Gojira, the French heavy metal band that sold out a Vorterix and had to move their recital to Luna Park

The paradigm shift in recent decades reaches all corners of human activity, including heavy metal and its devilish sub-genres. Billy Gould, bassist of Faith No More -perhaps the best destroyers of dogmas that distorted music has ever known- referred to the positive side of globalization in music: a host of situations that led to the cultivation of unexpected mixtures and improved versions of different types of proposals.

In the field of metal, the French band Gojira is undoubtedly one of those achievements of human inertia. It is that in addition to some albums that slip through the front door between the best that the genre gave in the last 20 years and some simply spectacular shows, the group presents a good handful of curiosities worthy of starring in an interesting conversation. Would anyone expect such a sound power plant to come out of the small beach town of Ondres, a paradise for surfers and climbers? That sound only suitable for the brave is accompanied by a powerful message of ecological awareness?

Gojira, who will be at Luna Park this Sunday.

The Fortitude Disc

That said, Gojira -Joe Duplantier on guitar and vocals, Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass- is not a typical metal band and its Argentine fans -those who have bought tickets, because the thing is sold out- they will have the chance to be able to witness their memorable live show again this coming Sunday at Luna Park.

They will come to present strengthan album that sat at the top of the lists of the best of last year, already outside of metal itself, mixing with names of the mainstream ilk.

The cover of Fortitude, Gojira's latest album.

The cover of Fortitude, Gojira’s latest album.

In a remarkable example of evolution, the LP is the latest chapter in a discography that spawned a massive cult following around the world and navigated the dark waters of death-metal and the intricacies of math-metal but always shaking hands. with a melodic sensitivity that makes them different, compiling a good number of hits.

A few minutes late on the agreed time and from the privacy of his parked car, Mario Duplantier lends himself to the chat with Clarín without hiding his enthusiasm for the enormous present of the group and with a nice accent that betrays his origin.

-Your 2016 album Magma had some Grammy nominations and the music press seems to agree that Fortitude took them to the next level. How do you feel when it is said that Gojira are the new titans of metal?

-Cool! Always, when receiving this type of comments, we try not to be distracted. We consider it, we appreciate it, but at the same time we try to stay focused on the idea of ​​putting on a great show and writing good songs. We are always focused on the next step, but yes, we can feel that Fortitude is a step forward for us.

We just finished two tours, one in the United States and one in Europe, with rooms full. It’s a great feeling, we are very happy and concentrated too.

“Our school was Sepultura and Metallica”

Gojira: Joe Duplantier on guitar and vocals, Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass.

Gojira: Joe Duplantier on guitar and vocals, Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass.

-You and your brother achieved a high musical level. How was your education and how important was art in your family environment?

-In fact it was very important. We basically learned on our own, almost self-taught. I mean, I had a drum teacher for six years from 16 to 22, or something like that. Then I had to stop because I started spinning a lot, but it was important for me. He taught me many rudiments and key elements for drums.

But I would say that the way we write and learn the songs has to do with being self-taught. We didn’t go to schools, we just listened to Sepultura, Metallica, that was our school.

But it definitely helped that our parents were artists and very open-minded, people who would never set you limits as to what to listen to for example. They always pushed us in the right direction, especially our mother. She gave us a lot of confidence and strength. If I needed something for drums to improve my playing, she would buy it for me. She had this amazing attitude, we never had to fight, they always helped us.

-It is curious that they grew up in a rural part of France and ended up in a band that plays very aggressive and complex music, something that would be more related to the frenetic rhythm of a big city. Do you have any explanation for this?

-It is very complicated to explain but I would say that it comes from our sensitivity, from the fact that we are very sensitive people. It’s not so rare in this kind of music that sensitive people make heavy music.

-In our case, somehow, we felt a certain aggression in the environment in which we lived, that is, living in the countryside in France is very beautiful by nature, but the lack of culture and diversity presented us as a type of aggression. People just played soccer and surfed, that’s all. We felt strongly that something was missing. Metallica was a great source of inspiration: through them and through heavy music we were able to escape from that reality.

