Gojira frontman Joe Duplatiner is not just known as a great frontman, but as an environmentalist and an animal rights activist. The band wears their activism on their sleeve and doesn't hide from it. During a recent interview with WARP magazine in Mexico, Duplantier was asked about his thoughts on COVID-19 and its causes.
In the transcription by Blabbermouth, Joe makes his feelings clear on what started it and the solutions to avoid such a situation again. "For vegans, it's very upsetting, this freakin' pandemic, because it always comes from mistreating and eating animals. All the viruses, if you think about it — from chicken, the mad cow, whatever it's called, all these COVID episodes that we have — it's always from eating animals, because we're not supposed to. That's what I think. Anyway, I'm a bit upset about that. I don't think it's a conspiracy or God punishment; I think it's just a normal reaction to our behavior on this planet. Shit like that's gonna happen if you don't fucking behave."
When he was asked how we, as humans, can make the world a better place, his answer showed it was clearly something he's thought about deeply. "It means we have the power. We do. When you go to the supermarket or to the grocery store or to the marketplace — wherever you go to buy food — are you gonna choose to buy a product from a farmer that beats his wife or a product from a farmer that doesn't beat his wife? Or mistreats his animals or doesn't mistreat his animals? Who are you gonna support? Are you gonna buy a product that was brought here from the other side of the planet and took three planes and two boats to bring, or are you gonna buy a local vegetable? 'Oh, I eat local' — oh, it sounds fancy, you fucking hipster. No — you need to fucking eat local. When you live down in Mexico, I'm sure you have more choices in the food that you eat. In colder countries, maybe people buy avocado and banana that was brought from very away. But it's probably the case in Mexico too, I'm sure — you can choose to buy something local or that comes from far. So I think it starts here."
He continued: "This is something I tell people, and they're often very surprised, and it's not metal to say that, but the power is in your wallet. Even if you spend just two dollars a day; it's still… you have a power there. And also our thoughts, what we think becomes what we are. So it's very important to have good thoughts about ourselves and about others around us and try to see the positive in people or bring the positive in other people. [That's] another thing we can do. We can be polite and try to listen to people and better ourselves instead of being mad and angry at the world. We can turn on the water to wash our hands and turn it off right away. We can choose to ride a bicycle instead of taking our car, even if we have money to buy gas. And so on and so on. So all these little things mean we have the power. It's not the government, it's not the president that's gonna change things for you, because he only cares about being re-elected; I think people should understand that by now."
"And also, I will add that about this — it's just a sentence, I guess, that wraps it up — but I think the true revolution is coming from within, from individuals. If there is a revolution happening in you, you're gonna better yourself, there's gonna be a change on some level — it could be small, it could be big — I think that's it; it's a revolution that works. Because trying to [start] a revolution with a lot of people, like in France — 'Let's behead the king' — turns into a mess. Then it's a republic, and people are not happy anyway. So if people change, they're gonna inspire people around them to change."
Gojira's Fortitude is out now on Roadrunner Records. Here are their upcoming tour dates.
Gojira opening for Deftones
August 12 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory [Tickets]
August 14 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom [Tickets]
August 15 – Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill [Tickets]
August 17 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion [Tickets]
August 19 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ RBC Echo Beach [Tickets]
August 20 – Laval, QC, Canada @ Place Bell [Tickets]
August 21 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena [Tickets]
August 23 – Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena [Tickets]
August 24 – New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17 [Tickets]
August 27 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia [Tickets]
August 28 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summerstage [Tickets]
August 29 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem [Tickets]
August 31 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh [Tickets]
September 2 – Indianapolis, IN @ Amphitheater at White River State Park [Tickets]
Gojira headlining tour with Knocked Loose, Alien Weaponry
September 3 – Chattanooga, TN @ The Signal^ [Tickets]
September 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park [Tickets]
September 6 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory [Tickets]
September 7 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall [Tickets]
September 8 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center [Tickets]
September 10 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center [Tickets]
September 11 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre [Tickets]
September 14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre [Tickets]
September 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre [Tickets]
September 18 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium [Tickets]
September 20 – Boise, ID @ Revolution Center^ [Tickets]
September 21 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater [Tickets]
September 22 – Portland, OR @ Theatre of the Clouds at Moda Center [Tickets]
October 9 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock* [Tickets]
October 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union [Tickets]
October 13 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland [Tickets]
October 14 – Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion [Tickets]
October 15 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom [Tickets]
October 17 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre [Tickets]
October 19 – Tampa, FL @ Jannus Live [Tickets]
October 20 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live [Tickets]
October 22 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works [Tickets]
October 23 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium [Tickets]
October 25 – Albany, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall [Tickets]
October 27 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre [Tickets]
October 28 – Rochester, NY @ Main Street Armory [Tickets]
October 29 – Cleveland, OH @ The Agora [Tickets]
^= denotes festival
