The Downbeat - MARIO DUPLANTIER: Gojira , Drumming, Practice and Inspiration

Episode Date: March 3, 2023

My guest this week is none other than Mario Duplantier of French metal titans GOJIRA. One of my favourite bands and drummers of all time, he spilled insane and humble knowledge about everything it takes to get to his level as a musician. We caught up before their INSANE show in support of their latest album Fortitude to talk about everything from drums and practicing to jamming with James Hetfield and stage fright. It was an inspirational chat and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Hello, my friends. It's me. It's your boy. Craig. Craig, if you're American, not sure if there's another country that says it incredibly differently. But I'll take Craig, Craig, whatever you want to call me, just call me anything, call me names if you want. Back with another episode. Maybe my favorite episode ever. Why is it my favorite episode ever? Because it's with Mario DuPlanter from Gojira. you like my band or my drumming, you'll know all I do is simply copy what he does and change it a little bit. So nobody notices and thinks I'm clever, but actually he's clever. I admit that on this podcast. Before we get into how great this podcast is and the podcast itself, I want to talk to you and stay where you are.

Don't go. Don't swipe. This isn't going to, it's not going to be a little, oh, I'm going to sell your mattress. I'm going to sell you some stuff, right? But I promise you you you want it, and I promise you it relates to what we got going on in the podcast. Today's podcast is brought to you, as ever, by Displate. Displate make metal posters, as in they're literally made of metal. But funnily enough, they also make posters that are about metal, as in metal bands.

Like this lovely Gojira one I'm holding here. Got this lovely fortitude one. Again, lovely matte finish. Now because they're metal They're mounted on the wall With magnets You don't have to drill anything Don't get me wrong

I can do daddy stuff Right drilling holes in walls But I don't want to be going around Drilling loads of holes in walls They've got a Gojira store We did a downbeat store A Marvel store They got Call of Duty

They got literally anything you could possibly Search for They got it in there Right not only that For every display that you buy they plant a tree and they've planted 18 million trees in Africa through people buying displates and with the code downbeat you get a whopping 27% off any one to two disc plates if you buy three to four displays you get 37% off I'm not a mathematician but that's like

nearly all of it or something don't forget to check out the downbeat store because we've got cool designs code downbeat appellate appraisal. to all designs across the store, you can mix a match, you're still going to get 27% off or 37% off, displate.com. Are you still here, or have you skipped? If you've skipped, I'm so annoyed. In fact, if you've skipped, you don't even, you don't know this bit.

Now you've definitely skipped. So I'm probably talking to about four of you right now. What's that lovely hoodie that you're wearing and lovely, you know, heavyweight hoodie without drawstrings with an embroidered downbeat logo, the Downbeat clothing line, where'd you get that from? And where does it ship from? I got it from www. www. The downb e.at, so it spells downby. If you go to the US store right now, or you can just go to US dot the down beat, the down beat, so it spells down B, you've got the new line. We got,

the slam collection, sweatpants, two normal pockets, two zip pockets, oversized embroidered hoods, no drawstrings, heavyweight, two heavyweight, oversized t-shirts, an insanely good crew neck all the money other than the cut that the merch company gets all the money from that goes to me oh god this is a lot of plugs isn't it let me try and speed it ramp it up a little bit

if you don't want to give me money or gojira money or plant trees in africa because you're an evil person you might want to go to patreon.com forward slash the downbeat and give me one pound just one pound that's all it is basically just give me a quid and that means that i can get people like mario de plantier from goji here on here and I can get better lenses so everything looks really nice. I hope you like how nice this episode looks because I edited it myself because I can't afford to pay an editor. If you don't want

to buy trees for Africa, you don't want to look cool for me and you don't want to support me by giving me a pound, but you're watching or listening to this and you're still here, press subscribe on whatever you're watching it on. That's all I am. and that is the bare minimum you can do, and there is a hierarchy, and I like you, less than all of the other people that did the other stuff. My guest this week is Mario DiPlantheet,

my favorite drummer in the world of Gojira. It was wisdom hours. The most insane wisdom, the man is inspirational. I went away. Since that episode was recorded, I have played the drums every single day. Even if you're not a drummer, he still need to listen to it. But if you are a drummer, it is wisdom, knowledge, inspiration.

He put it off for two years because he said his English was bad. His English is great. Such a nice guy. I saw him rip in the evening. The set list was incredible. Just the best. Just the best guy and the best band. If you don't know Gojira, then don't even listen to my podcast.

Don't do anything. Stop. Go listen to Gojira and then listen to this. It's Mario Du Planteer on the Downbeat podcast. Mario de Planteer. Yeah, that's me. Thank you so much for coming on the Downbeat. Finally.

You are by far the most requested guest. Really? Yeah. Oh shit. Because it started as just a drum podcast. Okay. And then it's, sort of branched out to people who were drummers and now it's just people who are heavy into heavy

music. Yeah. Still, mostly drummers. Okay. And they mostly want you. Wow. So much pressure. How is the tour?

It's great, man. It's the beginning of the tour. So we've done three shows for now and it's fantastic. It's a new set list, you know? Yeah. A few songs from the past, a bit challenging to play as well. So, you know, for now we are on that concentration mode, I would say. You know, very focused on being tight and precise, working on the flow between songs, you know, all that things.

I heard a rumor, the art of dying is back in the set. Yeah, it's back. Oh, is that one of the ones that you're talking about being difficult? Yeah, yeah. It's a difficult song, yeah, for sure. It's crazy. But it's a great challenge for me because, as you know, the way I play drums change through the time. And the other day is typically a song I wanted to create when I was 20, 25 years old.