But it is true, we had a paradise in our hands, but it did not have all the culture and spirituality that the big city can give you. I feel like the kind of growth we had had an impact on the lyrics of the band.

“It’s great to play with my brother”

Gojira.

Gojira.

-How does the fact that you work with your brother affect your relationship? Do you discover different parts of his personality through the Gojira songs?

-Yes of course. The fact that he writes the lyrics is very interesting because I can follow his life path through them. I can understand his feelings and the different types of expression from album to album. I can follow his spirit and his mentality.

The way we walk this path of playing together is very organic, very natural. I know my brother, his way of being enthusiastic, strong, spiritual did not change much. He is a very picky guy, he fights for the good, he is an activist.

His music and his personality are the same, I’m not surprised but it’s great to travel with him and experience his life, play with him in front of so many people every night. It’s fantastic.

-Going back to their ability as musicians. how do you deal with the “virtuosity factor”? Because they are very skilled musicians and they manage to write catchy songs. Can playing so well be risky?

I feel there is no risk. We write what we feel. I can’t lie, the reality of the band is that we are playing bigger and bigger venues. That possibly has an impact on the way we compose. When you play in places for 10,000 people, the sound impacts in a way that is not the same as when you play in small spaces, in bars where you can do much more crazy and complicated things.

When you open up your sound, giving it more space, you make things easier to listen to, to understand, so the success of the band had an impact on the way we create our music. Sometimes we want to simplify to be able to share with the public. Now we love when people sing with us! It’s something new for Gojira, do you understand?

After being in this band for more than 25 years, now we want to share more. It’s a less selfish experience to be less technical playing. Sharing is thanking (laughs) What yes, we don’t want to be cheesy and we really need to enjoy what we play being as artistic as possible, it’s our main goal: to be honest and write good songs.

“We are very obsessive and perfectionists”

Gojira, the French heavy metal band.

Gojira, the French heavy metal band.

-Taking into account the balance between the complex and the listenable that Gojira’s music is, I assume that they are a very perfectionist group.

-We try to be less perfectionist but we are very obsessive. We are on every detail and our main rule is that if Joe and I don’t agree on something, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Of course with Christian and Jean-Michel it’s the same because the four of us write music. We need to love music completely.

Yes, we are completely perfectionists, also regarding the live show. When we do a concert we film it and then we watch it in its entirety in the hotel and analyze everything: the tempo, the tuning, the layout of the stage, the symmetry of the lights, the sound. We try to be better in each show, we know very well how important it is for a band to be very good live and we don’t want to waste the opportunity to play and have the resources to give our best.

-Apart from being a drummer, you are also a painter. Does painting satisfy a different aspect of your expression needs?

-Yes absolutely! I think it’s something else that has to do with the spirit and the soul. It’s not about achieving something on a technical level, it’s about expressing something from the subconscious, she would say.

I love to draw mountains or big caves and I always draw a tiny human, a mini silhouette of someone. I love the idea of ​​thinking that we are absolutely nothing in terms of thinking about the universe; as you know we are a small grain of sand.

I am very interested in the macrocosm and the microcosm, the minimum and the giant. There is a reality of ours as humans but it is not “reality”. It is a philosophical, spiritual issue, of ideas, not of techniques.

-I have time left for just one more. Could you mention your five favorite artists outside of metal?

-Of course! There is a singer named Tamino, he is from Belgium but of Egyptian descent, he is my favorite now. Then another guy who does electronics, he’s French and his name is Rone.

I also have to mention someone who lives in California and is of Bangladeshi origin. His name is Alam Khan and he blows my mind. I love Lorn, who makes mystical electronic music, and then also James Blake, the successful English singer and pianist.

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Gojira, the French heavy metal band that sold out a Vorterix and had to move their recital to Luna Park