Whatever happened to Gotye?

In 2011, a Belgian-Australian musician by the name of Gotye blew up.

His song, 'Somebody That I Used To Know' featuring New Zealand singer Kimbra, quite literally went viral - topping the charts internationally and becoming the best-selling song of 2012.

But what on earth is the musician doing now?

Gotye's real name is Wouter "Wally" De Backer and his 2011 single, and the music video for it, unexpectedly took over the world. 

The single’s success changed the way we see viral marketing to this day, as it may have been one of the first songs that saw internet success directly affect global chart numbers.

To put it into perspective, Rebecca Black’s viral song 'Friday' was everywhere online, but it never saw much movement on the charts. 

But 'Somebody That I Used To Know' sounded different to the pop and EDM tracks that were popular at the time. The artistic stop motion music video for it was also unique.

"The [music video] budget was small because Wally was funding it himself," Aussie artist Natasha Pincus, who directed it, told Stereogum. 

"But if anything that aided its charm."

The track picked up steam in the US after celebrities including Ashton Kutcher and Katy Perry tweeting about it - the latter saying, "The lyrics are so true!"

This is kinda fantastic. reminds me of early music vids Gotye- Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) http://t.co/4hFRN1J

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 21, 2011

The music video currently sits at two billion views on YouTube, and whilst Gotye must have made a pretty penny from this song he maintains he’s never been financially motivated to make music.

According to The Daily Mail, the artist has turned down roughly $10 million of ad revenue from YouTube because he doesn't believe ads should play before his songs.

"I'm not interested in selling my music, That's the reason I don't put ads on my YouTube channel, which seems strange to people in today's climate, but that is a decision you can make," he said to The Daily Telegraph. 

What he does believe in, however, is creative freedom - the musician made the stems of his song free to sample. It has now been remixed by multiple artists, constantly bringing the song back to the forefront. 

"[It] probably contributed to an aspect of over-saturation," the artist told Stereogum. 

"There was a feeling that it wasn’t me who was shoving the song in everyone’s face, it was the rest of the world."

But while the track was mind-blowingly successful, Gotye didn’t follow through with another hit to the same level. 'Somebody That I Used To Know' was truly one of its kind. 

What Gotye has been up to since.

Gotye went on to release two more albums, Making Mirrors in 2012 and mixedANCHOR in 2014. 

The talented artist was accoladed with multiple Grammy Awards for Making Mirrors, but the songs didn’t have the immortality that its predecessor did. 

Since 2014, Gotye hasn't released any new music. In fact, he's retired completely. 

"There will be no more Gotye music. Wait, maybe there will be. I’m not entirely sure right now. There are many contingencies," he declared in a self-published newsletter.

Wally De Becker now makes music under a different name, wanting his international persona to take aback step while he works on music with his band The Basics. 

These days, he also focuses on his Australian record label, Spirit Level.

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A post shared by The Basics (@the_3_basics)

The Basics was founded in 2002, and saw some success touring the US and releasing several albums.

However, in 2021, the band announced its retirement from live performances, shifting their focus to solely making and recording music.

We’ve been digging through The Basics' archives to get ready... pic.twitter.com/TO8bXdNtjQ

— gotye (@gotye) January 3, 2019

De Becker seems to be constantly working on several things at once, including creating the Ondioline Orchestra in homage to his mentor, composer and populariser of the musical instrument the Ondioline, Jean-Jacques Perrey, after his death in 2016. 

The musician has also set up a non-for-profit organisation called Forgotten Futures, that according to its Twitter account, "excavates and revives vital artifacts of electronic music history."

So while he’s not making chart-topping singles anymore, it seems De Becker is still deeply creative and making music that he cares about.

Feature Image: YouTube/Gotye.

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