Meet the C25 artists: CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso

CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso have an eye for the absurd. Take the video for their flamboyant contribution to our ‘Bose x NME: C25’ mixtape, ‘EL DÍA DEL AMIGO’, in which the fun-loving Argentine duo appear with their faces super-imposed onto tennis balls. Why? Why not? As Amoroso puts it: “We get easily bored and we just want to do what’s fun to us.”

Blending heady funk, rapid-fire rap and a hearty slice of old-school soul, the track is a perfect summation of their genre-defying sound. Where much of the South American music scene is in thrall to reggaeton and trap, the pair decidedly follow their own muse.

Indeed, their C25 performance – which takes place in the less than glamorous Sportcenter Wittenau, a somewhat brutalist leisure complex in northern Berlin – proves that they bring a little stardust wherever they go. Both clad in wraparound shades, with CA7RIEL (real name Catriel Guerreiro) rocking an oversized white tracksuit and Amoroso (Ulises Guerriero) a lime green jacket and flares, they already look like superstars.

You can easily see why, having started to release music in 2018, they’ve sold out arenas in their homeland and played stellar shows at Glastonbury and Coachella (the latter their first-ever US show). Little wonder, too, that the pals have racked up over two million monthly Spotify listeners with the likes of their clubby 2024 debut album ‘Baño María’ and this year’s funkier ‘Papota’ EP.

In one way, it’s been a long journey to this point in their career (though they’d probably balk at such a formal word for having the times of their lives). Now in their early thirties, the pair met at school in Buenos Aires when, recalls CA7RIEL, they were just six years old: “We randomly sat next to each other, and when the teacher called our names during roll call, the last names were almost identical. The teacher asked us if we were brothers, and we just said yes. And from that moment we’ve been friends; we became inseparable.”

At the time, Amoroso was learning violin and CA7RIEL the guitar (inspired by his father’s love of the instrument). Ever since then, says the former, they “work as the yin-yang”, adding: “We complement each other… Working together, one balances the other. When one of us is keener on the lyrics, the other one is just working on music, and vice versa. When one of us is grumpier, the other one is happier. It just happens.”

In another way, however, they are the very definition of an overnight success story. Last October, NPR shared the duo’s stripped-back ‘Tiny Desk Concert’, 17 minutes and 27 seconds of pure joy that arguably peaked with that lyric from the languid ‘EL ÚNICO’: “We’ve been fucking the same girl!” The performance duly went viral and has amassed more than 40 million views – hence this summer’s blockbuster tour, which saw them zigzag across Europe, the US South America and head to Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival.

Their Glastonbury shows (one in the afternoon, another at late-night party paradise Shangri-La) were a revelation, says CAZRIEL: “We had a lot of fun. People went crazy with our set: dancing, singing, jumping. We knew Glastonbury was going to be super-fun – we had heard crazy stories about the festival – but never expected to be welcomed like we had been. It was a great experience – hopefully we’ll be back soon!”

This seems a certainty, and punters should consider swimwear: the old mates performed in a hot tub at last year’s Lollapalooza. From that risqué show to those eyebrow-raising ‘EL ÚNICO’ lyrics, they’re not afraid to make a splash: “We’re currently living in a moment where people – not only artists but people and society in general – are sort of keeping themselves quiet and afraid to raise their voices,” says Amoroso. “The norm is being proper, calm, ‘correct’… It’s wise to know when to talk and when to shut the fuck up, but we also like to say or show the unexpected and see people’s reaction.”

And if anyone takes their provocation the wrong way – well, they’ve got each other’s backs. Ultimately, says Amoroso, ‘EL DÍA DEL AMIGO’ is a celebration of their enduring friendship, which brings to mind that crooned, heartfelt lyric from its blissed-out intro and chorus: “I couldn’t fuckin’ do it without you…” And then comes CA7RIEL’s fiery Spanish rap verse: “Do you remember the day I met you? / The day I knew I’d kill for you…”

“People are holding on to those lyrics to have fun with their friends in our shows,” he beams today. “We look at the audience and see groups of friends hugging, kissing, singing to their friends these lyrics about friendship and love and gratitude, and suddenly the song has a completely new meaning. It’s a moment where people celebrate the people they love, and they choose to do it with us serenading them. It’s quite powerful.”

Stay tuned to NME.com/C25 for the latest on the return of the iconic mixtape