Gotta Get Me Some Gotye Interview by Katie Spain “Please, call me Wally” It’s a friendly offer but I can’t. Gotye is a much used name in my Aussie household for me, the floppy-haired musician on the end of the phone can go by no other name. For most Triple J listening expats, Gotye is a familiar character. The Aria winning, Belgium born Melbourne musician has four studio albums under his belt and is set to take on Europe with his UK release of ‘Like Drawing Blood’. There’s no doubt he’ll woe the English, but what makes the G man tick? Souvenirs, samples, good food and air guitars were amongst the topics covered during our chin wag. Who knows what other glorious delights he’ll whip out when he hits the stage at Scala on September 9th. Don’t forget your air plectrum. Set the scene for me.. where are you right now? I’m at my parents’ place actually, by myself. I’m looking after their place on the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a really lovely place called Merricks Beach; it’s a nice mix of bush and beach. I’m sitting in this big empty house with the heater next to me; trying to keep warm. You were born in Belgium right? Do you have any tips on what to do or see there? I was born in Bruges and I highly recommend you go and see my birth city. It’s absolutely beautiful. There’s buildings there dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries and it’s largely (if not completely) untouched from the wars over the years. It’s got such a brilliant old feel; cobblestones everywhere and a lot of great food, beer and lace. What’s your first musical memory? I was eleven years old and in the transit lounge on the way to Belgium. A very dodgy man had a very dodgy pirate tape store. I bought my very first cassette; it was a pirate copy, on a C90 cassette, of Wham’s album ‘The Final’. You can source all of Gotye’s musical inspiration purely from that album! Australians in the UK know who you are but the step into the European market must be overwhelming. How is it going? If it’s overwhelming in any way it’s because I’m starting the ball rolling again. In a way, I’m starting from well behind where I started with releasing ‘Like Drawing Blood’ because I think that a lot of the anticipation that was built on Triple J and community radio for my second record was kind of tenuously linked to the result of the interest I started to generate off tracks from my first album. You dropped and added a few tracks before the UK release of Life Drawn Blood. Why’s that? The label made a bit of a call about which songs they thought could be released in the market or not. It wasn’t as much of a creative thing as it was a legal issue because the samples in certain territories would most likely be too hard to clear or would have created too many headaches. I was pretty resistant and I was disappointed about changing the album in any way but I think in a way it might have become a stronger record by the addition of ‘The Only Thing I know’, a track off Boardface. It means us expats can buy the album again! (Laughs) Yeah, or people that downloaded it the first time can now buy it legally! Who does your amazing cover art? Cheers, thanks! The art on Like Drawing Blood is one of my paintings and Boardface was something my dad painted. I did that piece when I was young but I’m not really an active painter anymore. I have kind of thought I’d like to pick up some oils or watercolours again but it’s been mainly music for me over the past ten years. What do you miss most about Australia when you’re away? Mainly the people; friends and family. I was in the US for the first time recently, not for music but for some time off with some high school buddies of mine. We had three weeks visiting American cities and I found it remarkable that it was so difficult to get any good food. Are you a good cook? I don’t consider myself a great cook – I can put together a few things. My girlfriend is such a good cook that I’ve become lazy. I hope you do the dishes! Definitely, that’s my specialty. Do you buy a lot of souvenirs while you’re travelling? I have found myself at the airport a few times with ten or fifteen kilos over, madly wondering how many bags I can secretly stuff under my shirt instead of checking them in as luggage! It makes for a good story when you get back. At the moment I’m inviting my mates around to see my last little purchase. It was in Japan and only cheap, about twenty dollars. It’s like an Aussie air guitar. Imagine a little plastic contraption, just like the head of a guitar with the tuning keys at the end. It’s made out of plastic and it shoots this laser beam out of the end of it. You just push your hand up and down through this beam and it triggers samples of guitar chords. Get ready for air guitar in the next Gotye set! Gotye's album - Like Drawing Blood was released on 18th August. He plays ato London's Scala on September 9th. Related links: Gotye on Myspace. Gotye concert tickets.