Gotye has denied that he intends to run for a seat in the Victorian parliament, despite reports yesterday that he and his bandmates in The Basics, Kris Schroeder and Tim Heath, were looking to bring a rock and roll revolution to state politics by launching the Basics Rock’n’Roll Party (BRRP).
“I am not running for parliament in Victoria as some publications have been not even implying but actually stating,” Gotye, real name Wally De Backer, told triple j this morning. He described yesterday’s coverage of the Basics’ political ambitions as “clickbait” with “a certain element of truth” and clarified that while his band have considered forming a party in Victoria, it has not yet been registered.
Gotye said the band are still “interested” in starting a political party, and if they were to launch the BRRP, his bandmate Kris Schroeder will be its candidate for the legislative council in Victoria. “It’s an initiative from my bandmate Kris Schroeder; me and Tim are definitely supportive of him in our shared interest in local and state politics, and we’ve certainly talked about the initiatives we’d hope to bring some interest to.”
As reported yesterday, The Basics have been promoting the BRRP via their Facebook page since mid-August, even outlining their political ideology as “innovation, education and Rock ‘n’ Roll”. They’ve discussed certain policy goals via Facebook and have appealed for membership.
This week, Kris Schroeder told the AAP, “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.”
Should the party be successful in the upcoming election, Schroeder said the rockers turned politicians could take things to a federal level. “A lot of the issues we’re discussing are really federal issues, I can see that being an arena for the future,” the bassist said.
According to Fairfax, in order to be able to run for the November election, the party needs 500 members registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission. “As of the moment, the party doesn’t exist, we have not registered yet, we have got almost the membership interest to be able to register that party,” Gotye told triple j.