You know, that was really a true ambition of mine is to push the limit of technique. Even nowadays, we know drummers are incredibly technical. But back in the day, I think. thought it was pretty technical. Yeah. I mean, it is. Yeah, it is. It is. So it feels great, you know, it's,

I have to be, I have to be concentrate a lot. Is it, is that the hardest song for you in the set? Yeah, for sure. Because it combines the technical patterns at the beginning of the song and then the fast part in the second half of the song, you know.

so and now the new songs I mean the songs from the previous album like Magma and Fortitude are not so fast so yeah it's a challenge yeah it's uh I mean I've I've read interviews with you and I've seen interviews where you and even when I think I DM'd you when Fortitude came out and was like bro it's amazing and then you were like I really, I laid back

to let the riffs breathe. Yeah. But like, you didn't really because grind on fortitude is crazy. Yeah. The cell on magma, crazy. I think,

I think you think you're going less technical, but above you're still above other people. Yeah. You know, it's it's very important to to create other band. You know, so magma and fortitude, it was just a demand from the band to have a certain direction.

It was something very natural and because we have so much respect for each other's and sometimes I wanted to go crazy, but I found it was like not appropriate, you know, because just Charmichel, Christian and Joe felt differently. So as a band, we have to be coherent and we have to listen to each other's and we have to, we have to, create this vibe together. So it's not really that I wanted to lay back or I'm lazy. It's most I try to create with my bandmates what we want to create together

you know, so yeah because I would love in the next album maybe to go more technical, you know? I'm thinking about it, but let's see, let's see, together. Yeah, that's it. How old are you now? 41.

I remember reading I'm a big Mario. fan, by the way. I think I remember reading in a drum magazine that you worried about how hard your parts are getting older. Of course, you know. Is there anything you can't play? Because I have songs that I used to be able to play and I just can't play them anymore. Yeah, songs like all the tears or esoteric surgery or very ambitious. So I think I can play all the songs. It's just my mindset change a little bit so I'm not I want to challenge myself in a different way I'm very focusing on the the melody of the drums now and you know the space between

the ghost notes the groove it's it's a bit cliche to say that but it's I truly think that my main concern is how to be as groovy as possible right now and my legs are not like the priority like in the past You know, I just wanted to be very, very efficient on my legs, you know, the groups of not starting with the left feet and the right and challenging myself all the time with the lower part of my body, like the legs. And now I'm more concerned about the top, you know, so really how I can fucking groove as most as possible. Do you find, because I've seen your practice. you still practice your legs. A lot.

What is the, what's your average practice routine for, for everything, but I mean how many times a week? Is it just before tour? So that's a good question because there is not really a routine because of all this intense touring schedule. Also, I have a personal life with a family and kids. So when I'm not on tour, I really need to be present for my family. And the logistic with kids, it's really demanding. And because when I'm on tour, I'm doing nothing for my family.

When I'm home, I'm doing as most as I can. So I'm bringing the kids to school and I'm doing so. I'm all over the place all the time. And I have less time to work, to practice. But still, because I'm a very disciplined person, because I really think if you want to be a good drummer or a good musician in general, you have to keep a discipline. If you lose this discipline, you're fucked.

So even if I have a busy day with the family logistic, I always try to spend at least two hours in the practice room every day, except weekend. So I was expecting you to say, okay, so maybe I'll wait two weeks before a tour. So even with family stuff, two hours a day. Oh, yeah. It's my work. I'm always saying to my family, okay now I'm going to practice

you know that's my only rule stop children practice time but but you know they understand because they see me touring a lot and playing bigger bigger venues and I just want to be good you know good for the people who come to see

Gojura I want they pay a ticket I want them to experience something strong you know and powerful and if I lose this discipline it's not good some drummers I know they don't practice a lot and they're fucking good and I don't understand. I'm the same.

I need to practice. I have to. Yeah. Yeah. What about you? Probably, thank you. No one asked me questions. I'm probably the same.

Yeah. This, I think, 2020 to 2022, when the pandemic was just finishing, I stopped practicing quite as much. But now I'll do three hours. amazing. Like three times a week, maybe four times a week. That's great. Yeah. So I mean, yeah, I think it's a perfect as soon as you, you, you, you, you, uh, you, you, uh, you, uh, you, uh, cross a step, like one hour practicing. If you go over that, it's, it's, it's so good. Yeah, that's where you get the good, your mindset, the muscle, muscle, muscle, mind muscle connection. Yeah. But for me, a perfect day of work would be, uh, uh, uh, four or five hours,

per day, but not crazy. Like, you do one hour of only double bass. So that's very important for me. Only double bass, that means... So like what? Just for an hour? It depends.

Teach me how to be good. No, no, no. No, but I mean, every drummer has different technique. For example, during the from Master's Serious period, back in 2005, for example, my routine, I had few exercises.

And I was practicing these exercises every day. So it was groups of notes starting with the left foot. So the art of daying basically was born with this kind of exercises. So I switched the beginning of groups of note with the right

and the left. So it's tagadagan, kada, dagga, down, tagga, just to train myself to go left and right, starting groups of note with both feet, like the heaviest matter of the universe. for example. Togoodoo do do that

so it's Tog do do do do starting with the left second groups of notes start with the left that was another kind of exercises I created like toxic garbage

in the same Tugoodoooo doagudagud Gagudagud Gatigin Gatiguduk Gaggudu do Gatig see I learned that one once

and I end up doing that because I was trying to lead with the right but that Gda-gadagadagadagad Gada Gda Gda needs to be the left Exactly

that's all these riffs started with my routine of practice just by myself and I need to be alone I don't practice with you guys I just need to be just focusing on the drums and listen to the kicks and then I have an endurance routine it is one hour straight just triplets like I started with 170 BPM for example so do you do good do and I accelerate rate a little bit, but I try to stay as long as possible. One hour. One hour. Sometimes I stop for a few seconds or just I adjust my metronome and I go back to it.

It's not like one hour straight and I, you know, with no blank. No, it's not that. It's truly for one hour I need my muscle to feel the ribbon. It's really between the relation with the pedal. I try to find the perfect relation. Then, if you do this every day when you live, you just have your muscle memory working. It's just when you go for it, it works by himself because you practice so much. It's something like this, you know.

