How DJ sets have transformed Tame Impala: “They didn’t have that pressure”
I’m not entirely sure Kevin Parker meant to, but in the middle of the 2010s, he became the de facto leader for all things indie.
Sad boys all over the world exited the club to the sound of Tame Impala‘s ‘The Less I Know The Better’, feeling as though their existence was being understood by Parker’s observational lyrics.
Currents as a whole became an album for that generation. A generation in limbo from ignorant musical bliss, hurtling towards post-punk disillusion, and so we needed one last record to dance to. A record that at its heart was introspective and conventionally indie, yet vibrant enough to satiate the remaining appetite for dancefloor escapism.
As a multi-instrumentalist, Kevin Parker became the perfect artist to achieve that. But despite its obvious greatness, it was ultimately an album of unexpected success. Celebrating its tenth anniversary, Parker took to Instagram to say, “I couldn’t tell if it was great or embarrassingly bad, not to mention the fans I would lose by switching up music styles so heavily.”
Caught in the crosshairs of a 50-50 outcome, Currents took Parker in a direction he’s never truly been able to return from. The words Tame Impala now bring with it widespread excitement, as opposed to subcultural curiosity and the weight of new music weighs heavier than ever before, which is primarily why Parker’s follow-up record, The Slow Rush, came a whole five years after Currents.
“I couldn’t even think about new Tame Impala music for a long time,” he explained to Vice in an interview that uncovered why fans waited so long. He said that DJing and producing for other artists offered a welcomed escape: “Those things were just… they didn’t have that pressure. They didn’t have the weight of responsibility that Tame Impala has.”
Spotlight rarely burns behind the safety of the mixing desk and DJ decks. Experimentation is welcomed at the control boards of music, and whatever result is created is often consumed as part of a much wider artistic message. Indie stardom, however, looks very different.
Stood at the front of a touring band, Parker cuts a lonely silhouette with his guitar, playing the part of rock god as much as realistically suits him. Kaleidoscopic stage designs and the genuine merit of his discography provide a safe hiding place from the coldness of the spotlight and growing expectation for him to be a performative icon.
But that’s not him, and that’s ultimately not what makes his music good. Burying himself in the textures of experimentation is where he is at his most interesting, and ultimately, there’s no greater space in which to harvest that skill than in the DJ booth.
His latest single ‘End Of Summer’ outrightly abandons the reverberated guitar of Lonerism, wholeheartedly embraces the relentless rhythm of Currents and presents Parker in his most comfortable state. A musician who, despite his band name moniker, is best when basking in the collaborative joy of individual multi-instrumentalism.
DJ sets provide that creative anonymity that led him to ditch his name and operate under the guise of the band in the first place. Being what is effectively a solo musician in the band space allows Parker, in an environment in which lines can be completely blurred and instruments introduced at free will.
Combined with the fact that Currents proved to him, his music can transform and evolve without losing the interest of fans, Parker must now surely realise that the weight of expectation is actually just a ruse. We don’t care what style it’s in. We just want to hear his expression.
