http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXFJOXvL_Aendofvid
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Born in Belgium and then raised in Australia, he 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'.[1]
He embarked on a project that was, in his own words, "about refiguring past things (old vinyl sounds) with my own ideas"[2] 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'.
Some of his songs are based on snippets of old vinyl records and cassettes, used to create mosaics and blends of found sounds and live instruments. Reportedly, "the trove of ancient music is the legacy of his former neighbour, an old woman who passed away back in 2000 and whose late husband hoarded dusty platters."[3] He has described his work as "99% sample-based from old sources, like vinyl, DVDs, CDs and tapes, all cobbled together and stretched to sound seamless".[4] In 2003 he issued the first Gotye album, Boardface.
His public exposure, like many alternative Australian musical acts, comes largely from youth radio station Triple J. Gotye's second album Like Drawing Blood was featured by Triple J in May 2006[5] and was voted Number 1 in the listeners poll of the Best Album of 2006.[6] The album was also nominated for a J Award that year.[7] Two tracks from that album, "Learnalilgivinanlovin" and "Hearts a Mess", were ranked 94 and 8 respectively in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2006.[8] "Like Drawing Blood" has been certified Gold for sales of over 35,000 copies. His first single, "Learnalilgivinanlovin", was released in August, 2006.
In September 2006, Gotye was nominated for an ARIA Award for best independent release for his album Like Drawing Blood.[9] Also in 2006 Gotye won 'Most Outstanding New Independent Artist' at the inaugural Australian Independent Record (AIR) Chart Awards[10] and Like Drawing Blood was amongst nine shortlisted finalists in the 2006 Australian Music Prize.[11]
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. In 2009 Gotye - "Hearts A Mess" came in at #77 in Triple J Hottest 100 of all time, voted by the Australian public.
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11/05/2010
Wonky Pop