So right now, these past months, for example, I was doing just a one-hour endurance. Not so much all the groups of notes and crazy exercises. I was really doing the endurance things. and when I'm able to practice four or five hours now I really love to jam just sit behind my drums and play without nothing in mind yeah no just jamming

just you know is that where some of the solo stuff comes from some of the solo videos yes and I'm finding a lot of ideas like this so it's truly a good exercise sometimes I'm playing drums and I feel like oh shit I will go home you know it's nonsense but it's an obligation for myself

I stay behind the drums even if I'm bored or sometimes I just take a break coffee go back to it it's just shit you just jam but if you push this exercise at some point in 10 20 minutes 30 minutes after that something coming

a good idea and then I'm using this idea for the next song for example but I force myself to stay behind the times you know nice dedication yeah is that how one of one of my questions i don't even have to look at my notes today because i want to talk to you so much uh is that how gojera songs are often written by does it start with something you've been jamming and um as i say there is no really routine even the writing process but um back in the days uh it's true that we were um really a rhythmic

band you know so i would say a lot of exercises come from me and i played the the part into the guys and i say hey guys what about we do a riff like a do cut cut cut out and you just like fucking yeah why not you know so but now it's it's a bit different because it's more about the songs and the um the vibe you know the the emotion into the riffs so but i would say most of their songs are writing by my brother and i Jo and me. So it's, yeah. Was, did Remembrance, the end of Remembrance. Exercise.

Exercise? Yeah. The first time I ever saw you live, 2006, Download Festival. Oh yeah. You replaced Mastodon. I was so excited to see Mastodon. I didn't know who Gojira was. And I was like, oh, I'll go see what this band is. And I walked in as you played Remembrance and I just went, what the fuck? Oh, yeah. Oh, man.

It was unbelievable. And then I was like, hook. I think that was the Mars to Sirius tour. And I was just, if anyone doesn't know, like, and I, you know what? I love that as you've got older, you progressed as a band, you've got a massive catalog. Was it six, six albums or? Yeah, seven albums.

Seven albums. So you kept the end of remembrance. Yeah, exactly. You don't have to play the whole song. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, we prove something, you know. We don't have to prove anymore. You know, it's...

Now their music is crazy. I'm listening to all these new bands and there is breakdowns everywhere. So even at the end of remembrance, it sounds like a bit obsolete, you know, compared to what we can hear right now. You know, fucking loan our show, for example. All the breakdowns, it's a what? So it seems like a vintage, a little bit... What I'm saying is back in the 90s and early 2000, yeah, we had our role in this kind of rhythmic stuff.

But I feel like now today's, the music is going so far. So we don't want to prove anything else. Yeah. We don't want to compete. It's not our role. You know, we just try to exist as a band and have something to say and be artistically interesting, you know. but yeah we evolved a lot yeah but coming out with that in 2006 like i don't think you meant to touch on this but it was like no one was doing the technical breakdown yes in 2006 everyone

was going junch like yeah you're right sugar was doing you know quite technical yeah amazing stuff but weird noises like everyone's doing weird noises now the gogera pick scrape yeah is like a whole genre of music. Everyone has it, every band that I know. Yeah, we can hear it. And it feels great, man. We're so happy about it. You know, it's, we let mark in this kind of music,

and it's great. We feel very humble and very, it's great. Every time I hear like this kind of gogera noise, I'm happy, you know? Yeah, that's cool. There is no anger, no, like, frustration. It's only, oh, shit, that's cool, man. Amazing.

I honestly, I can't really think of another thing in music, in heavy music, which is so trademarked. Yeah. I can't think. Meshugga did great too. Yeah, true. But I mean like just one noise. Yeah, you're right.

You're right. TM, trademark noise. Before I forget this question, because this is something that I need to know for my own brain. Do you play to a click, live? not all the songs I knew it I knew it oh yeah yeah

no we love the movement as I told you we are old school band you know we grew up listening to Metallica and Pantera Sepulterra so we still have this vibe

we're a bit allergic to new technologies we try our best to be on page but it's not easy for us to follow what's going on you know everyone is playing with samples

cliques and all that shit so I love to play with clicks because I feel it's an amazing way to understand where you at during the show if you're going too fast or too slow. When you put it

on and it's like that must be wrong and then you check it. Exactly but I actually love it when I play for example Born for one thing the first song of the set I'm playing with clicks so if I have a lot of adrenaline it sounds so slow like

like this and I what the f it's because So now I can understand that my heart is going too fast. So it's a good way for me to readap the rest of the set, you know. And on the opposite way, it's the same. If it feels too fast, it means that I'm a bit tired. So I will need to push for it during the show. So it's an amazing way to understand and find a good balance, you know, for me.

I feel like I'm the same. If I have a song, we're the same. We have 80% of the set is on click. And there's 20% not on click. And I love the clicks on more because it's just like you've got safety stabilizers on your bike. I'm like, I'm not going to run away.

And then like you said, if your adrenaline's up and the click is like... Yeah. But I go into like Matrix mode where I'm like, I have all this time to go... Like, it's so easy.

It's so easy. That's my goal is to have adrenaline to each show, but it's not the case anymore because we are playing so much so on some important shows I have a lot of adrenaline but there is no rule

I don't know about you but sometimes you play a small place and you have a lot of adrenaline but I'm looking for this I love that the slow motion idea of your body is going too fast and it seems very slow I love that because of the double base

because it's easier it makes it so much easier but I've been looking for it too I've been trying to bottle it and I can't I used to think it was, oh, I just need a really good night's sleep. But then I'll have a bad night's sleep. Yeah. Have not eaten enough.

And then I'll play amazing. Yeah. I'll have a great night's sleep, great meal, two hours before we play. Everything's fine. Play like shit. Yeah. Really hard. Yeah, it's very, very tough.

Yeah, you're right. Do you have a particular warm-up routine before you play? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. As I told you, I'm very disciplined, so every day is the same routine. You were talking about sleeping and eating. I think it's one of the most important thing for me. It's drinking a lot of water during the day.

