t’s rare for an independent artist to put out a record on his own label and win a clutch of national awards. It’s rarer still for said album to be recorded and produced in the artist’s bedroom. And for that artist to be a singing drummer with a seemingly unpronounceable name? Gotye (pronounced: ‘Gaultier’, like Jean-Paul, the French clothes designer) is a singular find.

This Belgian-born, but Australian based, singer, songwriter and sampler, christened Wouter De Backer, (but known to friends as Wally) was awarded the (Mercury Prize equivalent) 2006 Australian Music Prize award for outstanding potential as well as the Australian Independent Records album of the year and, in September 2007, he bagged the Australian Recording Industry Award (ARIA) for Best Male Artist. He also picked up, Australian national youth radio station, Triple J’s Album of the Year for his second album Like Drawing Blood. 

OFFICIAL SITES: MySpace | Facebook | Gotye.com