How to Create an Overnight Success in 10 Years!
The man behind the best-selling single of 2012, Gotye, is a Belgian-born but Australian-raised singer-songwriter.
His signature song, Somebody That I Used To Know, can be found on his third album, Making Mirrors (2011).
The saying “It takes 10 years to create an overnight success” fits perfectly in the context of this release, as seemingly nobody had heard of him before, but he had started releasing tunes a decade earlier.
Gotye’s first release came in 2001, a self-produced four-track EP that was printed in a mere 50 copies. With handwritten sleeve notes, it was sent to everyone he could think of as important in and around Melbourne.
Following up with everyone contacted, radio station Triple J gave him the best response—a relationship he would nurture over the years.
Following two more EPs, he signed a deal with indie label Creative Vibes and released all tracks as an album named Boardface in 2003. The best tune on this album, in my opinion, is Out Here in the Cold.
His next album, Like Drawing Blood (2006), had great airplay, especially by the radio station that had taken him under its wing and even won a listener poll for the best album the same year.
The album eventually sold 70,000 copies in Australia, giving Gotye a bit of a foundation to attest to his appeal further abroad.
By 2008, the album had reached outside the borders of Australia and won Album of the Year on iTunes U.K.
The best tune on Like Drawing Blood is the awesome Hearts a Mess, check it out in the playlist above.
In 2007, Gotye released a remix album called Mixed Blood using tunes from his previous albums.
All this built to the release of Making Mirrors in 2011, where Somebody That I Used To Know featured as the second single.
It did well initially back in Australia, released by indie label Eleven in the summer of 2011. However, once major record label Universal got hold of it, Gotye went #1 everywhere by Christmas and January 2012.
The tune that made Gotye world-famous seemingly overnight had been recorded at his parents’ house.
Gotye Tunes | Related Pages
Somebody That I Used To Know
You can learn how to play Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Dm C | Dm C | Dm C | Dm C |
Now and then I think of when we were together…
Gotye on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Gotye tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
