Rosalía’s Favorite Rock Band Carolina Durante Wants to Make You Cry

FRIDAY, 5:34 PM APRIL 10, 2026

If you left a Carolina Durante show without crying, then they didn’t do their job. Formed in 2017, the Spanish rock band pride themselves on taking their audience on a rollercoaster of emotions with heartbreak hits like “Normal” featuring Rosalía and headbangers like “Tomé Café.” Over the weekend, the band had the opportunity to bring a little rock and roll to the Sonora stage at Coachella. The quartet were all charisma, chaos, and untethered emotion, and that’s exactly how they want it. Before they play their weekend two set, I caught up with Carolina Durante on the festival grounds to chismear about romance, Rosalía, and how it feels to play the biggest music event in the world.

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ARY RUSSELL: I’m here with…

MARTÍN VALLHONRAT: Carolina Durante.

RUSSELL: Sus nombres. [Laughs]

VALLHONRAT: My name is Martin. I’m the bass player.

MARIO DEL VALLE: Mario, the guitar player.

DIEGO IBÁÑEZ: I’m Diego, vocalist.

RUSSELL: So how does it feel to be playing Coachella?

VALLHONRAT: It feels amazing. The place is incredible. We’re super happy to be here.

IBÁÑEZ: It’s very exciting to be here. For us, a Spanish band, it’s an incredible opportunity to play here in this festival.

RUSSELL: Have you guys been to California before?

VALLHONRAT: Yes. I have family here. Haven’t played, though.

RUSSELL: Before you got on stage today, what kind of things did you do to get into the mindset? 

VALLHONRAT: Just a couple of beers and walking. 

DEL VALLE: We have a drink in Spain called Kalimotxo. It’s wine and Coke.

VALLHONRAT: The drummer [Juan Pedrayes]  and I used to drink a couple of those.

RUSSELL: In DR, we have Presidente and that’s what gets us going. You guys have played other festivals like Primavera. How does it compare to playing here?

VALLHONRAT: Oof. This is huge. You cannot see Justin Bieber in Primavera.

RUSSELL: Do you have a favorite Justin Bieber song?

VALLHONRAT: I like that song that he made with Skrillex.

RUSSELL: “Where Are You Now?” That’s one of my favorites too. We have a lot of Spanish speakers here in California. How does it feel to connect and get to perform in front of them?

VALLHONRAT: When you see that someone understands the lyrics and stuff, there’s a connection there. Like, “Okay, you’re my guy.”

IBÁÑEZ: You’re the man. 

RUSSELL: Tú me entiendes.

DEL VALLE: Also, it’s so exciting to see people from here who don’t understand the language and they also enjoy it.

RUSSELL: I read that your band was named after a specific person, a summer romance. Would you guys say you are romantics at heart?

VALLHONRAT: Very romantic. 

RUSSELL: Is that just because you’re Spanish?

IBÁÑEZ: No, that’s a cómo se dice tópico?

RUSSELL: Stereotype?

VALLHONRAT: Yes, but we fit with the stereotype. 

RUSSELL: What’s the most romantic thing about you?

VALLHONRAT: The most romantic thing Diego has done for someone is making a band. [Laughs]

RUSSELL: The sound of your music feels very nostalgic like the ’90s, 2000s garage bands. Who were your musical inspirations growing up?

VALLHONRAT: A lot of Spanish bands, like Los Punsetes and Triangulo de Amor Bizzaro. But internationally, the first one that we agreed on was The Jesus and Mary Chain. Nowadays, there’s a lot of bands that inspire us.

DEL VALLE: Geese.

VALLHONRAT: When we finished our gig, Wednesday, they were playing and we were with our mouths open. 

DEL VALLE: They were incredible.

VALLHONRAT: Exactly. We have work to do.

RUSSELL: So your new album is called Elige Tu Propia Aventura, which translates to Choose Your Own Adventure. Where’d the name come from?

IBÁÑEZ: It came because of the books that you read and you can choose what to do in the book.

RUSSELL: And what adventures do you want to get into this weekend?

DEL VALLE: Well, just being here is such a huge adventure.

IBÁÑEZ: You have too many options.

DEL VALLE: I would love to go to the ballet and I would love to go to see a basketball game.

RUSSELL: You have a whole week until you’re going to be playing again next weekend. 

VALLHONRAT: Yes, on Tuesday, we play in Pomona and then, next Friday, we play again here.

RUSSELL: You got a lot to do. I have to say, my favorite song of yours is “Probablemente Tengas Razón.”

VALLHONRAT:[Laughs]

RUSSELL: I love the way it talks about heartbreak. How do you deal with your heartbreak?

VALLHONRAT: Writing songs, I guess. I cry a lot and stay in my room. And two days after that, I can start calling friends and going out to do stuff. 

IBÁÑEZ: In the concert, “Probablemente Tengas Razon” is the moment when everything is going on. It’s the song that changes the-

RUSSELL: The whole vibe. I also really love the fact that you’re taking responsibility in the song. Who in the band is the first to admit that they were wrong?

VALLHONRAT: Wow.

IBÁÑEZ: Me.

RUSSELL: How did you get that way? 

VALLHONRAT: It’s because he thinks everything is wrong, even though it’s not.

RUSSELL: You’re a pessimist?

IBÁÑEZ: Yeah.

RUSSELL: You have a song called “Normal” with Rosalía, and I know that she’s a really big fan of yours. How did that collaboration come about?

DEL VALLE: It came due to a friendship. When we did that song, I thought that cómo se dice…

VALLHONRAT: That the female voice was fitting for the song, and she listened to the song and she was like, “I can do that.”

DEL VALLE: And it was incredible.

RUSSELL: Do you have a next dream collaboration?

DEL VALLE: Rusowsky, who is a Spanish artist who plays here at Coachella tomorrow.

RUSSELL: You have the benefit of being one of the first few artists to play, so now you can enjoy the weekend. Who are your artists that you’re waiting to see perform?

VALLHONRAT: We’re going to see Geese and, most likely, we’re going to see The Strokes.

RUSSELL: Do you mosh?

VALLHONRAT: We used to. Now Diego is injured in his knee, but yeah we—

RUSSELL: Entonces ten cuidado [Laughs].

VALLHONRAT: When we were younger, we used to go to a lot of festivals together and we moshed a lot. We have broken each other’s noses and stuff.

RUSSELL: You guys are a little rough [Laughs]. I’m sure there were people that were in the audience that weren’t familiar with you. What is the lasting impression that you want them to leave about who you are as a band?

IBÁÑEZ: O sea no sé. Que se van emocionadas. 

VALLHONRAT: I hope that people get emotional, that it changes something inside them.

DEL VALLE: I don’t want the people only to say that, “Ah, it sounds good.” I want them to feel something.

RUSSELL: Do you want people to cry?

DEL VALLE: Yes. Of course.

VALLHONRAT: We want them to scream.

DEL VALLE: If they don’t cry-

RUSSELL: You didn’t do your job.

VALLHONRAT: They have to go through all human emotions.