How do you say... Gotye?
How much do we know about Gotye? And what is his real name? We hit the streets of Sydney to find out.
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Since bagging three Grammys and firming his place as one of the biggest music artists in the world, Gotye has been laying low.
At a time when he could be capitalising on his international fame, the singer-songwriter has been knocking back media requests.
His publicity blackout would be broken, presumably, with a sit-down alongside the likes of David Letterman or Ellen Degeneres.
Back home ... Gotye at The Green Room in Enmore. Photo: Janie Barrett
But the Melbourne artist has instead flown home from Los Angeles to honour a commitment to an independent community radio station in Sydney.
On Thursday night, Wally "Gotye" De Backer showed up at a small cocktail bar in Enmore, to be interviewed for 2SER in front of a crowd of fewer than 100 people.
He said he was "kind of thrown" by Prince presenting him the Grammy award – "as my fumble speech demonstrates".
The whole experience of the award ceremony, he said, was surreal.
"I didn't get into music for all the hoopla so, if anything, I sometimes feel like a curious bystander at all these big things."
He also impersonated Prince's voice – "oh I love this song" – to great laughter from the crowd.
"That's pretty much the main thing I remember," he said. "And then shaking uncontrollably with Kimbra's hand in mine."
Sitting on tightly crammed stools under a ceiling fan, the crowd at the Green Room Lounge were the types you would expect to run a mile from anyone popular. And Gotye is, after all, the definition of a sell-out.
Somebody That I Used To Know was the number one iTunes single in 50 countries last year.
He told the interviewer, Paris Pompor, the song – which won Record of the Year – almost didn't see the light of day because he couldn't find the right vocalist for the female part. He tried a number of vocalists, including his girlfriend, before eventually hooking up with Kimbra.
On Friday he will honour another previously-arranged appearance, speaking with high school music students at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, as part of a program which connects students with arts professionals.
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