Ah, what about getting a little tweaky on this one new break-out artist Gotye? Since his music is tagged as an alternative rock-indie pop music laden by electronic music samplings which drew inspirations from almost the mundane, the ordinary and normal stuff we used to ignore everyday. That’s genius. For a music artist that equally weaves a great amount of artistry into his music devoid of the interjections of the consumerism and commercialism of the music industry.
Art is the main deciding factor and the strength of it, had allowed the public to finally embrace ecclecticism and marvel about the many inspirations (subliminally) ingrained while the sound works its way into our system. Of understanding Gotye’s music and be able to catch up the transcendence of human thought and processes. Gotye’s music (and voice almost comparable to the other greats Peter Gabriel and Sting) reminds us about the psychological effects of rhythms and sounds more than just stamping your feet and swaying your head in affirmation, that yes, it’s a good vibe.
Gotye and Kimbra winning the Grammy’s 2013
Gotye, Wouter “Wally” De Backer (born 21 May 1980) is a Belgian–Australian multi-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter. The name “Gotye” is derived from “Gauthier”, the French equivalent of “Walter” or “Wouter”. He painstakingly produced and released independently three studio albums and one album featuring remixes of tracks. Before he became a solo music artist, he used to be a member of the Melbourne indie-pop trio The Basics, who have independently released three studio albums and numerous other titles since 2002.
As a youth, De Backer displayed a passion for music, learning various instruments, most notably piano and drums. In his teens, De Backer formed the band Downstares with three of his high school friends, including Lucas Taranto (who still plays in his Gotye live shows). It is said that the origins of Gotye were planted when De Backer was given a large collection of old records. An elderly neighbour, having heard Downstares rehearsing over the years, gave his then-recently deceased wife’s LP record collection to De Backer.
Gotye in his published biography, which is found on the artist’s website www.gotye.com, described the processes that goes into creating his music as an experimentation of sounds, “not much about being a musician but a tinkerer”. At one time he is inspired to make music out of some metal artifacts in Walzing Matilda Visitor Centre, Winton Australia when struck, produces some thwacking and boinng sounds which for him as remarkably pleasing. He also used to bring his stereo recorder in the outskirts of Winton to search for interesting sound sources, when at one time he found a plastic pipe and started bashing it with some strings, wooden beams and fixings, that surprisingly produces sound samplings that became the basis for the bassline underpinning of the song “Eyes Wide Open”.
Gotye’s success came in 2011, when his single “Somebody That I Used to Know” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the fifth Australian-based artist to do so and the second Belgian (after The Singing Nun in 1963). He has won five ARIA Awards and received a nomination for an MTV EMA for Best Asia and Pacific Act. On 10 February 2013, he won three Grammy Awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards Show: Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Somebody That I Used to Know” and Best Alternative Music Album for Making Mirrors. His other discographies include equally successful albums prior to Making Mirrors; Boardface and Like Drawing Blood, which the latter is belatedly release for the US Market in 2012.
Note: some informative tidbits came from Wikipedia
Marv's Musicology 