You’d be hard pressed to find a rock musician with the international clout of Gutxi Bibang. Born and raised in the Basque region of Spain to African immigrants from Equatorial Guinea, he now lives in London. His (as yet untitled) debut album will be released on Oskar Recordings, a French label, later this year.
But the globetrotting is only one of the things about Gutxi (pronounced Gucci) that’s got people talking. His first single, “System of a Gun,” is a Led Zeppelin–esque kick to the teeth, anchored by a blistering guitar riff courtesy of Gutxi himself. In the song’s video, Gutxi and his band (bassist and girlfriend Tabatha Beu and drummer Gary Lee) play live in a small loft space drenched in ever-changing psychedelic light. Released in December of last year, those unaware might think they were watching a video from the 1960s or 70s—the band looks and sounds like a throwback to the days when rock was a socio-cultural force for change.
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We are so enamored of Gutxi—his music, his style—we decided to hang with him and Tabatha at their home. “We actually are quite reclusive,” Gutxi says of the couple. “We try to just stay in our flat and tune out the world with art and music, because just going out or turning on the news makes us too angry.”
Here’s us tuning in to Gutxi’s tuning out.