So I started this morning, for example, because I'm playing tonight. So having a light lunch around noon. And if I play at 9.30, I try to eat four hours before. A light meal, no red meal. no nothing something like you know how light how like we talking what's it i mean rice and beans or a little bit of fish maybe or if you're vegan you can just have a you know a bit of tofu with pasta you know something or a salad but at least you need like a kinoa or rice something like this you know and and keep drinking water and if i can take a nap before the show i'm doing it as well how close

two hours before. I'm trying to wake up two hours before the show, not like 20 minutes before the show. I know some people that are like that. I can't remember who. I had someone on the podcast and they were like,

oh, it's Matt Gasker. Oh, yeah? Matt Gaska was like, oh, yeah, I'll have a nap and then come out of my nap and go straight to stage. Wow, okay. That's the secret.

I mean, it's a good reset for the brain, the nap, you know? It's like a new day after that. Then, yeah, what can I tell? A little bit of stretch. Now I'm trying to incorporate the stretch in my life because as I'm turning 41 years old, I feel like my body needs some stretch a lot. So I'm doing 10 minutes of stretch before the show and then

I'm warming up for 45 minutes straight. So I'm going like few paradigils, double base, like slow. Do you have pedals set up? Yes, I have everything. Practice kit. two pedals with a actually the touch tamag practice kit. The true touch. Exactly. I have this. So I have both of my kick, snare and three tons.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So that's amazing because you can just rotate a little bit, turn on the right and go back to the center. Warm you up a little bit. Exactly.

And then my goal is to be able to go fast, you know, like to do. So usually I put my metronome at 206. That's my goal to... Specific. Yeah, so specific. And I try to be able to play that tempo easily. And then when I feel that my legs are running by themselves, I'm good to go on stage. Interesting.

That's weird, weird in a good way, because I got a warm-up, because I never used to warm up. And then as I'm getting older, I was getting warm. worse on stage and then my friend Alex Rudinger gave me his warm up and it's very similar to that. Just basic hand, paradigal stuff and then

the feet you get to like 200 and you just want to be able to just sit there and just go exactly sitting on your phone doing whatever but still just just go in and when I get that and then I don't know about you but I leave it like maybe I'll

finish that and then 15 minutes later, I'll go on stage. I don't know when does your warm-up end and the stage start? Five minutes before. Five minutes. I mean, I need to burn. You know, I need to sweat and actually the other guys complain because I'm, sometimes I smell not so good because

I'm already sweating and they're all like just like, you know, because they don't practice like me before, you know, they're warming back, but not so much. I'm the only one so... It's so hard being a drummer. You've got so much to do. Man. But they get it, you know. You know, they are super respectful, but now I have my own room to practice because it was annoying for them. And I totally get it.

I feel the pain. You know what I mean? Yeah. So because we are playing bigger venue, I'm able to have one room for me right now. Not every day, but sometimes. So it's great. So I go full force and when I'm going on stage, I'm already sweating. Wow.

That's my goal. Yeah. And then how long is the set? It's one hour 40. Hour 45? Yeah. It's a long set, yeah. Plus the warm up.

Plus the warm up. On two light meals. Yeah. Do you have a heavy meal afterwards? Oh yeah, after the show, yeah. Yeah, what's that? I mean, it can be a burger. It can be, you know, like just a normal meal.

But yeah, every time we have some food on Matt, he's doing an amazing job and assisting us. So after every show, yeah, we have a meal. It's a shame. It's a Wednesday because on that street, that the venue's on. There's a place called Lotus Vegetarian Cuisine

and it's like it's like New York style Chinese food but it's all vegan. Ah, wow. And it's closed. Sorry, but it's great. Next time. You could have that.

Do you drink at all? Not on tour. Zero. Before a day off, before a day off, I have one or two beers. I love to drink. I really love, you know,

wine. I love beers. You know what? I mean, I'm like most of people, but I don't have a problem with alcohol, you know. Honestly, there is a lot of struggle and problem with alcohol in this kind of... It's crazy. So I'm lucky because I don't have a problem with this. I can truly find the limits.

But it's tough, you know. And I'm surrounding by alcohol all day long, so as you probably... You're so bored as well. Yeah. But I don't want to fuck up, you know. I just need to drink water for the people coming to the show because I have a respect for people in general. So I have a respect for the fans who bought a ticket

and I think I have a respect for myself because I want to perform good, you know? Again, I know some Germans who drink a lot and they play godly, you know? See, I need like a couple before I play. Oh, okay. Because, you know,

I mean, that sounds like I have a problem. I don't have a problem. No, no, no, no. The thing you were talking about with your heart going. If I just have like two beers, I'm good. Okay, cool.

Or one margarita. Wow. Sometimes I push the margaritas too much, but there's nothing worse. It's like a nightmare. If you drank too much and then you have to play a show. Yeah, yeah.

It's a nightmare. So I'm such a party pooper and you will probably be shocked but in 25 years, I think I went once on stage having one drink before, but just once in 25 years. So I'm such a party. That's kind of inspirational, actually. I mean, I cannot lose control before going on stage.

I'm the one also in the band who has the most the anxiety. How do you call it? The track. Anxiety. I mean, on stage, what is the name for the... Stage fright. Exactly. I'm the one in the band who's always a bit like nervous.

The three other guys are like Buddhism, like crazy, relax and super chill. The three other games... Yeah, because they don't have to go... Dug-da-da-d-d-d-da-d-da-da-da. Exactly. I wish I can play bass. Yeah, man, we don't care. They don't have triggers on the strings, you know?

Ah, speaking of triggers. sample triggered kick with a bit of microphone or are you just microphone? Depending on the tools, depending on the tours, but on that run we just have triggers. Yeah. On this one? Yeah. For the kicks. Yeah.

Only the kicks, of course. I actually, your drum tech, if you still have the same guy, I can't remember. It's Dave, Dave Price. Yeah. He taught me, because I came up to your, I didn't meet you. That festival that I ran up to you and was like, Mario! I was punished you very slightly. I didn't remember that.

I spoke to your drum. Good. I spoke to your drum tech. And I was like, how's those drums tuned? How does Mario tune their drums? And he was like, and I've tuned my drums like this ever since. Like finger tight and then just like a little bit up from finger tight. Yeah.

They're so loose. It's crazy. So loose. But, you know, we had an important conversation with the, the, front of our sound engineer and he said maybe you need to tune it a little bit up. So it's been like two years that the thumps are a bit higher now. Really? Yeah.

