The last time I spoke with Kevin Parker was in October 2019, in a London hotel, months before the first pandemic in a century was declared. ‘The Slow Rush’, his fourth album, was published in a fateful February 2020. Since then, Parker has married and become a father, but the news that comes from ‘Deadbeat’, his fifth album, is how little it sounds like the Tame Impala that you remember. ‘Loser’ and ‘Dracula’ give vibes of ‘Lonerism’ (2012) and ‘Currents’ (2015), but ‘Deadbeat’ rather follows the path of ‘End of Summer’… or that of total and absolute reinvention, because on this album there are electronics (‘Not My World’), but also many other things that Parker tries for the first time. It is their most varied and complete album.
This time, I chat with Parker via Zoom and with the camera disabled. I am greeted by a relaxed musician who wants to talk about his project, but 15 minutes doesn’t last long and no, I’m not asking him about Dua Lipa. But yes for other things.
Tame Impala presents ‘Deadbeat’ in Spain next spring: it will be on April 7 at the Movistar Arena in Madrid and on April 8 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. JENESAISPOP is official media.
How did you get into making electronic music?
Because… I felt like it (laughs). It is the musical style that inspires me the most right now and when I was writing the album. I have always liked techno, I have listened to it since I was a teenager, and I have always wanted to introduce more electronics into my music, but I had never dared to do it this way. I try not to worry about the side effects of my decisions, I just do it.
You listened to the Chemical Brothers when you were young. What other electronic music has influenced you?
I didn’t listen to electronic music all the time when I was young; For me it was a kind of secret pleasure. Nowadays I listen to all the music I can, and that includes a lot of techno artists. But I pay attention to the songs: I listen to this song or another; I can’t tell you a specific artist.
The variety of different styles that are on the album and that are new to your repertoire are surprising: ‘No Reply’ sounds like South African house, ‘Obsolete’ a bit like Beyoncé’s two-mile pop… Have you tried to escape the “Tame Impala sound”?
It hasn’t been a conscious decision, I just do what I feel I’m good at and what makes me feel like I’m discovering something new. For me that is the essence of recording music: feeling like you are discovering something new. I don’t like doing something I’ve already done. Maybe I will do it in the future.
It’s complex. I know there are people out there who expect me to do the same thing over and over again, and it can be difficult for some people to accept that I’m doing something different, but I try to take care of the spirituality behind making music. I’m not a fast food restaurant, I’m not your favorite pizza place where you order the same pizza over and over again. I am not your “comfort food.”
There are songs that sound like the same old Tame Impala, like ‘Loser’ or ‘Dracula’. How do you think your fans will receive the album? Or is the intention rather to be discovered by new people?
It is always my intention to reach new audiences. It’s one of my motivations every time I make a new album: that there are new people who listen to it. I hope my fans like my music, of course, but I can’t depend on that.
You identify with the word ‘Deadbeat’ (“lost bullet”, “bohemian”). The B-52’s, of course, used it proudly on ‘Deadbeat Club’, but it’s not a very common word in pop. Can you be a “deadbeat” and a “loser” after having hit it big in music?
The title has to do with a feeling, it is not a statement of “you are this and you are not.” I think that how you feel as a person, on the inside, is more important than who you really are. And I’ve always felt a bit like a lost cannon. It has always been one of my insecurities, and the idea of calling the album that, for me, has even been therapeutic.
«Feeling like a loose cannon has always been one of my insecurities»
You talk about therapy, and I’ve read you say that you don’t go to a psychologist because you fear that your music will lose its purpose. Don’t you think that maybe your music would be enriched?
I have always felt that music is my therapy. Writing a song is a way of expressing something that I can’t or don’t want to express in words. When I make music, when I express myself through a song, I feel that it is millions of times more satisfying, effective and restorative than I imagine therapy to be.
Therapy is restorative, I assure you!
It sure is! But, for me, making a song gives problems their purpose and meaning. If I can create something beautiful from something ugly, then I have transformed it. Enriching my music… of course, therapy could help me express myself better, but I haven’t explored that path yet.
You’ve said that in ‘Deadbeat’ you were looking to condense the sound – I understand using fewer layers – and in songs like ‘My Old Ways’ or ‘Loser’ the instrumentals are super catchy. What has it been like creating instrumentals on this album?
I have simply looked for what made me feel something. There are many songs that I have left out of the album, some someone could even say are better than the ones that appear, or more impressive, but in the end I have included those that I want to continue listening to. I think my albums last over time because they include songs that you want to keep listening to and that you never get tired of. If I get tired of a song, then I don’t put it on the album.
«If I started my career from scratch, I probably wouldn’t be on streaming platforms»
What do you think of the cultural boycott of Spotify? Do you think cultural boycotts work?
I have read a lot about it. I agree that the system is screwed. I don’t know if I blame Spotify alone or the system in general. Evidently, Spotify represents the current model of music consumption. But, at the end of the day, I have signed a contract with a record label and I can’t just remove my music from Spotify. And I want my music to be successful and reach as many people as possible. I want to do the right thing, but for artists everything is against us. And Spotify is probably the way I can reach more people. But I fully support artists doing what they think they should do.
If I were starting my career from scratch, I would probably do something like this; possibly it would not be on streaming platforms. There has to be a change in the industry, but I don’t know what that change may be. It seems to me that, for example, the subscription model (per artist) that James Blake presented could work, but I don’t know…
But nothing kind of happened with that, right?
I don’t know how they’re doing, but OnlyFans is the biggest platform in the world; They make more money than anyone else. Is there a musical version of that? Your system works. If I was starting out and my job was to release a song every week, and someone wanted to subscribe to my profile, I would like that. If you remove Spotify from the equation, there would be another company to take its place and it would be the villain.
«OnlyFans is the largest platform in the world; They make more money than anyone else. Is there a musical version of that?
Do you think people focus too much on the contradictions of following certain artists or using certain platforms, and forget to put their own activism into practice?
I believe that people have the right to express themselves whenever they want, in the way they want. That’s all I can tell you.
Let’s end the interview with a slightly lighter question. You won a Grammy for ‘Neverender’, your collaboration with Justice. If you had to give a Tame Impala song a Grammy, what would it be?
Hmmm… ‘Dracula’, probably.
Really? How cool.
Are you surprised? Nothing, I’m kidding.
I love ‘Dracula’, but I was hoping you’d choose an old song.
It is right now the song I have the most affection for.
