THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Gotye

With his third album Making Mirrors, Belgian-Australian singer-producer and multi-instrumentalist Gotye -- Wally De Backer -- rode the wave of approval in his home country. The album topped the charts on release at the same time as he held to top spot on the singles chart with the exceptional Somebody That I Used to Know, which featured Kiwi expat vocalist Kimbra.

That song -- likened in Elsewhere's album review to a kind of dramatic post-break-up version of the Peter Gabriel-Kate Bush hit Don't Give Up -- has also had seriously big video hits also, and went to number two on the New Zealand charts.

Gotye took time out to answer the Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire -- and lo and behold, look at his answer to our first question which is . . .

The first piece of music which really affected you was . . .

Don’t Give Up- Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

Your first (possibly embarrassing) role models in music were . . .
Wham!

Lennon or Jagger, Ramones or Nirvana, Madonna or Gaga, Jacko or Jay-Z?
John Oswald - Plunderphonics (or “all of the above”)

If music was denied you, your other career choice would be . . .
Town crier

The three songs (yours, or by others) you would love everyone to hear are . . .
I’ve Been Over The Rainbow, from the Wozard of Iz soundtrack (music by Mort Garson, vocal...I don’t know)
Oh Ma, The Sea Is Rising - Machine Translations
The Four Horsemen - Aphrodite’s Child

Any interesting, valuable or just plain strange musical memorabilia at home?
An iron-on Downstares teeshirt, chopped to bits for a rag

The best book on music or musicians you have read is . . .
Perfecting Sound Forever - Greg Milner

If you could get on stage with anyone it would be . . . (And you would play?)
Paul McCartney, somewhere between the late Sixties and early Seventies. I’d be on drums (maybe BVs)

The three films you'd insist anybody watch because they might understand you better are . . .
Hmmm....nah. Nothing that would provide much insight there
Here’s three films I like
Hidden (Cache) - dir. Michael Haneke
Edward Scissorhands - dir. Tim Burton
Office Space - dir. Mike Judge

The last CD or vinyl album you bought was . . . (And your most recent downloads include . . .)
Bon Iver- Bon Iver. I bought it first, impulsively, on CD. Then had to buy the vinyl (which came with free download). Three versions, and it’s worth it!

One song, royalties for life, never have to work again. The song by anyone, yourself included, which wouldn't embarrass you in that case would be . . .
Shaddapa You Face - Joe Dolce

The poster, album cover or piece of art could you live with on your bedroom forever would be . . .
Violator - Depeche Mode

You are allowed just one tattoo, and it is of . . .
“Love”

David Bowie sang, “Five years, that's all we've got . . .” You would spend them where, doing . . .?
Travelling the world on a shoestring, relying on the kindness of strangers

And finally, in the nature of press conferences in Japan, “Can you tell me please why this is your best album ever?”
Everything getting better with the age