Gojira interview with Joseph Duplantier
by Amber Hartman – 2008
Your album just came out a month ago, what’s been the response so far?
Very good. We were not even expecting such an enthusiasm from people in the States and the people in Europe. The last album was our break-through album, “From Mars to Sirius,” so it’s basically our second album to a lot of people, so we were a bit…not anxious, but really wondering what would happen. It’s the first time we released an album worldwide at the same time. It took us a while on the last album, the first release was in France, then Europe, then one year later in the States. There wasn’t a real release with promotions, so it’s the first time it’s been done properly and it’s been very good.
Have you had the same band members the whole time?
Yeah, it’s like an old couple. It’s hard to keep the faith alive sometimes, but we have had a very strong faith since the beginning and we feel like we are meant to do something together. It’s a strong feeling that we have and share. It’s stronger than the tensions we might have. It keeps us alive?
How many metal bands are from France?
We don’t have this tradition of international bands in France. No matter the style, not only metal but the culture in general in France is not really strong enough to go outside of the borders, its strong, but its French and people will sing in French. The songs will talk about the problems that we have in France, the political problems and such. We have very strong bands, but not very international bands.
What made you guys go beyond the borders with your music?
We didn’t really chose at one point to do that. But, since the beginning we considered our music international, because we talk about humanity in general, we talk about the world. We have this feeling that we belong to the planet and we always wanted to be traveling with our music. And we spontaneously began to sing in English from the beginning, but we didn’t chose at one particular moment to go out of France and we finally made it after 10 years.
Your name, you were originally named “Godzilla,” is that correct? Were or are you big fans of the scaly creature?
Were not especially big fans of Godzilla, but we wanted a name that was exciting and big and would represent the music we were trying create; something crushing, something heavy, so Godzilla was perfect, but then we had to change because we did not have the rights to the name. So after two years we changed to Gojira. Gojira is the original Japanese pronunciation of Godzilla.
I know two of you are brothers, but how did the rest of you meet?
We were part of the local scene in the Southwest of France. In this area, you don’t have a lot of bands, but there is a lot of enthusiasm for rock music and the Spanish across the border they have a lot of bands. When we started to play with my brother Mario, we decided we needed another guitar player to have different sound. We weren’t into having a band or making money with a band or traveling…we just wanted to play. The reason why we wanted other guys was to have a better sound…they were just around.
Who does the writing for the band?
I do the writing.
What’s your inspiration for the lyrics?
I would say that I am a sensitive person. I feel sensitive about the world in general, humanity and animals, nature, the Universe. I would say I feel concerned by things in general in the world. I’m curious about geography and history. I’m not really a specialist about anything, but I feel curious and sensitive, so the lyrics are about my emotions in general, they’re about my fears. I would say it’s a lot about the fear or the hope that I have toward the world in general. It can be dark, but hopeful.
Are you guys involved with any charities or non-profits?
Yes and we have in the back of our minds a secret plan. If we get bigger, we want to help more and more. For the moment it’s we survive a lot, doing our best to go out on tour and promote the band and all the money that we get through merchandising or the fees we put into the development of the band. We keep just enough to survive ourselves. We don’t raise a lot of money, so we cannot do a lot, but we do as much as we can. In our personal lives we give a little bit of money to Greenpeace, for example, we organize things with them. In France when we headline we invite them to each show to set up a booth with information on ecology and activism, so we help in that way. Sometimes in our lyrics you can find our view on the world, so it helps in a way if kids are aware of these things, they can help.
How long have you been on tour?
Since the beginning we’ve toured in Belgium and France, the French speaking countries where it’s easier to book shows for us. We’ve been touring five years, doing festivals and such. Our first real tour was with Immortal, the black metal band, in 1999, and that was three years after we started the band, and we’ve toured every year. The last three years we’ve been on tour all the time.
Who has been your favorite band to be on tour with?
I would say Lamb of God for different reasons, like musical we love what they do and for human reasons, they’re fantastic guys and we spent a lot of time with them in the states. Like 50 gigs, I think. And we played with them in Europe at some festivals and I became good friends with Randy Blythe. We share this same love of wildlife, outdoor activities, fire and survival camps. We went on a camping trip together, just him and I, it was weird, but it was great. So, we feel close to these guys. Chris Adler helped us a lot with the last tour we did in the states with Behemoth. We needed to practice for a week and he invited us into his house and helped us find some gear to practice, so we feel close to these guys and the tour was just amazing.
I saw that Randy made an appearance on your latest album…
Yeah, it’s because we became friends. He said, “Joe, when do you record the next album?” and I said, “It’s in June,” he said, “Ok, I’ll come to France. Tell France I’m coming in June.” I told him I can send him some mp3’s and he can play to them and he said, “No, no, no, I wanna come to your studio and hang out and eat some French food.” So, it was a really amazing experience.
You recorded your last album in France?
Some parts in Los Angeles, the drums and the mixing, but all the rest like guitars, bass and vocals; we did that in our home studio. It’s very comfortable, so we can take time.
It’s long been said that the French don’t like Americans, what do you think?
It’s not true. It’s definitely not true. There’s a strong a fascination for the New World. America is still the New World somehow. It’s very new compared to Europe and there’s a fascination, no doubt. We know all the actors and the singers and the rock bands and the culture and the cities. People in France know that New York is East Coast and Los Angeles is West Coast. You can ask maybe 60 percent of the French population and they will know. If you ask an American where is Paris, where is Bordeaux…they won’t be able to tell you. America is number one on a lot of levels. So, French people feel very curious about that….what makes you guys number one in our societies? Europe and America have a common history. It’s not possible to say French people don’t like American people; it’s more complicated than that. There is this fascination, for example when I tell my friends about the tour in the US, they’re so excited and they ask, “How was Dallas…how was New York?” they know a lot about the presidents and so they feel sort of involved in what’s happening here.
What sets you apart from other bands?
I’d say that we’re normal guys, but we lave nature. In different ways, but for example I’m really into spiritual activism. I cannot say activism because I’m not actively on a boat helping a whale; I’m on a tour bus trying to get the message out. I feel very close to nature and it’s a spiritual thing. My brother is a surfer; he’s always in the waves, so he’s always in contact with nature. Our bass player is rides his bike in the mountains a lot, he doesn’t like being too far from the mountains. Our guitar player, Christian, he likes to grow organic vegetables. So, I would say that we’re normal people who are close to nature.
Do you have any musical idols, anyone you really looked up to growing up?
Definitely, James Hetfield from Metallica. Especially the first albums….that was really something that got me into metal. Ride the Lighting, Master of Puppets. I was 14 and it really had an impact on me. It was really strong. Other than that I like Tom Waits. I like all kinds of music. I’m really into Portishead lately from the UK…they’re amazing. We like all kinds of music, but James Hetfield is the biggest idol.
Do you listen to other genres of music?
Literally everything. I like mellow music….I like singing, calm music, like Morcheeba for example, Portishead, Depeche Mode, Bjork, that kind of sound. I love hip hop too. I’m a big hip hop fan.
What has been the biggest struggle for you as a band?
Everyday there’s new stuff. But, I would say the lack of money, that’s a big, big issue. It’s always hard to have projects and have the lack of comfort when we go on tour. We have to deal with the sponsors. The struggle for us is to go from just music fans to musicians and actually dealing with the sponsors and the record labels and world of this business. It can be so cruel. There is no mercy. It’s tough, you gotta struggle all time to have the right to be on stage or on a bus or part of this business. Going to the music to the actual business side is hard.
How soon do you thing you’ll have another album out?
We like the idea that we’re gonna tour for two years, then release another album. So, like 2010.
