Gotye - A Tale of Mixed Blood

You know there is something extraordinary about a musician when they create an entire album by themselves; from searching and manipulating samples to recording their own instruments and then looping them all together to create something that is not only musical but something completely unique and captivating to the ears. I was recently lucky enough to catch up with such a musician, a one Wally DeBacker or, as many of you around Australia know him, Gotye! But did you know Wally is just about to tour nationally with a mini-orchestra and he is also about to release a new remix CD called Mixed Blood, in addition to all this he is one third of the up and coming indie rock outfit The Basics!

Well as you can see Wally has been hard at work since his last album Like Drawing Blood, which took off when it was released in 2006 and instantly received high rotation play on Triple J with 'Learnalilgivinanlovin' and 'Hearts a Mess'. And Mr. DeBacker deserves every bit of acclaim once you hear some of the heart breaking dilemma’s that he has overcame to produce this record. The first complication was building the music using an extensive sample base from natural noises to instrumental melodies; Wally “cobbled various samples together to create the beats and the melodies, and then added lyrics over the top”. To compile this he had to use a selection of various music programs, which all possessed different features, to link various projects together and craft the song into one output – an extremely complicated task.

The next difficulties involved some of this hard work music corrupted due to computer problems and faulty backing up, a heartbreaking experience. “When some of the music was lost I would just give up for a few days, swearing not to do it again, but you get over it and then just try and remember what notes I was playing and what got recorded where”.

But the hard work has paid off, with Gotye’s fan base growning exponentially and consequently shooting him to the top of the Australian independent music scene. However to ensure more publicity, Wally has had to quickly try and convert his distinctive sound from the studio to the stage. And believe me it is another long and arduous process; “it is the small idiosyncrasies of some samples that make it so hard to bring to the stage, some sounds I don’t even know what instrument it was played on, that’s if it was even made by an instrument at all”?

Some of the audio files he used in his projects range from big thirty drum solo’s to 12 piece string ensembles in addition to horn sections, so the real difficulties are getting it on the stage at cost price! “I can’t really hire a single person for every instrument I have on my record! Like how can I possibly do this with 9 people”? However that is exactly what he is doing this coming winter, touring nationally with the Gotye Mini-Orchestra! Wally said he is excited about the tour even though Gotye has only performed several times live on stage, however has set high expectations for himself – “If I don’t think the show went well, I feel no matter what someone says there is no need for major celebrations”! So I highly recommend seeing this man when he comes through your capital city, he will put on an amazing show!

In addition to touring Gotye is also about to release a remix album called Mixed Blood – “it’s a compilation of songs that have been covered, remixed or where I have actually been sampled in the making of songs, much like I have done to with my own sounds”. And believe me, it is an extravaganza of mind boggling reinventions, people like Karnivool, Joe Hardy, Infusion, Faus Pax and Rocky Lola have twisted and molded many of his tracks from both his albums – Like Drawing Blood and Boardface – and in a traditional Gotye fashion!

On top of being extremely busy with the mayhem involved with his “Gotye” project, Mr DeBacker also puts a lot of energy into his (and his mate’s) band, The Basics. They have been playing an enormous amount of sets in the last month in a Tri-State residency, playing in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney each weekend over a three week period. Wally described that “its good and bad” playing in two such diverse bands, “they offer different things….like with the Basics we can really toy with what we do and have fun on stage where as Gotye feels a lot more like work, where I am the music director (laughs)”. Either way this skilled musician easily switches between the two separate genres that make up his bands – “when I am heading to a Basic’s gig all I really need to do is remember my Basics suit, other than that it everything just fits into place”.

Mixed Blood is released July 15th

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