GOJIRA kept its Olympics performance a secret for eight months
16-10-2024
GOJIRA drummer Mario Duplantier has commented on the band’s performance at this year’s Olympic Games opening ceremony.
This past July, GOJIRA performed a surprise rendition of “Ah! Ça Ira”, a popular song during the French Revolution, alongside opera singer Marina Viotti as well as a number of beheaded figures representing the slain Queen Marie Antoinette.
Asked by Heavy Consequence what it was like to be the first heavy metal band to ever perform at the Olympics, Mario said: “It’s mind-blowing actually. We are still a bit high, I feel, in the band. We are still trying to understand what really happened in terms of the impact of the ceremony and the impact in the world of metal.
“We felt like the stars were aligned because we’re a French band, the ceremony was in France and two of the four guys who were the creators of this ceremony were big GOJIRA fans and they called us,” Mario explained. “So, we also felt very lucky.
“There is not that many bands in France. Imagine if you have a ceremony in England, as an example, there is thousands of legendary bands. But in France, it’s not really the case. You have a lot of bands who play outside of France, but the list is not that big. So, there was a good chance for us to be called. So we still feel very humble. It was such a great moment and a huge boost for our career.”
Asked how long it was from the moment that it was mentioned to him and his GOJIRA bandmates that they would perform at the Olympics until the actual performance, Mario said: “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 (GOJIRA frontman Joseph Duplantier) 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.”
Regarding how his life has changed in the two and a half months since performing at the Olympics, Mario said: “It’s really subtle. Because we’ve been a band for 30 years and we already had a career and we were touring worldwide. 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.”
GOJIRA‘s fiery appearance at the Olympics angered some Christians online, who quickly branded it “satanic”. Even the controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate accused the West of “worshipping the devil”.
Posting a clip of GOJIRA‘s performance, Tate wrote: “Satanists control the west and they show you that they worship the devil. It’s not a conspiracy theory. They literally show you. Are you blind?”
Asked in an interview with Rolling Stone about Tate‘s criticism that GOJIRA‘s performance was “satanic”, Joseph said: “It’s none of that. It’s French history. It’s French charm, you know, beheaded people, red wine, and blood all over the place — it’s romantic, it’s normal. There’s nothing satanic. (Laughs)
“France is a country that made a separation between the state and religion during the revolution. And it’s something very important, very dear to the foundation of republican France. We call it laïcité. It’s when the state is not religious anymore, so therefore it’s free in terms of expression and symbolism. It’s all about history and facts. We don’t look too close closely at symbolism in terms of religion.”
Regarding whether he and his GOJIRA bandmates thought much about the responsibility of representing metal on the world stage, Joseph said: “I try not to think too much about that because it continues to blow my mind. (Laughs) The Olympic Committee could have asked literally anybody to play. I’m thinking of bands like METALLICA or AC/DC that are household names and powerhouses in our genre that we all revere and are our heroes. We never considered ourselves the biggest band in the world that would be worthy to play the Olympics or anything like that. It’s so weird.
“The way I think about it is it’s a challenge in 2024 to give hope to people, to show something original. People have seen everything from landing on the moon to A.I. So it was a challenge for Paris and the Committee to express something fresh, new, and original by booking us and also show what France is all about.
“At least for our part, the fact that metal and opera had never been seen together on TV and in front of so many people before is a statement for the country of France. It’s saying, ‘Hey, look. We’re still pushing the boundaries in the world.’ So congrats to France for putting this together.”
Regarding who picked the song “Ah! Ça Ira” for GOJIRA, Joseph said: “That wasn’t us at all. That was the team of young people and composers and designers that decided the whole theme. We were in the dark when it came to the whole ceremony; we were just concentrating on that picture and that moment of Marie Antoinette. We didn’t know how it was going to look or how it would fit in with a whole performance. I didn’t know Lady Gaga or Celine Dion were going to be there. We were in the Olympic Committee’s confidence, and we weren’t allowed to tell our people that we were going to do this. We didn’t know what was going to happen at all. We just went back and forth with the composer of the Olympic ceremony, Victor Le Manse. He threw us a tempo and a guideline. And then we did our thing.”
GOJIRA‘s latest album, “Fortitude”, came out in April 2021 via Roadrunner Records.
Proceeds from the single “Amazonia” benefit the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.
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