Joe Duplantier

In high school, Duplantier formed his first band, named Eclipse.[1]

In 1993, at the age of seventeen, he started his second band called P4, and had already acquired a reputation as a composer.[2][1]

Duplantier and his brother Mario wrote their first song, titled 'Victim,' in 1996. Their band, initially called Godzilla, was later renamed Gojira.[3] Gojira's debut studio album, Terra Incognita, was released in 2001.

Duplantier's influences include bands such as Death, Metallica, Morbid Angel, Sepultura[4] and Slayer.[5]

He was also in a band called Empalot with his brother Mario Duplantier from 1999 to 2004.[6]

Max Cavalera and Igor Cavalera initially asked Jean-Michel Labadie, bassist of Gojira, to do bass duties for their band, Cavalera Conspiracy; however, Labadie was busy with prior commitments, including Gojira. Instead, Duplantier ended up being the band's bassist.[7] He has stated that Gojira is his main priority and that is the reason he has not done extensive touring with Cavalera Conspiracy.[4] In 2008, he was replaced by Johny Chow on bass duties for Cavalera Conspiracy. Duplantier did not appear on the band's second album, Blunt Force Trauma.

Duplantier is the owner of Silver Cord Studio, a recording studio located in New York, which he designed himself.[8]

Duplantier also plays drums occasionally during live performances when he and his brother Mario Duplantier switch places.[9]

In 2016, he gave an interpretation of the thematic in his songs: "My lyrics speak above all about the liberation of the soul, encourage to see the beauty of things."[10]

Duplantier was born in Paris but raised in Ondres,[11] South-West France near the Basque country.[11] He started playing his mother's classical guitar, which only had three strings. His mother played and sang country music, having grown up in Wisconsin and California. Due to this, Duplantier has dual citizenship of France and the USA.[12]

When he was young, he distinguished himself by picking up trash on a beach and scattering it in a parking lot, attracting the attention of the local media.[13] Duplantier said, "I found it so weird; people aren't bothered by what's on the beach, but when it's in a parking lot, it becomes a problem".[13]

His mother was a yoga instructor, his father is a painter and his sister Gabrielle is a photographer. Duplantier went to the university during two years and four years in an art school, then he started working as a graphic designer. Afterward, he decided to live in a cabin that he had previously built. He lived with his girlfriend in this cabin in a forest during two years without income or electricity. Terra Incognita was written during this experience.[1][14][15]

Some of the lyrical themes of Gojira reflect Duplantier's personal beliefs in preserving the environment.[16][4] He support and he is part of the environmental corporation Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.[17] Radio Metal asked him what he would do in life if he wasn't in Gojira – or even if he wouldn't make music at all, he responded, "I would be an activist in Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd, an action that defends the planet or the animals. Without any hesitation."[18] Joe is a vegan.[3][10]

Though he lived and was raised in Bayonne, France, he now resides in Brooklyn, New York City, where he lives with his wife and two children.[19]

Joe Duplantier (right) performing at Hellfest in 2013.

When playing with Gojira in 2009, Duplantier's equipment was listed as the following:[20]

• Charvel Joe Duplantier Signature San Dimas Style 2
• Charvel Joe Duplantier Signature Pro Mod San Dimas Style 2
• Jackson SLS Guitar
• EVH 5150 III amplifier head
• EVH 5150 III 4x12 Cab
• Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner pedal
• Noise Suppressor pedal
• Dunlop .88 millimeter tortex picks
• DiMarzio ClipLock black strap