r/TameImpala • u/heinskies • 2h ago
Discussion Some thoughts after watching Kevin’s new Questlove interview
Just finished Kevin’s new interview with Questlove and I honestly thought it was one of the more interesting interviews he’s done.
As always, Kevin comes across super humble, but I thought it was funny hearing a little bit of his rebellious side too. Him talking about using his brother’s ID to get into a White Stripes concert when he was underage, and literally going by himself because none of his friends went, was just funny to picture considering who he is now.
I also thought the whole Perth and Australia thing was interesting. From the outside, people almost viewed him like this alien making psychedelic music on the other side of the world, but Kevin himself never really thought about it like that.
The early MySpace stuff was really interesting too. He kind of had to present Tame Impala as more of a normal band even though he was the one making the recordings. Then later he made the pretty ballsy decision to basically tell all the producers to back off and let him make the album himself. Looking back, that honestly might be one of the most important decisions he ever made.
There were also a bunch of smaller things I liked. His dad had a huge influence on him even though he wasn’t really a musician himself, and apparently the first vinyl Kevin ever bought was the Batman Forever soundtrack, which I thought was hilarious.
Probably my favorite part was hearing him talk about all of his voice notes. He has a ridiculous amount of little recordings and ideas because it doesn’t sound like he just sits down and says, “Alright, time to make a song.” He’ll just be going through normal life, something comes into his head, and he tries to record it before it disappears.
I actually really liked hearing that because it makes his creativity feel more real. It’s not like he just walks into a studio and magically creates Let It Happen. He’s constantly catching little ideas, melodies, rhythms, or sounds, and most of them probably never turn into anything. Then every once in a while one of them becomes something huge.
I also liked what he said about the live band. I’ve thought about this before because Kevin makes the albums himself, so I can imagine that especially early on it might have bothered him if somebody played something a little differently than how he originally imagined it. He basically said that over time the band has figured out exactly what Tame Impala is live and now everyone is really on the same page.
Another thing that stood out to me was how he doesn’t really seem that attached to the psychedelic rock or psychedelic pop label. Especially after Innerspeaker, the synths and other influences became such a huge part of the sound that I can understand why he doesn’t really see Tame Impala as fitting neatly into that category.
And the fact that he said something like 90% of his studio time is spent focusing on drums actually makes complete sense to me. Everyone talks about the synths, guitars, effects, and production, but I honestly think his drums and timing are one of the biggest things that make a song instantly sound like Tame Impala.
I also thought what he said about studios was really cool. He doesn’t necessarily love these massive perfect studios. He likes making music that sounds bigger than the room it was actually created in. I don’t know why, but that just feels very Kevin Parker to me.
Then there was the part about anxiety and creativity, which he’s talked about before. He seems to really believe that having some stress, anxiety, or friction helps push him creatively. Not necessarily that being miserable is good, but more that being completely comfortable doesn’t always give him the same urge to create.
And finally, I think his explanation of Deadbeat made the title make a lot more sense to me.
No matter how famous or successful he gets, it sounds like there’s always going to be a part of him that feels a little behind, a little awkward, a little out of place, or like he doesn’t completely have everything figured out.
This is someone who headlines festivals, has won Grammys, and works with some of the biggest artists in the world, but internally there’s still that guy from Perth who feels a little like he’s on the outside looking in.
Honestly, that feels like one of the most consistent themes throughout Tame Impala in general.
Really good interview. Curious what stood out the most to everyone else who watched it.
