TX
Saturday, October 3 - Austin City Limits (ACL) - Austin, TX
Tuesday, October 6 - Poliforum Siqueiros - Ciudad de México, MEX
Wednesday, October 7 - Poliforum Siqueiros - Ciudad de México, MEX
Saturday, October 10 - Austin City Limits (ACL) - Austin, TX
Tuesday, October 13 - The Eastern - Atlanta, GA
Wednesday, October 14 - Bilheimer Capitol Theatre - Clearwater, FL
Friday, October 16 - Greenfield Lake Amphitheater - Wilmington, NC
Saturday, October 17 - The Underground - Charlotte, NC
Sunday, October 18 - The Caverns - Pelham, TN
Tuesday, October 20 - The Anthem - Washington, DC
Wednesday, October 21 - Count Basie Center for the Arts - Red Bank, NJ
Thursday, October 22 - Sherman Theater - Stroudsburg, PA
Saturday, October 24 - Lynn Auditorium - Lynn, MA
Sunday, October 25 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT
Monday, October 26 - Academy of Music Theatre - Northampton, MA
Tuesday, October 27 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
Thursday, October 29 - The Fillmore - Detroit, MI
Friday, October 30 - Rivers Casino - Des Plaines, IL
Sunday, November 1 - The Sylvee - Madison, WI
Tuesday, November 3 - The Fitzgerald Theater - St. Paul, MN
Friday, November 6 - Boulder Theater - Boulder, CO
Saturday, November 7 - The Lensic - Santa Fe, NM
Sunday, November 8 - Rialto Theatre - Tucson, AZ
Tuesday, November 10 - Humphreys Concerts by the Bay - San Diego, CA
Wednesday, November 11 - Pappy & Harriet’s - Pioneertown, CA
Thursday, November 12 - Libbey Bowl - Ojai, CA
Saturday, November 14 - San Jose Civic - San Jose, CA
Sunday, November 15 - The Castro - San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, November 17 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
Thursday, November 19 - The Moore Theatre - Seattle, WA
Friday, November 20 - Vogue Theatre - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Spring 2027 European/UK Tour Dates
Monday, March 15 - Vicar Street - Dublin, IE
Tuesday, March 16 - Mandela Hall - Belfast, UK
Wednesday, March 17 - O2 Academy - Glasgow, UK
Friday, March 19 - Albert Hall - Manchester, UK
Saturday, March 20 - Town Hall - Birmingham, UK
Sunday, March 21 - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire - London, UK
Tuesday, March 23 - Salle Pleyel - Paris, FR
Thursday, March 25 - Aéronef - Lille, FR
Friday, March 26 - 106 - Rouen, FR
Saturday, March 27 - Stereolux - Nantes, FR
Monday, March 29 - MEM2 - Rennes, FR
Wednesday, March 31 - Le Bikini - Toulouse, FR
Thursday, April 1 - Silo - Marseille, FR
Saturday, April 3 - Paloma - Nimes, FR
Sunday, April 4 - Belle Electrique - Grenoble, FR
Monday, April 5 - Le Radiant - Lyon, FR
Wednesday, April 7 - La Vapeur - Dijon, FR
Thursday, April 8 - L’Autre Canal - Nancy, FR
Friday, April 9 - La Cartonnerie - Reims, FR
Sunday, April 11 - La Laiterie - Strasbourg, FR
Tuesday, April 13 - Ancienne Belgique - Brussels, BE
Wednesday, April 14 - Paradiso - Amsterdam, NL
Friday, April 16 - Die Kantine - Cologne, DE
Saturday, April 17 - Mojo - Hamburg, DE
Sunday, April 18 - Columbia Theater - Berlin, DE
Tuesday, April 20 - Progresja - Warsaw, PL
Wednesday, April 21 - Zaklęte Rewiry - Wroclaw, PL
Friday, April 23 - Globe - Vienna, AT
Saturday, April 24 - Palac Akropolis - Prague, CZ
Sunday, April 25 - Technikum - Munich, DE
Tuesday, April 27 - Auditorium Parco della Musica - Rome, IT
Wednesday, April 28 - Circolo Magnolia - Milan, IT
Thursday, April 29 - Docks - Lausanne, CH
Saturday, May 1 - Cheltenham Jazz Fest - Cheltenham, UK
Monday, May 3 - Cosmopolite - Oslo, NO
Tuesday, May 4 - Pumpehuset - Copenhagen, DK
Wednesday, May 5 - Nalen - Stockholm, SE
Friday, May 7 - La (2) d’Apolo - Barcelona, ES
Saturday, May 8 - Sala Copérnico - Madrid, ES
Tuesday, May 11 - Cineteatro Capitólio - Lisbon, PT
Wednesday, May 12 - Casa da Música - Porto, PT