But it's funny because yesterday we went back to a lower tuning because the set is so metal. Yeah. You know, there is so fast songs. So we thought it's maybe better to have a lower tuning on the thumps for these songs. I'm excited. Yeah. What kit are you playing? You know what?

It's a shame We should probably stress Joe was gonna come but he is on vocal rest Which is, I was surprised he was gonna come

in the first place anyway Yeah, he needs to rest his vocals The set is very long It's the beginning of the tour And he's already A bit like

Yeah, And he doesn't need to do An hour and a half Of extra stuff Exactly But it's kind of cool Because we can talk About drums a lot

But I couldn't have said This question like what kit have you got? What kit are you playing on this run? The Star Classic? Yeah. Tamai is fantastic.

I have a lot of different kits everywhere. I have so many of them that I don't remember exactly what I'm playing sometimes. The dream. The dream. And Tamai is doing an amazing job with me. They're very supportive and I love this brand. but you know all drums are good i mean i don't want to make any uh publicity for i play tamma yeah you play tamma yeah you play ziljan ziljan yes ziljan is my favorite

yeah we can just talk about those i mean this megabell right symbol 20 21 each is uh is my favorite you know and it's it's also a bit of my trademark now because i played a lot of nuances on it and the bell is fantastic to to add a spiritual aspect of the song in the songs you know so it's often replicate like attempted to be replicated but never yeah the particularly like the old z custom yes megabell pantera like i would put i always joke that there should be like a achievement in megabell award you know like the grannies but yeah for the megabell and it would be you vinny paul oh come out uh um um Yeah, there's got to be another one.

Literally just you two. Have you ever seen the song from my band, which is me ripping you off? No, I didn't see it. You've never seen it? No. I will definitely change it. I mean, it's one of two. It's one of two moments where I've used a Mario idea and then it's like not fully.

I've taken your concept and then we made a song out of it. And then afterwards, I'm like, oh my God, I hope you don't see it. But, you know, we all, it's an honor for me. Thank you for that. And it's, you know, has been influenced by Abe Cunningham. Yeah. Pete Sandoval, actually, on the right, had a huge impact from morbid angel. Yeah.

All the, ding, ding, ding, ding, you know. With the feet going underneath. Exactly. Gene Oglan, you know, Shun Renard. So I also read them off, you know. It sounds so, it sounds so bad. you say rip off, inspired.

Inspired. So my one was, and it was, I think the thing I try and bring as well that you definitely do bring is with guitarists, they can't really like, they can to an extent,

but they can't really like emulate someone and then try and bring something new to it as much as you can with drums. Yeah. Because there's stuff like, so obviously Neil Perth, he kind of, brought the paradigal groove and Steve Garibaldi,

David Garibaldi brought the paradigal groove to, you know, popular music, rock music and everything. But everyone always followed the kicks with the right hand. And then Liquid Fire, you played kick patterns, which didn't match the hands. And that was the first time I'd ever heard that. And that's what I stole. Oh, that's cool, man

I didn't steal the whole thing But I think yours It's a paradigal And then Yeah, da da da da da da da da da da da da da Yeah, ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-ta-da-ta-a-ta-da-a-ta-a-dha-a-ha-a-t Three. Yeah, yeah, three Starting with right and left

Drum exercise Yeah Oh my god So Because if you play like Dada-da-da-down You're gonna be It's a canterplet

A group of notes Yeah, five So do-d-d-d-d-d-d- Yeah With a parallel over the top That just came from an exercise Yeah So you sat there doing

Paradolus and then you thought Yeah, I thought Yeah, let's try to do a group of Five on the feet and starting with right level and I was practicing And I said, hey guys, I have a fucking great Drumportance and just put a riff on it They were like, oh my God, rolling eyes a little bit

Yeah, but it's so good Every time I'm bringing Things like this, they're rolling eyes Like, oh shit Because I forced them a little bit to have this technical aspect in Gojura because really if you know the guys

it's not really their stuff, you know what I mean? I mean, but it's normal. I mean, it's super cool. They love it, but they are not like super, you know, they are not like peripheries guys or animal as leaders. They are truly, they have an organic way of playing music, like very natural, very simple.

and they are attached to that, you know. They are truly fans of Sepuletra, Metallica, death. But they are not like as crazy as me in terms of a technical. Yeah. But I think that's what makes it work really well. Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Have you got anything, any of your exercises that you know

are going to try and make on the next record? Oh yeah. I have sure of them, yeah. Anything cool? Anything you can share? No. You don't want someone to come out on it before you. I have some cool patterns, very creative and very,

if you just listen to the drums, already it's something, you know? And my brother is so talented to just add a fucking good guitar riff. So I'm confident few of my actual patterns will end up in the next album, probably. Awesome. Into the Storm was on the previous album Fortitude, the just album released now.

two years ago, but there is this song called Into the Storm, and it's the same. It's a, it's a drum exercise. And Joe put a very melancholic medalli on it, like a kind of black metal-ish, and it became something very, very cool. Cool. Yeah. Okay. I've got a question. Something I heard third hand, so you can tell me if it's true or not. So when you talk with Metallica, maybe the first, time, maybe the second time. Did they take you out for dinner? Is there a funny story about getting taken out for dinner with Metallgo?

Yeah, they took out for dinner like two times. One in Montreal, one in Russia. But I don't remember the funny story. Someone told me, and it's so weird to get it third hand. What did he tell you? Someone told me that you went, they took you out for dinner. I don't know, I think it might have been you and Joe and they took you out for dinner

and then one of Metallica had a joint. Is this true? We had an amazing relation with them. You know, like every time we tour with them, we also try to not be annoying, not asking a lot of questions. I think it's very important when you tour with this kind of person

who is super famous. There is paparazzi everywhere. When you're touring, it was Metallica. Once we were at the cafe in Vilnius, Lithuania, with James Soutfield. And there were paparazzi everywhere, so it's crazy. It's very important

to stay simple. I would say, I mean, it's just a feeling of human interactions, but when we were with them, we didn't ask any question about Injustice for All the Black album. We were just like trying to have simple conversation

and not focusing too much on Metallica. It's so, it's a strange one because they're, I mean, they're my favorite band of all time. Yeah,

it's, it's all our, they're the godfather of a heavy metal and we, we, it's a dream of everyone to tour with them,

so, how does it feel when you got the, when you got the call to do the Metallica tour? That was mind-blowing, you know, I was like so happy,

like it was a dream come true. I couldn't believe it. And, I think the cool thing with them is, it's they have their ear to the ground with listening for new music. Absolutely. Like at that point, you weren't like, it wasn't magma.

