Gotye
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| Gotye | |
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 Gotye performing at the Wollongong Botanical Gardens in March 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Wouter De Backer |
| Born | 21 May 1980 |
| Origin | Belgium |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock, experimental rock |
| Years active | 2003 – present |
| Label(s) | Independent, Creative Vibes |
| Website | http://www.gotye.com |
Wouter De Backer (born 21 May 1980, in Bruges, Belgium was raised in Australia, and is more commonly known by his stage name Gotye (Dutch pronunciation: [ɡoːtijeː]). Gotye is an ARIA Award-winning singer-songwriter. Gotye has released two studio albums independently and one remix album featuring remixes of tracks from his first two albums.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Belgium and then raised in Australia, Walter (as he is more commonly called) has been making music since his teens, first in moody local rock band Downstares, a fixture at underage shows in the North-East suburbs of Melbourne for a few years. When that band dissolved Wally started focusing on his solo project, cut'n'paste tunes that eventually would come under the moniker of 'Gotye'.
He is also one-third of Melbourne indie-pop band The Basics.
As Gotye, his public exposure, like many alternative Australian musical acts, comes largely from youth radio station Triple J.
His first single, "Learnalilgivinanlovin" from Like Drawing Blood, was released in August, 2006.
Gotye's second album Like Drawing Blood was featured by Triple J in May 2006[1] and was voted Number 1 in the listeners poll of the Best Album of 2006.[2] The album was also nominated for a J Award that year.[3] Two tracks from that album, "Learnalilgivinanlovin" and "Heart's a Mess", were ranked 94 and 8 respectively in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2006.[4] "Like Drawing Blood" has been certified Gold for sales of over 35,000 copies.
In September 2006, Gotye was nominated for an ARIA Award for best independent release for his album Like Drawing Blood.[5]
Also in 2006 Gotye won 'Most Outstanding New Independent Artist' at the inaugural Australian Independent Record (AIR) Chart Awards[6] and Like Drawing Blood is amongst nine shortlisted finalists in the 2006 Australian Music Prize.[7]
In 2007, Gotye won the ARIA for best male artist. As a result of the publicity of the nomination, Like Drawing Blood re-entered the ARIA albums chart at #36, surpassing the previous peak of #39. Also, Mixed Blood debuted on the ARIA albums chart at #44. Both of these entries came the first week after the ARIA Awards.
[edit] Origins of 'Gotye'
Wally was embarking on a project that was, in his own words, "about refiguring past things (old vinyl sounds) with my own ideas". It therefore seemed appropriate to draw on his past for inspiration for the project's name. Wouter, Gotye's real name, from Dutch translates into French as Gaultier (or Gautier or Gauthier). Wally's mother used to call him Gaultier as a pet name. Drawing on this and choosing his own spelling gives us 'Gotye'.
[edit] Discography
- Studio albums
- Boardface (2004)
- Like Drawing Blood (2006) – #36 (Australia)
- Mixed Blood (2007) – #44 (Australia)
- Singles
- "Learnalilgivinanlovin" (2006)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Web page on MySpace
- Eleanor Conway Presents: Gotye Video Interview on music.virgin.com
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