INTERVIEW: GOTYE

Words: Nina Bertok

It peaked at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and it’s already one of the biggest songs of the year, so it’s hard to believe when Gotye [AKA Melbourne musician Wally De Backer] says that his current hit Somebody That I Used To Know almost never saw the light of day.

Featuring singer-songwriter and rising star Kimbra on guest vocals, Gotye’s smoky power pop duet set the new album Making Mirrors back for months, very nearly ending up scrapped in the rubbish bin. De Backer says “it was a close call” for one of the most played tracks on radio right now.

“I kind of hit a wall,” he explains. “It took a long time to finish that song. Originally, it wasn’t supposed to be a two-person perspective on this relationship, it wasn’t going to be a duet. I was doing fine until I got to the chorus bit and that’s when it just stopped happening for me. I got to that part and realised there was nothing really left for me to say, I just hit a dead-end lyrically. I started to realise that it felt more right to get another person’s perspective to add to it, but on top of everything, that also took a long time to happen. It took me a while to find somebody who I felt was right vocally, someone whose voice actually appealed to me.”

It was during the “harrowing” mixing process of the record that De Backer claims a breakthrough occurred as far as Somebody That I Used To Know goes. With composer/producer Francois Tetaz Wolf Creek, Sally Seltmann at the mixing helm, the name Kimbra was suggested to De Backer and a light-bulb moment occurred on the spot.

“It was like, ‘Of course!’,” he shouts. “I’d known her for a few years and I remembered one time she was covering one of my tunes in her solo set and had invited me to go and check it out. I went to the Evelyn to see her and it was a lovely cover, so I realised she would probably be great to play the part of that second perspective on this song that was giving me so much grief. This was a real turning point. This song had been driving me insane for months and here was the end of it finally!”

It wasn’t just Somebody That I Used To Know that was driving De Backer mad and delaying the album’s wrap, however – In Your Light came a close second, he reveals. As it turned out, it was actually the mixing process with Tetaz that saw De Backer question and second-guess the collection of material that eventually became Making Mirrors.

“The mixing part was the biggest hurdle,” he sighs. “For a long time there was a love-hate feeling for a lot of the tracks because I’d sit there and listen back to them and many times I’d come across a song and realise how much I actually hated it!”

In retrospect, though, De Backer completely agrees there is truth in the saying ‘You are your own worst judge’. Although still humble when it comes to the hype that has accompanied the highly-anticipated release of Making Mirrors, De Backer admits he sees the album in a more favourable light having had the chance to gradually start playing the songs live. Whetting his appetite recently at Splendour In The Grass, Gotye is making the national rounds in support of album number three in the company of a 10-piece orchestra, no less.

“It’s kind of scary because it’s the first time I’ll be trying to play Gotye music totally live and with no backing tracks whatsoever. I’m very keen to see how this electro-versus-human clash works out on-stage. I’ve been working on the album for over two years so I haven’t really had the chance to reflect on it properly. I’ve been really concentrating on the live show because we’ll have a real visual focus and I’ve also got this 10-piece band, so that’s really exciting.”

And if you think this means Gotye is shedding his one-man-band approach this time around, you couldn’t be more wrong. Despite the inclusion of 10 other musos on the tour, De Backer himself will be taking on vocals, drums, keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion, three-piece horn section and midi marimba duties. Talk about a ‘hands-on’ approach…

“Yeah I know, maybe it’s because I’m so used to working on my own,” he proposes. “My lifestyle has been very much that of a nomad. This album was recorded anywhere and everywhere – sometimes just from sitting in the back of the bus and pulling out the laptop every time I spot something interesting on the go. Sometimes it was during that 10-minute drive between where I live and my parents’ property on the Mornington Peninsula where my studio is. I set up all this gear in a barn that my dad built there and sometimes the drive just feels too long and an idea is bursting out of you so you have to stop and record it no matter where you are! It’s been a little bit random.”

It’s not surprising, though – as much as De Backer possesses a knack for atmospheric yet accessible pop, a heavy element of experimentation still lingers in his music three albums later. Let’s just call it “neurotic exotica” he suggests, half-jokingly.

“I’ve thrown that one around a couple of times now, I think I’ve struck a whole new genre! I’m attracted to auras and interesting atmospheres, but without trying to sound clichéd or pretentious. The songs are a response to the album artwork – they’re all reflections of the thoughts going through my head. Mirrors are reflections of ourselves and our environment, so there’s that whole concept of introspection and reflection, and maybe viewing things in a bit of a different way.”

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