It was. Yeah, it was a whirlwind flesh. Yeah. Jam Tudfield actually fell in love with the album and Robert Trellio as well. So they invited us. And we were like a death metal band touring, you know, small clubs. So suddenly we arrived in this huge arena in the US. So it was a very big, big deal.

for us and then they brought us in Russia in Eastern Europe, Poland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania. We went everywhere with them. We play Stade de France also. It was the biggest stadium in France. And we had a very good relation with them because the four of them are super cool, super cool. You know, we met a lot of bands and there is 40% of them I thought were. not cool. The big bands I'm talking about. Yeah. But Metallica is the coolest. Super cool. Like you talk with

Kirk and is as simple as us. It's truly humble. Robert's the same gems. He's a sweetheart. Even Lars is funny. He's funny, you know. But I do remember that we were drunk in Montreal and we had to play a show

the day after and that was the worst show of my life because I'm I'm never getting to waste it the day before show, but this time we were just hanging out with them. You can't say no. You can't not drink the Metallica. So I remember drinking some very strong alcohols, and I was fucked up.

So I went to bed and, you know, everything was turning. And I woke up the day after I couldn't walk. I was like vomiting. You were vomiting? Yeah. Oh, my God. So I played so bad that day. But we didn't care because we didn't care

because we just hang out with them. You know, it was not important. I would fucking, I'd do anything with Metallica. That's crazy. I think even just hearing that story is like, how fucking cool? Like being, no offense, them being that old, but knowing cool new bands and then just taking them out to party and out drinking the young drummer.

Yeah, that's so cool, man. I think that's awesome. I had a good experience in Russia. Actually, I jammed with a, James Salfield in the practice room. Oh, amazing. That is probably the one of the highlight of my career as a musician. It was a simple moment, you know.

Because we had a good relation with them, we were like hanging out and with absolutely no tension. You don't see them a lot when you tour with them because they have a busy, a very busy schedule. You know, they're doing interviews all the time. They have so many pressure, you know. So sometimes we cross our path, but not so much, you know. But I do remember in Russia, I was talking to gems in the dressing room. And it came to our dressing room, actually.

It was like 5 p.m. And he said to me, okay, do you want to jam with me for 10 minutes? And I said, I wanted to say no because I was too impressed, but I said yes instead of no. because I wasn't sure should I jam with him and what about if I fucked up in front of him? You know, suddenly I doubted.

I doubted. I felt I lost a bit of confidence. I was like, what? Jamming with gems? You know, it's something else. It's hard to process. But then I said, yes. And I walk and I was a bit shaking, you know.

It's stupid, but it was a long time ago as well. probably today would be different, you know, because I'm older and more experience. What did you play with him? So we enter the room and he put his guitar on and I was behind the kit, Lars kit, the green Tama kit is using in a practice. I took the fucking sticks and he was looking at me and I said to myself, don't think too much. Go for it. You know, we don't have time to. adjust or what do you want to play or you know no you fucking with jamsett film in this room you have to go

for it so i started with a simple bit like scab but right away i put a lot of power on it you know i try to fucking go for it smile and be groovy and he started to headbang a little bit you know and he played some i have no idea what i don't remember but i know it was cool but it wasn't it was a jam it wasn't like a metallic song oh no no no no no no i don't i don't i don't It was a jam. And we jam for two minutes, three, four, five minutes. It's long, five minutes is long. So I threw some feels and I started to get into it.

I didn't think I was jamming with gems. I just thought I need to deliver something. I want to have fun. So I was very proud of myself because in this kind of configuration, you can lose confidence and you can just fuck everywhere. You know, the feel is not going on the one. You know what I mean? But in fact, it suddenly became very natural.

So my brother heard that from our dressing room. So he ran and he entered the room and he saw me playing with gems. So he took one pick with his phone. Nice. And then I thought, okay, five minutes is enough. You stop the jam. So I stopped the jam, but in a natural way, like, and I stand up, you know, and that's what it.

And I said, Gens, oh, fuck, man, you know, we hug each other, and he said,

yeah, fuck, yeah, I five, blah, blah, blah, and I said,

that was awesome. And that's it. Amazing. Yeah. I've got a pair of Lars's sticks. Oh, cool. I got his actual stick.

I've got two of them. Because this is how I know that he's cool. I don't know him, but he played with that in Daytona. Yeah. So that's what the exact sticks. That's what you just, you just,

you sat with the same, the tape. everything. Yeah, yeah. I made a downbeat t-shirt and it was Lars. It was like a Lars t-shirt

because I love Lars. I love Mattaka. But he's the reason I you know, I'd never heard someone play a snare and a crash at the same time before. And I was like, wait, I thought crashes had to be on one.

We need to bring some justice for him because it's not about moving, you know, tempo-wise. It's what he created in the past. So I'm a bit tired of, you know, seeing all this conversation about Lars because what it did create is quite unique. If you listen to fucking Injustice for All, it's amazing. Unbelievable.

And to play at fucking 60-something years old. Yeah. Or 60, I don't know, sorry. You know, for playing for two hours. Yeah. Playing like long fucking master of puppies, eight and a half minute long songs. Yeah. It's very physical.

And what he brought on the table, back in the day, you know, playing without shirts and doing all these faces and, you know, standing up behind the kids is almost more important than the rest, you know, it's the personality on stage for me as a kid. And me as well, yeah. Yeah, I was just fascinated. It was not about the technique, you know, is it tight, is he like that? I didn't care. I just saw someone behind the Trump, a true personality, though. So that's...

