Gotye: A Quick-Read Bio Revealed
Here’s the bio, life, career, awards, facts, trivia, and favorites of Gotye. We would like to take you through the chapters in the life and career of one of the world’s talented musicians. This is Australian Unwrapped’s compilation of research about Gotye. Enjoy the journey!
Full Name: Wouter André De Backer
Also Known As: Wally De Backer
Born: May 21, 1980
Origin: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres: Indie rock – Alternative rock – Indie pop – Trip hop
Zodiac: Gemini
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Early Start
- De Backer was born in 1980 in Bruges, Belgium and migrated to Australia with his family two years later.
- When enrolling him in school, his parents used the English equivalent of his name, Walter.
- De Backer showed a passion for music as a child, learning piano and drums among other instruments.
- He recalled listening obsessively to Songs of Faith and Devotion by Depeche Mode as a teenager
- After high school, De Backer’s friends from Downstares (including Lucas Taranto, who still performs in Gotye’s live shows) went their separate ways, leaving him without a musical outlet after the band dissolved.
Career Journey
- 2001: Using samples, De Backer created his first tracks and released a four-track CD, which contained the song “Out Here in the Cold”.
- 2005: De Backer moved into a shared house in the South East of Melbourne after his parents sold The Frat House in Melbourne.
- 2006: Like Drawing Blood was featured by Triple J and ranked on the top list in the listener poll of the Best Album of 2006. Two singles from that album, “Learnalilgivinanlovin” and “Hearts a Mess”, were placed on the 94th and 8th spots respectively in Triple J’s Hottest 100.
- 2009: The single “Hearts a Mess” came out ranking 77th place in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time, voted by the Australian public.
- 2010: He built a recording studio in a barn on his parents’ farm and began recording tracks for his third album with the single, “Eyes Wide Open”, online and on 10″ vinyl. The “Eyes Wide Open” single received generally good feedback and ranked 25th place on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010.
- 2011: De Backer also launched a follow-up single to “Eyes Wide Open” entitled “Somebody That I Used to Know”, that housed New Zealand musician Kimbra, and made it to the 27th spot on the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart.
- 2012: Gotye debuted on US TV at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing “Eyes Wide Open”, “Somebody That I Used to Know” with Kimbra and “State of The Art”
- 2014: He played with Tex Perkins and Nicky Bomba supporting The Thin Green Line Foundation as he launched Spirit Level, an independent record label with Tim Shiel, signing American band Zammuto.
- 2016: He debuted his group Ondioline Orchestra in New York, as a tribute to Jean-Jacques Perrey.
- 2017: De Backer released the record label, Forgotten Futures, whose first music work was Jean-Jacques Perrey et son Ondioline, a compilation of rare and previously unreleased Perrey recordings
- 2018: Les Campbell publicized an album entitled Pulling the Stitching Out, with all 10 tracks housing Gotye.
- 2020: He launched a live album entitled Live at The Songroom (Season 2, Episode 9).
Awards & Recognition
- Won Helpmann Awards
- Music Victoria Awards nomination
- Grammy Awards (3 nominations)
- People’s Choice Awards nomination
- won ARIA Music Awards (16 awards out of 19 nominations)
- Australian Music Prize nomination
- ARIA Music Awards nomination
- Teen Choice Awards (3 nominations)
- and many others
Fun Facts & Trivia
- The name “Gotye” is a pronunciation respelling of “Gauthier”, the French cognate of his Dutch given name “Wouter”.
- Walter was the English equivalent of his name and that’s what his parents chose for him to use in school.
- He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts at University of Melbourne.
Artist’s Favorites
| Item of Clothing:Â | Puffy purple Uniqlo jacket |
| Movie Heaven: | Caché, directed by Michael Haneke |
| Work of Art: | Paul Klee’s work |
| Book That Changed Him:Â | Advanced Funk Studies, by Rick Latham |
Australian Unwrapped’s Chosen Song from Gotye:
Eyes Wide Open
Length: 3:11
Release: 2010
Opening Lyrics:
With our eyes wide open, we—
Everything we had, everything we did
Is buried in dust, and this dust is all that’s left of us
And only a few ever worried
While the signs were clear, they had no idea
You just get use to livin’ in fear
Or give up, when you can’t even picture your future
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open
(Walk the plank, with our eyes wide open, we—)
Yeah, we walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
More Songs to Listen to:
Closing page…
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