– ABC Triple J- Tame Impala – Dec. 14, 2012 –
As much as I find perplexing when a band, with all the signs and indications of becoming a household name doesn’t make it, it’s as exciting and vindicating when a band that you find does.
I remember first hearing about Tame Impala several years ago via MySpace. And even in 2007 there was something completely unique and special going on. The best you could do then was cross your fingers, hoping everything would fall into place.
In case you didn’t already know, Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project’s music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parker (vocals, guitar, synthesizer), Dominic Simper (guitar, synthesiser), Jay Watson (synthesiser, vocals, guitar), Cam Avery (bass guitar, vocals, synthesizer), and Julien Barbagallo (drums, vocals). The group has a close affiliation with fellow Australian psychedelic rock band Pond, sharing members and collaborators, including Nick Allbrook, formerly a live member of Tame Impala. Originally signed to Modular Recordings, Tame Impala is now signed to Interscope Records in the United States and Fiction Records in the UK.
The origins of Tame Impala can be found in the Perth music scene. Musician Kevin Parker played in a number of bands, one being the Dee Dee Dums, a rock duo that consisted of Parker (guitar) and Luke Epstein (drums). Tame Impala emerged in 2007 as a home-recording project created by Parker, and he posted a number of tracks on Myspace. This generated interest from a number of labels and eventually, he signed a worldwide deal with the independent Modular Recordings in July 2008.
To transfer these recordings to a live setting, Parker enlisted the help of Dominic Simper (bass) and Jay Watson (drums), and they began playing at local gigs.
Tame Impala’s music is heavily influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic rock. Parker has stated that he has a “fetish for extremely sugary pop music” from artists like Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. Parker also enjoys “fucked-up explosive cosmic music” in the vein of The Flaming Lips, with whom Tame Impala collaborated on the track “Children of the Moon”; the song appeared on the band’s 2012 collaborative album The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends.
Combining these two things, My Bloody Valentine have influenced Parker’s music with their contrasting combination of loud guitars and ethereal melodies. Parker has “always been in love with the wall of sound as employed by My Bloody Valentine”, and he tries to capture that “melancholy dreamy feel”. Parker tries to incorporate this balance into his own music: “If I was singing, I wouldn’t be able to match the tone of the instruments, which is really crunchy. The instruments are quite sonically brutal, but the voice is really soft, and I think that kind of resonates with people. It’s kind of like My Bloody Valentine, where it’s really brutal sounding, but kind of beautiful at the same time”. Tame Impala live drummer Jay Watson has described Parker’s music as containing “shoegazey guitar sound, but not played in a shoegazey manner”.
So, with all that in mind you are either going to wrap your head around the world of Kevin Parker or avoid it like the plague.
Your choice, but I’m giving you the choice – Press play and listen for yourself.
