Kevin Parker explains the influences behind Tame Impala’s psychedelia: “Even never listen to a Beatles album the whole way”
When it comes to modern artists with psychedelic influences, few could top the impact of Tame Impala. Since bursting onto the indie scene with Innerspeaker in 2010, Kevin Parker has become one of the biggest names in synth and neo-psychedelia. He’s soundtracked summers and festival seasons for countless indie kids, introducing them to swirling cosmic soundscapes, but where did his psychedelic influences first spawn from?
Perhaps expectedly, Parker takes huge inspiration from psych-rock outfit The Flaming Lips, who predated Tame Impala by years. With spacey synths and quirky concepts about pink robots, Wayne Coyne led the band to become one of the most iconic names in indie rock. It’s easy to see how Parker was inspired by their psych-y stylings, but he has turned his fandom into friendship.
“At first, I was a fanboy, and then we got to know them, and now we’re good friends,” Parker recalled during a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, “which is kind of weird to look back on.” Another notable influence on his psychedelia was French duo Air, but Parker acknowledged that not all of his sonic reference points are limited to that realm.
As much as he credits The Flaming Lips and Air for their influence on his spacey sound, Parker credits the influence of “everything I’ve ever heard in my life… even things that I wasn’t aware were influencing me.” His examples? The Beatles and Britney Spears.
It takes a little more digging into Tame Impala’s catalogue to find the influence of the pop princess and even that of the Fab Four. Parker admits that he’s never even listened to a full project by either artist, something that many fans of the latter might consider blasphemy, but he still suggests that their influence is just as present as that of The Flaming Lips.
“It’s just stuff that’s around me that happens to enter my brain,” he suggested, “It ends up playing a part in my understanding of music.” While he may never have taken the time to delve into the rock and roll of the Beatles or the pure pop of Britney, it’s understandable that their pervading influence on culture and on music would still find its way into his soundscapes.
Parker may be more consciously incorporating the synths and psychedelia of his genre predecessors, but his influences are not limited to those he outright emulates. He takes a far more holistic view, accepting that almost all of the music he encounters will have its own unique effect on his work. The end result might not veer quite as far into bubblegum pop as Britney, but sometimes, it’s almost as catchy.
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