Today we’d like to introduce you to Alberto Sandino and Carlos Gonzalez.
Alberto and Carlos, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We met in 2012. Albert was in a local Miami metal band named “Alin Mane” that had just broken up. We shared a mutual friend that invited us to a party and we hit it off because we had similar musical tastes. We then formed a band named “La Banda Cafe” that lasted for many years and broke up in 2015. Following the aftermath, we decided to create a project that was free from having to rely on other musicians. We created 12 String Theory as a way to unleash all of our musical ideas stemming from our Latin roots. We wanted to have an environment where we could create pieces of music that were free from the constraints of conventional songwriting.
The first time we ever played together, we jammed on acoustic guitars and there was immediate chemistry. We naturally gravitated towards acoustic guitars. More specifically, we really liked the sound and the texture of classical guitars. Although we play classical guitars, neither of us are classically trained nor do we play classical styles of music. We approach it from a foundation of hard rock and metal music with Latin influences and roots. We began like any other band, visiting the local open mic scenes and slowly developing our sound. People eventually began to notice us and began inviting us to play at their venues. Playing at various venues allowed us to meet and collaborate with many different local Miami artists, which opened the doors to more shows. We have stayed busy ever since.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of the struggles that we face are due to our unique sound. We sometimes find ourselves in situations where we don’t necessarily fit into a lineup. When we are invited to play alongside a line-up of other musicians, we are often the oddball group. Other hurdles we encounter are more of the classic Miami band struggles such as, payment, communication with bookers/promoters, and finding our audience. One of our biggest hurdles is balancing our lives outside of our duo. It is difficult to figure out the happy medium, but we manage.
12 String Theory – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize in creating structured acoustic instrumental music that inspires us and our listeners. Our music is an extension of how we feel at that moment — documentation of our feelings. They stem from natural organic ideas that come from “lightning in a bottle” type of situation. We take an idea or a feeling and expand upon it and unravel it into a full song. People can make them as they wish. The instrumental factor in our music gives freedom to the audience to feel whatever and however, they want, regardless of what it means to us. What sets us apart is that there aren’t many acoustic instrumental duos in South Florida, that we’re aware of, that approach instrumental the same way we do.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of the things we are most proud of is that we stick to our original ideas. We stick to our guns and do what makes us happy. There are a lot of acts that are confined to a certain style. We have the freedom to do whatever we want and express ourselves; however, we want.
We are proud of gaining appreciation from other local musicians that we respect. We are also proud of our progression and the fact that we have slowly honed in on our ability to song write and create. We’re proud of the fact that the music we create for ourselves resonates with other people. Ask any artist that same question, and that’s one thing that we’ll all have in common.
Contact Info:
- Email: 12stband@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/12stringtheory/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/12stringtheory/
Image Credit:
@kalopsianvision @particle1photography
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