Wouter "Wally" De Backer, better known to the world as Gotye, knows the perils of being typecast as a one-hit wonder, an overnight success, a guy who will go to his grave playing "that song." After an everywhere-all-at-once hit such as "Somebody That I Used to Know," where else is there to go?

"I have a little self-talk along the lines of 'Enjoy the moment, while it lasts,'" says Gotye, in the kind of low-key Australian accent that suggests nothing fazes this guy. "Having this level of success, it wasn't something that I necessarily aimed at. Things might change very quickly, next year, whenever, and I'd be alright with that. I've got plenty of friends, guys in my management, who keep perspective. We all realize this has been a really interesting, amazing, strange year. Nobody sees this as permanent or something that can be reproduced." Then, almost as an afterthought, he says, "On some level, it helps to be a bit older."

Read the full Gotye interview

Gotye: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Charter One Pavilion, 1300 S. Lynn White Drive, $39.50; ticketmaster.com