Gojira's Joe Duplantier Reveals Song He's Proudest of Writing | Revolver

Gojira's Joe Duplantier Reveals Song He's Proudest of Writing

Frontman guested on BBC Radio 1's "Music Ruined My Life" segment
gojira KEVIN WILSON 2019, Kevin Wilson
photograph by Kevin Wilson

Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier is the latest subject of BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show With Daniel P Carter" interview series "Music Ruined My Life," where artists discuss the music that changed their lives, as well as digging into their own material, as the PRP points out. The interview — recorded during the French titans' stint at the UK's Bloodstock festival last weekend — found Duplantier reflecting on his introduction to metal by way of Metallica's Ride the Lightning ("I became obsessed with that intro," he says of the classic LP's standout "Fade to Black"), as well as the brutal music of iconic death-metal bands such as Morbid Angel and Death.

Later on in the interview, Duplantier was asked to name the song he's most proud of writing. The innovative metal luminary chose "Low Lands," off their most recent release, 2016's Magma. "I spent two months on this song just for the vocals," he said of the melodic highlight, before revealing that it was re-recorded "six, seven" times prior to completion. "Nevertheless, I prevailed" said Duplantier. "I didn't give up."

"It was a challenge when we came up with that weird groove on drums with [Gojira drummer] Mario Duplantier," said the singer-guitarist, going on to imitate his younger brother's pummeling percussion. "It's a weird approach. And then, we have a riff at the end of the song that is very open, that could almost be from a Muse song."

Joe reveals that, after struggling with the composition, he nearly cut it from the album, but that Mario talked him into continuing to rework it until they landed on the final version. "I'm proud of that song because I worked hard to find something," Joe said, looking back on it. "Now I listen to it and I don't blush when I listen to it: I'm like, 'Hm, it's good enough to be on a record.' I finally accepted what I was doing. Because for those who don't know the song, the story is that I'm used to screaming a lot.

"I have always been against cheesy choruses, you know, the clean vocals. I refuse that. I can't do it. I like to have my own approach. It needs to be interesting, original and organic and pure. But then doing it — singing, actually recording parts — is very difficult. As a screamer, it's very weird to sing. So it was a big challenge, and at some point I'm like, 'Yes, I'm OK with it now.'"

Stream Duplantier's BBC Radio 1 interview above in its entirety, and hear "Low Lands" below.