Gojira made some serious waves across the world when they ripped through “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)” at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics earlier this year. And with that level of exposure comes a pretty major boost in fame, right? Not really.
In an interview with Heavy Consequence, Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier said his recognition by people in public has ticked up a bit, but otherwise it’s all business as usual for the French quarter.
“It’s really subtle. Because we’ve been a band for 30 years and we already had a career and we were touring worldwide,” said Duplantier. “But, yeah, it’s a plus, it’s a bonus. You go to a store and some people are, like, ‘I saw you at the Olympics.’ But it’s not like a crazy change.
“Also, it’s a band that played; it’s not like one person. We’re a band and an entity, so it’s not like one of us was the main guy with a name. It’s really Gojira performing over there, but many people don’t realize I’m playing in Gojira, as a band also. But, no, what we can tell it’s the overall respect for the band now, since we did that. And, as I said, we, we were very lucky to be able to do it and having this fucking bonus.”
Duplantier also touched on the fact that Gojira had to keep the performance a secret for the better part of a year. Duplantier said he was originally bummed Gojira couldn’t play one of their own songs (my vote is for “Esoteric Surgery”), but they ended up having a blast.
“We received the call back in November 2023, and the ceremony was in July 2024. So, a good couple of months. We had to keep it secret. We worked with the writer of the music of the ceremony, because we were not allowed to play our music. So at first we were, like, ‘That’s weird,’ because we really thought if we could play a song, that would be amazing. But in fact, we really had to create something that fit with the theme of the revolution.
“So it was a big challenge, but a very fun challenge as well. And we worked together with Victor Le Manse, with the guy who writes the entire music of the entire ceremony. And, yeah, the relation was perfect — very chill. No drama, no tension, nothing. And Joe and I, because mainly we worked — Joe and I — on this project, we had a lot of things to say and we were very free to do almost whatever we wanted, as (long) as it fit with the theme and all that. So yeah, amazing.”
Gojira currently has a 2025 tour of France lined up as they work on a new album.
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