The singer is a member of the Basics Rock'n'Roll (BRRP) Party

Sep 4, 2014 12:54 GMT  ·  By
Gotye and his band mates are setting up a political party and running for office
   Gotye and his band mates are setting up a political party and running for office

Australian singer Gotye is mostly known for his hit single “Somebody That I Used to Know,” but soon he might be known for much more than that. The singer and songwriter has announced the forming of his very own political party in his native Australia.

Real name Wally De Backer, Gotye was born in Belgium but made Australia his home, and now he plans to get involved in how things are being run in his country. Clearly with an eye for politics, Gotye has formed his unusually named party with some of his band members. Kris Schroeder and Tim Heath were both convinced to join the Basics Rock'n'Roll (BRRP) Party.

While Gotye is not the first musician to go into politics, he is setting his sights very high. Sydney Morning Herald quotes fellow band member and bassist Schroeder when he says, “Politics in this country is treated like it belongs to the elite. We have these career politicians... and they are groomed in to becoming these life-long politicians that have no other life experience...”

“Decisions don't have to be made by these elite, you can just be musicians. We've all got higher education degrees so we're not just musicians, but we haven't come up through any political ideology we just care about certain things like indigenous affairs and education,” Schroeder explains their decision to join the political life.

The party manifesto is rather odd, but what can you expect from a group using the name of a music genre in their party name? “We're interested in giving an equal opportunity to all as far as access to music is concerned, and I guess that's across the board what we're really interested in.”

Part of the stated purposes of the band/party are the improving of indigenous local learning in Victorian school, compulsory first air training for children in high schools, and better music access for rural communities.

The BRRP claims to have policies based around “innovation, education and Rock'n' Roll,” of course. The band members plan to run for office in the upcoming Victoria elections set to take place this November on the 19.

In order to do that, they need to have 500 registered members with the Victoria Electoral Commission, so if you are of legal age, live in Australia, and think that the boys might be on to something, why not sign up in their political party. Their meetings must be very nice, opening with a nice set of classic rock songs.