His mother, Patricia (née Rosa; 6 October 1950 – 5 July 2015), an American with Azorean roots, was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Los Angeles.
His father, Dominique Duplantier, is a French painter and architectural drafter.
Patricia, a student in the United States, was 23 years old when she met "and fell in love" with Dominique Duplantier during travel in Europe in the early 70s.
The couple married and settled in Ondres.
Difficult to access, the old family house with his father's adjacent workshop stood isolated in the Landes forest.
His father devoted his life to painting, charged with surrealism.
He worked for the mayors of cities in southwest France, drawing landscapes, street plans, traditional habitats while focusing on architectural details.
His father has published books and made art exhibitions in France.
Duplantier has a brother, Joe, and a sister, fine-art photographer Gabrielle.
His mother described him as an "expansive, funny, lovable, carefree and open child", adding that "he was popular".
In his childhood, he spent the most time in his father's workshop and in the one of his sister, who started photography at the age of seventeen.
Duplantier suffered from multiple otitis and ear infections at a very young age after swimming in polluted water, which led to surgical procedures; these events had awakened an ecological consciousness in the two brothers.
He was free to choose a musical career, but his parents nonetheless encouraged him to obtain his diploma.
As a result, he graduated with a French Baccalauréat in literature (L); he later stated, "we had fulfilled the contract, we could do what we wanted".
Growing up in an environment where his mother brought rock music, the Beatles, Tina Turner, and Michael Jackson into the house profoundly influenced him.
Duplantier recalled that the first song that inspired him was "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, and then later, a Metallica cassette tape belonging to his brother made him discover heavy metal.
He was first impressed as he watched his brother play the guitar; they understood instinctively that they would join to form a band.
He experienced his first introduction to the drums while listening to Metallica, saying, "I took some chopsticks and started to beat everywhere on the table."
Patricia, who was highly supportive, bought him his first drum kit.
Encouraged by his parents to develop his creativity, he started playing drums at the age of eleven.
At the age of twelve, he began his first band with his school friend playing Nirvana, Metallica, and Sepultura covers, and then he discovered more extreme metal.
At thirteen, Duplantier began practicing in earnest the double bass drums and became a death metal drummer in his band named Putride (death–thrash).
1981
Mario François Duplantier (born 19 June 1981) is a French-American musician and artist best known as the drummer for heavy metal band Gojira.
He established himself as a powerful, technically precise drummer, using polyrhythmic patterns and distinctive jazzy fills and drum breaks.
Mario Duplantier was born in Bayonne, France on 19 June 1981.
He grew up in Ondres, southwest coast of France, near the Basque country.
He was raised there in a family where arts played a significant role in creativity.
1996
In 1996, he co-founded the death metal band Godzilla with his older brother Joe.
1998
After a period of self-learning, he entered Agostini drum school and co-founded Empalot in 1998.
2001
Godzilla changed its name to Gojira in 2001 and released its debut album, Terra Incognita.
2004
His side project Empalot was placed on hiatus in 2004 during the rise of Gojira.
Duplantier acquired varied experiences through a range of musical styles from extreme metal, jazz, rock, and funk drumming.
2009
He has been practicing painting and drawing since 2009.
Duplantier developed an early interest in music and started drumming at the age of eleven.
2010
He exhibited his paintings in France in 2010.
He holds dual French and U.S. nationality.
After constant touring and recording, Duplantier has gained international recognition.
He has been described as "one of metal's most creative rhythmic and technical drummers".
He has been listed as one of the "world's best metal drummers" by professional music journalists, magazines, and reader polls.
