Gojira, French metal juggernaut, sweeps across France for twelve explosive dates, in an atmosphere of visceral ritual. Joe Duplantier reveals the indomitable soul of the Landes quartet.
Tickets for Gojira's big French tour are available.
At the start of autumn, Joe Duplantier slaloms between rehearsals and tour preparation, a sort of normality which reconnects him to dry land. Gojiranow a juggernaut of French metal that he commands alongside his brother Mario on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar and his sharp riffs, and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass, who roots the group in a seismic groove, is about to unleash the dogs on his native land. And it will be a real hurricane. Not a simple trip on the roads but a ritual of returning to French sources, an Olympic and rock lap of honor at the same time, a raw confrontation, including the celebration of two decades of From Mars to Sirius, this 2005 album which catapulted four kids from the South West into global messengers of a green fury and a sonic apocalypse that stirs your insides. Joe Duplantier, the vocalist-guitarist, reveals the underside of this wild odyssey: the rise of the band and this spiritual flame which still consumes them, more raw and visceral than ever.
They have talent to spare, we know that, and the group has continued to prove it in nearly thirty years of career, from demos cobbled together with the means at hand to the Grammy which shines like trophies snatched from nothing. The quartet has toured tirelessly across the globe, imposing their personal and organic vision of metal: raw and carnal.
From November 27 to December 12, the Landais are launching a “really special tour” of twelve concerts across France, occupying numerous large venues, including the Accor Arena in Paris. “We are going to cast a wide net across the four corners of our countryenthuses Joe Duplantier. We spent ten years of our lives playing exclusively in France. In fact, we knew all the rooms in each city, such as the Music Cellar in Mâcon, the 4 Locks in Dunkirk or the Splendid in Lille…” Their career then took on an international scope, no longer allowing the group to “rake France from top to bottom”. This tour is therefore “very exciting” for the four musicians who “return to their native land”After “recognition linked to the Olympic Games” which exploded the amps and the listening on the platforms.
Gojira does not come to sell anything new or rehash the echoes of Fortitude. No, the Landais are arriving to deliver an authentic, thrilling show of visceral intensity. Sharp as blades from over a thousand concerts performed to date, these guys have transformed the genre into a living creature that roars under the spotlight. Preparing for a mega-show? For them, it's reflex forged in the flames of endless touring. Yet, “we don’t really know what to expect”blurts the frontman, his eyes shining with a purely rock'n'roll uncertainty. “As soon as we change a micro-approach, or the room changes size, something unexpected takes over.” The magic of live pulsates with each shot, demonstrating that the monster remains indomitable, even loaded with experience – a wild organism that still surprises, in perpetual mutation. The Fortitude cycle is part of this flow of incessant evolution, a wave that never stops. “A new transition is taking place.”
Joe Duplantier feels that the group is finally finding its “role in our society”an axis at the heart of the ambient chaos. Long snubbed, especially in France where metal appeared as a pariah, the style is now infiltrating the general public, squatting in mainstream circles. Their appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games and this Grammy which hit like a double pedal are the clear proof. “It is basically a rebellious music, which denounces, which points the finger, which makes noise, which disturbshe growls, his voice hoarse with raw conviction. When it is accepted by society, it means that it mutates. Our message becomes more relevant, and cogs click into place between our art and the fans' response. Our energy is nourished collectively”he says about the unconditional support of their fans, specifying that if the musicians throw out songs that hit like uppercuts, the fans appropriate them with a fiery possessiveness. Then born “a community” of supporters “open-minded, sensitive and hungry for music that hits hard”. The group's attitude on stage and the audience's response amplify each other.
Find the rest of this interview with Joe Duplantier from Gojira in our n°178, available on newsstands and via our online store.
