As the latest darlings of Modular Records, Tame Impala are in impressive company. But with a sound that echoes sunny 70s psychedelia, they’re doing a lot of impressing of their own. Singer/songwriter Kevin Parker talks about their debut EP.
How did you meet the guys from Modular Records?
They got in touch with us in early 2008. They liked our stuff and wanted to work with us. I didn’t really know who Modular were at the time – I had to ask my friends. The reactions I got said it all.
Have you given much thought to what your next release might sound like?
Yeah, quite a lot of thought, but I don’t know what it’s going to be like to record it. Up until now, Tame Impala has mostly been a solo recording project, where I’ve just made recordings by myself. I’ve always had the other guys there live and they contribute, but the EP is mostly me. It will be a different experience going into a fancy studio with an engineer. The time restraints will be the biggest difference. In the past I could do a guitar take once a week if I felt like it!
What’s it like to have your recordings out there for people to listen to?
It’s a very strange feeling. I’m more self-conscious now when I write, because I think about all the people that are going to hear the song. I didn’t expect for the recordings to be out there – most of the songs don’t even have proper endings. Instruments will stop and then the song will just fade out, because when I was writing I didn’t care about the endings. So I guess in that sense there is an innocence to the recordings.
Although the songs were recorded some distance apart, do you feel that there is still a musical thread through the EP?
Yeah, definitely. We were going to arrange the track listing chronologically, in order of when they were recorded, but they didn’t really fit together properly. The five songs on the EP were chosen from around 25 recordings and they weren’t necessarily the best songs by most people’s opinions. These were the five most cohesive tracks.
Tame Impala play the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. For all details head to www.lanewayfestival.com.au. Their debut EP is out now through Modular.
Comments on this entry are closed.