The internet loves a good “where are they now” story, especially when it involves a pop star who seemingly vanished into thin air. For most people, Wally De Backer is a frozen memory from 2011, the guy with the colorful geometric body paint singing about an ex-partner. But if you walk into a specific instrument restoration workshop in Paris, you won’t find a broken one-hit wonder clinging to past chart success. You will find a man covered in solder dust, carefully rebuilding vacuum tubes.
While the mainstream music industry measures success in stadium sizes and streaming algorithms, a quiet subculture of artists chooses a different path. They use their pop capital to fund historical preservation. It is a rare pivot, but it is exactly how some EDM artists who are changing the world choose to leave a lasting mark on history. The year was 2012 when this shift truly began.
TL;DR: Gotye did not retire from music, he just changed centuries. After his massive hit, Wally De Backer stepped out of the pop spotlight to become a leading musicologist. He now spends his time and wealth restoring rare 1940s electronic instruments and running a dedicated historical record label.
Why did he walk away from the pop machine?
The short answer is that the spotlight never really fit him. When his breakthrough track won three Grammy Awards, De Backer was already growing exhausted by the demands of top-40 celebrity culture. He did not want to spend his life writing radio hooks or chasing the next viral loop.
Instead, he looked backward. He became obsessed with the genesis of electronic design, specifically the era before microchips and digital synthesizers. He realized that the foundation of modern electronic music was literally rotting away in attics, a crisis he began tackling heavily in 2014.
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The multi-thousand dollar obsession with a 1941 keyboard
De Backer’s primary fixation is an incredibly rare, vintage French instrument called the Ondioline. Invented by French engineer Georges Jenny in 1941, the Ondioline is a vacuum-tube synthesizer that can mimic the expressive qualities of a violin or a cello.
Because these instruments are highly fragile, very few working models survived into the 21st century. De Backer began buying up every broken unit he could track down globally. He partnered with master repairman Jean-Loup Dierstein to completely rebuild these instruments from scratch, keeping the original monophonic design intact.
Bringing the Ondioline Orchestra to life
He did not just want these machines to sit behind glass cases. To prove their relevance, De Backer formed a specialized live ensemble called the Ondioline Orchestra in 2016.
The group dedicated itself to performing the complex, playful catalog of electronic pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey. Rather than relying on modern computers, the band performed entirely on vintage, period-accurate gear. They debuted the project at a series of packed, intimate shows in Brooklyn, New York, introducing an entirely new generation to the physical warmth of early electronic sound.
This video documents the Ondioline Orchestra taking a bow at the conclusion of a live tribute concert for Sydney Festival, capturing the physical reality of the restored instruments being brought back to life on a live stage.
Saving tape loops through Forgotten Futures
To institutionalize this work, De Backer launched an archival initiative and record label called Forgotten Futures. The goal of the project is simple, focusing on the preservation of magnetic audio tapes before the physical medium degrades completely.
- He spends weeks baking old magnetic tapes in specialized ovens to prevent the oxide from flaking off.
- He tracks down the families of dead engineers to secure the rights to their forgotten lifework.
- His label provides open-source documentation on how these early synthesis networks functioned.
Through this tireless work, De Backer has transformed himself from a temporary pop icon into a vital guardian of musical history. He traded the fleeting validation of stadium crowds for the permanent gratitude of musicologists everywhere.
Sources & Further reading
Pop Backstory & Mainstream Pivot
- Gotye Awards & BiographyWally De Backer achieved global mainstream success under his stage name Gotye when his 2011 single “Somebody That I Used to Know” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to win three Grammy Awards in 2013.
- Gotye’s Tribute to Jean-Jacques PerreyFollowing a period of relative quiet on the commercial music front starting in mid-2013, De Backer intentionally shifted his career focus toward preserving the legacy of early electronic musicians and historical gear.
The Ondioline Synthesizer Restoration
- About – OndiolineThe Ondioline is a highly expressive, vacuum-tube-based monophonic instrument invented in France by engineer Georges Jenny in the early 1940s that utilized a laterally moving, touch-sensitive keyboard and a knee lever to filter frequencies and manipulate pitch.
- Ondioline – Architectural FinishesDe Backer hunts down severely damaged, near-extinct Ondioline units globally and collaborates with specialized craftsmen, including electronic technician Stephen Masucci and wood artisan Peter Gedrys, to systematically rebuild and finish them to performance-ready standards.
The Ondioline Orchestra
- Ondioline Orchestra – Forgotten FuturesFormed by De Backer in 2016, the Ondioline Orchestra is a live musical ensemble featuring virtuosos like thereminist Rob Schwimmer and synth specialist Joe McGinty that performs on multiple faithfully restored Ondiolines for the first time since the 1950s.
- The Ondioline Orchestra Active from?The live group debuted its rare setups at performance spaces such as Brooklyn’s National Sawdust and Roulette, Moogfest, and the Sydney Festival to demonstrate the physical mechanics of the legacy gear directly to contemporary crowds.
Forgotten Futures Archival Initiative
- About – Forgotten FuturesDe Backer established Forgotten Futures as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Brooklyn, New York, to actively acquire, restore, and preserve lost artifacts of electronic instrument history, as well as handle educational outreach and run a specialized recording label.
- Gotye’s Tribute to Jean-Jacques PerreyThrough his Forgotten Futures publishing imprint, De Backer digitizes decaying magnetic audio tapes, issues crystal-clear vinyl re-pressings of foundational music, and distributes translated copies of Georges Jenny’s historical books complete with original electronic schematics.