It's funny that you say we need to bring him from justice because the... this whole podcast was supposed to be, it was going to be called And Justice for Lars. Oh. And it was going to be me talking to other people who like Metallica and just like, Really?

Honestly, just a Metallica podcast because I think Lars needed some justice. Absolutely. Never met him. But my friend Benji plays in that band Royal Blood. And they supported Metallica. I made a downbeat t-shirt that had,

it was as if Lars, was a wrestler. It was like a bootleg wrestler t-shirt, like a W.W.E, but it's Lars. And he wore it at that show, and Lars saw him and was like, what the fuck is this? They took a photo together,

and then Lars's wife asked me to send them five of the t-shirts. So I know that Lars, the family Ulrich have a set of these t-shirts, so I'm just kind of waiting for the, I want a family photo. Because it was different sizes as well.

I was like, can you send me specifically five of these? of these. So somewhere. Lars is very funny. He's a very funny person and a lot of culture as well. He knows a lot of things. He's truly, as we all know, a good manager as well.

He has a sense of business for sure. But he's a truly funny character with a lot of personality. So when you go to the restaurants with him, it's so cool. You know, you talk about movies and music and he's, is a very true character. It has a strong personality, but in a good way, you know. I love this guy, really. Okay, we're going to move on to the final part of the podcast.

I'm going to check my notes just to make sure that I got everything that I wanted. Big section on Metallica, we did it. Side note, are you playing the song, the way of all flesh? Yes, yes. Why did you laugh? because it's another hard drum. No, because we talk about it today, and we said, yeah, we should get out of the set.

Oh, really? No, because the reaction of the crowd was not, like, fantastic. You know, we are, I'm so sensitive to the reaction with the crowd. So I'm analyzing a lot. So after a show, sometimes I get out of stage and I said, we should get rid of this song. You know, I have a bad feeling. Because I felt like no one really.

really react, react to them. How can they not react to that drum fill at the beginning? You're doing the film and you're like, why aren't you fucking... No, but sometimes it's also a matter of intensity, like the set is so intense because we play the heaviest matter, backbone, fucking flying whale. I can't wait. I can't wait. So sometimes I feel it's almost a bit too much, you know, for the crowd.

So when the world of fish is coming, so should we go back, should we take? change the position of the well of flesh, but then you have this ending. It's a lot of reflection around, like I'm sure you guys do with your set list. Yeah, but it's not as hard as you. No, but yeah, it's truly a matter of dynamics, you know. It's like drumming. If you don't have any dynamics, you suffocating the list, you know. So the set list is the same. So the well, for now, I feel like the position is not perfect. But we are going to play it tonight. It gets difficult, the bigger your catalogue gets as well. Exactly.

What do you remove? Because often the singles are made to get new fans. So the singles will be either less heavy or slightly different. Absolutely. But then they naturally become the biggest songs. Yes. And over what seven albums, you've got to pick? It's a challenge.

Yeah, you're right. But it's a good challenge. It's a good problem to have too many songs. But I truly have the feeling that the Wellvel Flesh is not at the right place right now, you know? I'll be, I'm going to scream when you're going to cry tonight. So you get the vibe. I'm just going to scream as now as I can.

Okay. The end of the podcast, what we do, we're going to, we're going to curate a dream festival. Before that lovely French man tells you about his dream festival, let me tell you about another dream festival that's actually happening in real life, not at, I mean at night time, but not at nighttime in your head, at nighttime in real life. Mario's going to be there. Mystic Festival in Gerdinzka, Poland, from the 7th to the 10th of June.

They actually hit me up about maybe coming and doing some podcasting there. Unfortunately, I'm on tour, but had a look at the lineup, and I couldn't believe how sick it is. I'm trying to bring the downbeat there in 2024, but you want to go in 2023. Check this out.

Your Thursday, Friday, Saturday headliners are Ghost, Danzig, and Gojira. Rats, Mother. plastic bag in the sea. You've got behemoth, spirit box, electric wizard, wattane, Carpathian Forest, grave. Employed to serve Sylvain Heriot. What is this? The Powerful Woman Day? That's awesome. L L-L-N-N. Love that band. You got Greg from Dillinger, solo set. One stage on the Saturday, Alcest, perturbitter, Musugger. The biggest band in the world. sleep token.

Voivod. Is Jason Neustead still playing in Voivod? If so, I would be punishing him at that festival. It's in a shipyard. We can only imagine that looks really cool. Assuming my Google translator's right, 669 slot for a three-day pass. That is about 125 quid.

That's less than half of a normal festival of this calibre. Plus, you've got Gojira. What more do you want? Gojira and my sugar on the same day. Jesus. I mean, there's probably a little. lack of Jesus, if anything, behemoth are there. www.w.w.

mystic festival. PL, you should go. I want to thank them for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Now let's get to Mario and his dream festival. Dream festival for Mario Diplanteau. I'm going to talk you through it. There's a reason that I haven't previously told you because I want it all to be natural.

I don't want you to think about it. The only rule, it's a dream festival. It could be. you know, you woke up and you're, I had the craziest dream. We were playing this festival and this happened. So if at any point you think of something that

couldn't physically happen, you can still have it as a dream. Okay. The only thing is that Gojira is playing. So that's going to change your answers. You have to think about it. So where, what we're going to start with the dream festival

of Mario de Pontier. Where in the world would your dream festival be? You know, one of my dream is to go to Bali in Indonesia. So let's start like this, because I'm a surfer guy, you know? Yeah. And I'm obsessed by waves. And I need once in my life to surf in Bali.

Oh, is it a good... I think I tried surfing for the only time ever in my life in Bali. Really? And I fucked... Never been to Indonesia. I fucked my stomach up because I didn't know, like... You're supposed to wear shit. Yeah.

You can wear anything. Of course, man. I'm not a surfer. I'm a bodyboarder. It's a bit different. It's a shorter board. But anyway, because there is a big war between surfers and body borders. And I'm not part of it, but it's stupid.

But anyway, so I'm a bodyboarder. I think that's what I did. Yeah, and I still fuck myself up. Oh, yeah. But it was in Bali. So let's start in Bali. Nice. I'm on the beach?

