{"id":28076,"date":"2021-05-01T21:04:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T04:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=28076"},"modified":"2022-08-19T12:19:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T19:19:10","slug":"mario-duplantier-riding-the-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/mario-duplantier-riding-the-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding The Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I was a kid, I didn\u2019t care about music at all. I was more into sports. But my big brother, Joe, was obsessed with Metallica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He started listening to the band when he was 16 and I was 11. He wanted me to understand the music, but I always felt like it was too noisy. I\u2019d say to him, \u201cPlease, Joe…it\u2019s too loud, it\u2019s too complicated, the screaming, I don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he was constantly playing Metallica, even when we were in the car with our mother or when we were cooking with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day we were on our way to the train station, and he put on \u201cOrion\u201d in the car. The emotion I felt when I heard this song – the bass, the guitar solo, the drums – for the first time, I understood the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really love that song,\u201d I told Joe. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinally!\u201d he said. \u201cVictory!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we got home, he made a compilation of all the best Metallica songs and gave me a cassette. I played \u201cOrion\u201d over and over. I was so moved by this song, I was addicted to it. Then I listened to another song, and another one, and I finally fell in love with the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Me headbanging while listening to Metallica with my brother, Joe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After that, my brother and I were all about Metallica. And I don\u2019t know what I was hearing in the drumming – whether it was Lars\u2019 playing or the songs themselves – but I just wanted to play drums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my mother bought me my first drum kit, I started to cover Metallica songs. And when my brother got a Metallica box set for Christmas, we really went crazy. We watched the live concert footage, I saw Lars\u2019 white TAMA drums, and I knew I wanted to be like him. I wanted to be shirtless on stage being a showman, exactly like that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My goal in life was to become Lars Ulrich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joe and I started Gojira when I was 14 years old. When we met the other two guys (Christian and Jean-Michel), our shared passion was Metallica. We all started playing music because of them, we all had Metallica shirts, and we used to joke that we\u2019d be \u201cthe next Metallica\u201d, which we thought was funny because <\/em>it sounds so pretentious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, our career took off. We became well known in France, then England, then the U.S., and we started touring internationally. One day my brother said, \u201cWe should do a Metallica cover and maybe Metallica will see it.\u201d So we recorded \u201cThe Call Of Ktulu\u201d from Ride The Lightning<\/em>, put it on our website, and someone from Metallica\u2019s fan club in France sent it to their bass player, Robert Trujillo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know exactly how it happened, but Robert started listening to our album From Mars To Sirius<\/em> and shared it with James Hetfield, who also loved it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were invited to play a festival in France that Metallica was also playing. After the show, someone told us that James Hetfield was in the crowd watching us. And two months after that, James told Kerrang <\/em>that Gojira was his favorite band at the moment and that he loved our album The Way Of All Flesh<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, they\u2019d noticed us. We were very, very happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gojira live, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, they\u2019d noticed us.<\/p>

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In 2009, we received the news that Metallica wanted to meet us at their upcoming tour date in Paris, at Bercy, one of the biggest indoor venues in town. My brother and I were so excited: Metallica wants us to see them! <\/em>We hugged each other and we couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t go, so Joe went alone. After the show, he was invited into the dressing room and saw the band surrounded by VIPs and guests. When my brother entered the room, Robert Trujillo interrupted his conversation, turned his head, and said, \u201cYou\u2019re Joe from Gojira! I love you guys. I\u2019m a big fan!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you so much, Robert!\u201d Joe replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to show you something.\u201d Robert took Joe onto the huge, empty stage. It was set up in the middle of the venue so the crowd could surround it on all sides, and it could rotate. \u201cWould you be comfortable playing on this kind of stage?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe said, \u201cYes – of course!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They went back to the dressing room where Robert introduced him to James Hetfield. \u201cVery nice to meet you!\u201d he said. \u201cYou guys are my favorite band right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We grew up with Metallica, and the band is so important to our identity that it\u2019s basically the \u2018why\u2019 behind Gojira. My brother was shaking, but he tried to stay respectful and polite and not behave like a fan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They hung out for a bit and had a good connection. Joe called me after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMario…I just met Metallica. According to James and Robert, we\u2019re their favorite band at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t believe it. \u201cJoe, this is huge<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around one month after that – and I remember that day very precisely – Joe called me. His voice sounded weird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMario…Metallica has invited us to the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their management had called Joe to say that they wanted Gojira to open on their upcoming tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw my life flash before my eyes. It felt like I\u2019d been knighted. It was probably the best phone call of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started the tour in Nashville and did 15 or 16 shows. We only played huge arenas. It was amazing. We didn\u2019t get to hang out with them much because of how busy they were, but every time they came to us in the dressing room, they were super friendly and cool. And we were able to watch the show every night, and we knew every song by heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the best tour of our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And then they invited us to Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would paint on drumsticks or canvas to pass the time. On the last date of that tour, I painted something for them. I gave it to the tour manager to give to James. He found me in the dressing room later to say thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then asked me if I wanted to jam with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I panicked. Do I say yes? Will I be able to play?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m French. We\u2019re complex. We think a lot. And I knew if I started thinking too much about it, I\u2019d end up saying no.

\u201cYes, of course!\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went into Metallica\u2019s jam room and sat behind the kit. James picked up his guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m playing with James Hetfield, the most charismatic frontman in the rock and heavy metal world. Don\u2019t think about it, just do it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I started to play something simple and powerful. And right away, James jumped on the riff and I listened to him attentively while focusing on the groove. It was an incredible jam. We had good chemistry and I felt like we\u2019d always been playing together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I knew it would get annoying if it went on too long, so after about five minutes, I threw in a fill to end the jam, and James stopped at the same time. It was perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stood up behind the kit, laid the sticks on the snare, and said, \u201cThank you so much, James. That was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jamming with James in Moscow (2010)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He might not care or remember this, but for me, it was very special. As long time Metallica fans, we had so many questions we wanted to ask on those tours. But we stayed quiet because we wanted to be respectful and polite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have a music career, you should always be professional, kind, and accessible, whether you\u2019re opening for a band or having a band opening for you. And always stay on your toes. It was our dream to open for Metallica, and our next goal is to headline big festivals. The work is never done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s always something to prove with every show, every album, every note you play on stage. You prove, and you improve. I put a lot of pressure on myself every show, and I still have all this adrenaline. I want to keep it alive and I\u2019ll give everything I have, every show, until the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I\u2019m not able to give everything, I will stop. I think that\u2019s the thought we need to have to become big. Don\u2019t settle with \u2018good enough\u2019. Never hold back. Never stop pushing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Feature image: Anne Deguehegny<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Mario Duplantier<\/h3>\n

GOJIRA<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n
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