Airbag

Airbag doesn’t sound like a band formed to follow rules. Their music was born from rehearsals in a garage in Don Torcuato, where the Sardelli brothers — Gastón, Patricio, and Guido — mixed covers of classic rock with their first original songs. The name Los Nietos de Chuck already hinted at the game: versions of Chuck Berry, The Beatles, or Creedence, but with a local twist that gradually became their own. The guitar Patricio received from the Carlos Gardel Museum — a gift from his Spanish grandmother — ended up being the same one he would later use to compose his first tracks. They weren’t trying to sound like anyone in particular; they were searching for a sound that belonged to them, even as hard rock and alternative rock dominated Argentina’s scene in the late 90s.

The breakthrough came when a demo featuring La partida de la gitana — their first hit — reached Warner Music. Recorded in borrowed studios with less-than-ideal equipment, the self-titled album put them on the map. But it was in the 2000s when the name took hold: Airbag and Blanco y negro took them across the country and beyond, from Chile to Mexico. In 2008, Una hora a Tokyo earned them a nomination at the Latin Grammy Awards, a recognition that, while they didn’t win, opened doors in an industry that sometimes prefers formulas over risks.