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I love it. You're on board already. what would your dream accommodation be for the festival? Now, you don't have to think of realistic festival accommodation. You can think, what's my dream like place to sleep or, you know, place to be staying?

If Joe came to you and said, hey, we've been off at this festival in Bali, you'll never guess what the accommodation is. I mean a little cabin on the surf spot on the beach would be perfect. Nice. Like a little wood. Yeah. A wood, a natural, you know, a little, little, yeah, cabin on the beach. Nice. Just maybe like all the bands could have these cabins.

You've got the beach. You've got the stage on the beach. Exactly. Bodyboarding. I don't know where it's going, but I love the idea of just be able to watch the ocean. and from the stage and the backstage area. Okay. So, yeah, we'll have the whole backstage.

Maybe the stage is in front of the ocean. Yeah, figure out the tide logistics. Exactly. There is no tide. Okay, so what is, we're going to get to the music, but what is catering? So if you're, again, your dream situation. I'm not that picky, but

something healthy, you know. Yeah, vegan. My brother is vegan. I'm not vegan, but I'm not eating a lot of fish and meat. Conscious eating. Oh, yeah. Yeah, very, very. No, something healthy, something not too.

We have to say simple. to stay simple. Is there a favorite restaurant of Gojira? Is there like a place where you're in a certain country and you're like, oh, let's go here for dinner? Oh, okay. I'm not that picky, you know what I mean? Is anyone in the band picky?

Come on. Throw someone under the bus here. With the food, you mean? Yeah. Christian is the most picky. Christian, the guitarist with the longer, is all about food. is a good cook as well and he loves food

he's obsessed you know okay so that's built the catering is for Christian okay okay so what are we having what's his favorite restaurant I mean it is he's so French man he loves French restaurants

but we are different Joe for example hates it hate it Joe loves vegan food and vegan restaurants you know so no I will go for vegan. We'll go vegan. Vegan and catering. Maybe some sort of French, a French

French vegan restaurant? French, Michelin-starred vegan restaurant. Why not? Why not? On the beach in Bali. Yeah. Bodyboarding. But let's stay coherent with what the local could offer as well.

You know, we don't want to have too much diversity if we can have something like is coherent. You know what it? you know what they love in Bali? Magic mushrooms. They're fucking everywhere. In Bali, for some reason, magic mushrooms are legal in Bali,

but everything else isn't. And the same people that sell you the... I can say this. You can't say this. The people that sell you the magic mushrooms in Bali, they'll ask you at the same time. They'll go, this is a lesson for anyone watching who goes to Bali.

And because magic mushrooms are legal, you can buy them in a shop. But if the other people are like, Oh, you want cocaine? Or you want anything else? And you say yes. They run off and then they come back with the police. So no.

No. None of that. No one do that. We're in Bali. We're on a beach. We've got a big stage. Who is headlining. So this is Mario Dipliances.

We're going to have three. Gojira is playing. So where do you want to be on the bill, ideally? You want to be on early? You want a headline? Yeah, sure. I would love to headline. You want a headline?

No, I mean, radio head. Radiohead. Metallica. We need to stop. We need to stop. This is why this part of the festival exists because we get, we hit a common ground on something.

And then we stop. So we've got Radiohead. Supporting Gojira or a Gojira. No, headlining. Radiohead headlines. Yeah, Depeche mode, why not? Headlining as well. Nice.

You have to put some metal on there, else no one's going to come. Okay, I'm Metallica. Metallica, Gojira, Radiohead, Depeche mode. Give me one more. Give me one more heavy band. Tool.

What a festival. I'll be taking those magic mushrooms. If tools playing, I want. Okay, so then on a smaller stage, is there a band or a younger band or even just a small band that you think more people should know about that you like?

Ah, there is a lot of them, but let me think. You can think. That's fine, I should have told you, but I could actually just interrupt here and say, you guys brought knock loose on Thor, didn't you? Knock loose, good answer.

Thank you. My name is Mario. I'll be answering these questions. Knock loose. Did, because I'm friends with those guys. Did you guys approach them, Metallica style, or was it a, they got submitted for the tour? They got submitted and we said yes. Cool.

Because we loved them. And we toured the US with them. Yeah. Amazing. They're so young as well. Yes. It's crazy. I love them so much.

So young, so good. Yeah. And particularly on the last EP they did, like huge Gojera influence as well. But like early Gojira, there's like, I can't remember the name of the song. I think it's like the second track on the EP. And it sounds like something off the link. It's great, man. I love this band.

They're all super chill as well. So yeah, knock loose for sure. We got knock loose. Okay, dream after the show party or straight to bed. What is your dream? So you don't have a show the next day, so you can do whatever you want. I mean, just hanging out with good people, you know, good lights. I'm very sensitive to the atmosphere, the lights, you know.

Is this okay for you? Yeah, it's great, man. Thank you for this, by the way. Yeah, you're welcome. He just turns up and gives me this beautifully hand-painted. Yeah, you know, I'm spending all day to paint on drumheads, you know, and it's a good way to recycle my drumheads. So most of them, I use them on stage, and then I draw on them, you know,

I sign them, I sell them. Yeah, it's one of the, it's one of the, the passion of mine. I love it. Yeah, so a cozy light, good drinks, good people, you know, good music. I'm not like a crazy party guy, you know, but I love

to hang out, so I love to laugh and I love to drink as well. What would the drinks be? What's your ideal drink? I love beers. Yeah. Simple. Like a lager? Or do you like fancy beers? You're an IPA guy? Yeah, IPA. I take whatever we give me. Yeah, but this is

You're not taking anything. Oh man, I don't know. Every day I would have a dream, a different dream. Yeah, IPA. A couple of IPAs. I want to go to this festival. That's it. We're good.

We're done. Okay, champagne. Champagne. Oh, very fucking French. I love it. Thank you so much for coming on a downbeat. Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight.

Yeah, sure. I'm going to scream during the way of all flesh so you get a decent vibe. Deal. Thank you so much, man. Thank you, man. Thank you.