![]() ![]() “I wanted people who heard Fortitude not to feel sad or grey,” Duplantier adds. Fortitude is much more focused on what’s happening on our planet … that it is possible to change things.” “It transcribed nostalgia, sadness and sometimes anger. “ Magma was written during a very difficult period for the band,” Andreu says. Fortitude continues Gojira’s ecological mission – though this time the band rallied behind one additional unifying, and very humane, objective: uplifting people. (“I’m mainly a producer – that’s how I feel with music!”) But his skills are indisputable – as is his continued commitment to use his platform to address issues close to his heart: namely, the survival of planet Earth.Įnvironmental activism has been a major thematic element in Gojira’s music from day one: from Terra Incognita (inspired by Duplantier’s two-year experience living in a cabin without electricity) to Magma (a twofold study in grief about the passing of the Duplantiers’ mother and the potential ruination of the planet). It was always so natural for him.”ĭuplantier, for his part, remains a humble collaborator and politely deflects any six-string compliments as they arise. How to play with power and precision, being tight and exactly in time. “I wasn’t too bad, but when I met Joe, I discovered an artist,” he recalls, “someone who puts his entire soul into every note… He taught me how to become one with my instrument. Fortitude is much more focused on what’s happening on our planet Christian Andreu It transcribed nostalgia, sadness and sometimes anger. Magma was written during a very difficult period for the band. ![]() His monastic dedication helped him develop a solid toolkit of technical skills, but he didn’t grasp the full creative power of his instrument until he connected with Duplantier. The young musician says he spent his teenage years alone in his room learning guitar with the help of tablature. “I watched all of Metallica’s concerts and videos and I told myself that’s what I wanted to do.” “Kirk Hammett is the guy!” Andreu says today. Like Duplantier, Andreu was a Metallica obsessive growing up. It’s also the same area where he met his co-guitarist Christian Andreu. It’s where he learned to play guitar – through a deep-dive study of Metallica’s catalog – and eventually hatched the idea for Gojira (after discovering his younger brother Mario’s innate drumming skills). You can explore each riff a million possibilities… the flexibility is mind-blowing Joe Duplantierĭuplantier grew up in this same picturesque region along the Atlantic Ocean. In real life it would be impossible to achieve what you can with that plugin. The guitarist was born in Paris but has called New York City home for some years – it’s where he started his family and launched Silver Cord Studio in Queens (where he recorded and produced Fortitude).īut because of the coronavirus, and NYC’s cramped living situation, he’s temporarily renting a house on France’s southwest coast, near Biarritz, to get some breathing room and be closer to his extended family and the rest of his band. We have a purpose to create something artistic, something to survive for eternity…”ĭuplantier is discussing these points with Guitar World via Zoom from France. “I’m like, ‘Honey, this is nothing.’ This pressure is nothing compared to the pressure I’m putting on myself. “People ask me, how do you deal with the pressure?” he says. While he’s definitely grateful for the external praise and accolades (“Being nominated for a Grammy was incredible!”), he says any pressure he’s experiencing is self-administered – and stems from his own infinite ambitions. So, by all measures, expectations are pretty high ahead of the album’s April release (via Roadrunner Records). Six months later, in February of this year, Gojira premiered Fortitude’s second punishing single, Born for One Thing – and its accompanying video topped a million views within days. ![]() Fans went wild – and the epic rager became an instant hit for the band and their first Billboard-charting single ever. The initial preview of the album arrived back in August 2020, when Gojira surprise-dropped their first new song in four years, Another World. Gojira’s seventh and latest record, Fortitude, is primed to be their biggest outing yet. Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe was an early backer (and guested on 2008’s The Way of All Flesh), and Metallica, Slipknot, Rammstein and others have personally recruited them as tour support. ![]() And with each one, from 2001’s fierce debut Terra Incognita and 2005 breakout From Mars to Sirius to 2016’s Grammy-nominated Magma, Gojira have earned more fans, more critical praise and more respect from many of their own heroes. ![]()
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