Tame Impala make “psychedelic hypno-groove melodic rock music,” per their website. The Australian collective, fronted by principal songwriter Kevin Parker, made waves in 2010 with its debut record, InnerSpeaker. Parker’s proggy, Beatles-esque tracks presented an undeniably talented take on late ’60s/early ’70s music. One can speculate as to why Parker’s music strikes a chord with audiences today, but there’s an obvious answer — he is an unbelievable songwriter. Listening to InnerSpeaker cuts like “Solitude is Bliss” and “It is Not Meant to Be,” it’s clear that the man can write and record a damn good song.
After touring InnerSpeaker, Parker holed back up at his home studio in Perth to work on a sophomore LP. The result, Lonerism, came out late last year to rave reviews. A more varied album than its predecessor, Lonerism employs synths and even more effects, creating wonderful cosmic textures on tracks like “Apocalypse Dreams” and “Mind Mischief.” The album also features radio-friendly hits like “Elephant” and “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” which flaunt Parker’s pop sensibilities.
The band has toured nonstop all year, with countless headlining dates in addition to gigs opening for venerable acts like The Flaming Lips. Tame Impala’s Lonerism tour is set to continue through North and South America this fall, and they’ll grace the stage at Madison’s own Orpheum Theater this Wednesday night.
In advance of the show, I was fortunate enough to speak with Kevin Parker during a Tame Impala/Flaming Lips mini-tour.
How’s it going, Kevin?
“Good, man. I’m sitting in some very picturesque park area listening to The Flaming Lips’ soundcheck.”
That sounds awesome! Speaking of The Lips, how have the shows with them been?
“It’s been pretty nuts, man. The shows have been insane and it’s weird for me to be able to actually watch The Lips every night. In the past, it’d be like a one-off thing and if I got to see them it’d be a special occasion. Now it’s like a special occasion every night! My brain is having trouble comprehending what’s going on.”
If I’m not mistaken, they were one of the first bigger bands to really champion InnerSpeaker when it came out.
“You could say so. I never paid attention to the order of things, really, but yeah! They’re awesome people.”
So Tame Impala has had a whirlwind of a year, playing countless festivals and shows with bands like The Lips. How do you reflect on everything that has happened since Lonerism‘s release? And is all the chaos in real life as fun as it looks on paper?
“Well, I guess I’m not sure what it looks like on paper. To be honest, I haven’t really had a chance to look back. I don’t really know where I was a year ago or at the start of the year. I just, I stopped paying attention to the calendar a long time ago.”
And does that help you mentally?
“I guess it definitely helps the whole sanity thing. But I do know that it’s October! I was about to say September and that would have been embarrassing. I know it’s September and I know that I’m in America.” (laughs) “Am I in Maryland at the moment?”
Yep, you’re in the city of Columbia, Maryland. I think it’s close to D.C.
“Yep! That’s the one. I remember the name now.” (laughs)
The band has played nearly every type of venue, from mammoth festival stages to theaters to dive bars. Which of these environments do you find yourself most comfortable in?
“I don’t think there’s one ultimate one, you know? But, OK, I’m gonna try to give a solid answer — I think the outdoor ones. You know, the auditorium-style ones where there’s like some trees or a nice view and it’s the afternoon. That kind of setting might be most ‘comfortable.’ I like when the music complements the place so much that you stop thinking about the qualities of the music and you feel that you’re almost making the soundtrack to the atmosphere.”
And is there one venue that perhaps sticks out to you?
“There’s a venue at the back of Perth actually, our own hometown. It’s an auditorium that’s actually quite similar to Merriweather Post Pavilion. Very grassy and that sort of thing. There are other places like those ones in the world but I just can’t remember the names of them!”
Recording albums as Tame Impala has been a more or less solitary venture for you thus far. Have you entertained the idea of maybe some full band recordings or bringing more people on board?
“Yeah, I mean this last year has really made me question how and why I do what I do. All that kind of stuff. And we’ve been getting better and better as a live band, and the sound is getting better. It does make me question the idea of it just being me in my bedroom. Even my way of putting songs together has changed. I’ve always listened to a lot of electronic, sample-based music but I have only recently been employing those methods. [For example, in] the way that Daft Punk in their old days could just take a one bar sample of some old ’70s song and turn it into a dance track. I kind of twist my brain around about ways of doing things differently and I guess my mind has been opened to that whole world of anything being possible, including collaboration.”
Commenting on the live band, how do you feel the act has changed since touring InnerSpeaker? And how has the band acclimated to life on the road, getting used to that whole cycle?
“We’ve just been getting more experienced, I guess. The live show used to be quite confused. We weren’t even that good at our instruments.” (laughs) “Playing to different audiences in different places has helped us slowly get more comfortable with it. I understand more about what the sound guy at the front is doing, and that just precipitates to me learning to make crazy, more fucked up noises on stage.” (laughs)
On a sidenote, I think I may have witnessed a time where you fell victim to the bad end of the fucked up noise spectrum, at Lollapalooza 2012. There were some insane noises between songs and you said your guitar pedals were melting from the heat. Do you remember that one?
“Oh yeah. That was fucking scary. I thought I was gonna pass out.” (laughs)
Back to life on the road, how have you gotten used to the touring headspace over the years?
“I think you just learn…to cope with it, you know? You get better at functioning with a hangover. You get better at making yourself comfortable in uncomfortable situations. You get better at learning how to use a shower. Like, a different shower every day that has a different way of making it hot and cold. You know what I mean? Most people are used to using the same shower every day, but we use a different shower every day. A shower in Germany has like a completely different knob than a shower in America.” (laughs) “So showers are a metaphor for everything being different every day. And we’ve just gotten used to shutting out what’s weird about being in different places every day and embracing the good things about it.”
And the press and interview end of things, how are you feeling about that? A lot of bands vocalize their distaste for doing press but I don’t think I’ve ever read you complain about doing it.
“Well, press is press.” (laughs) “I mean, it seems like the dream to just talk about yourself all day every day, but obviously after a while you get sick of talking about yourself. I’m one of those people that don’t like complaining. I feel bad about that! I would never dream of telling you this is boring, which it’s actually not. This is a stimulating interview but there can definitely be some boring ones. Coincidentally, American interviews seem to be some of the best. Also, one of the advantages of a band getting more successful is that people know more about you and can ask better questions. When you start out, no one knows anything and it’s pretty hard.”
Well, thanks so much for taking some time to talk to us, Kevin. We’re psyched for the show.
“Nice to talk to you, Ryan! Cheers.”