As if psych-pop band Tame Impala and POND weren’t enough, multi-instrumentalist Jay Watson also produces solo music as GUM. Last year, he released Glamorous Damage, which featured the lead single “Anesthetized Lesson.” Last week, GUM dropped the remix by Tame Impala bandmate and friend Kevin Parker.

“While I was recording the album I was listening to a lot of dance music and while it was a big influence, my mixing of the album didn’t really reflect that,” Watson says. Parker’s remix was an opportunity to make [the song] “sound wild,” he added. “He didn’t let me down!”

Watson chats about his dance music influences, his songwriting process, and how Tame Impala got discovered on Myspace.

Hometown: I kind of grew up in different parts of Australia, but spent my adolescence in a country town in Western Australia called Northam.

Homebase: East London

How did the idea for GUM come about? Does GUM fulfill a different creative need for you?

Well in Tame Impala I play in the live band, the GUM stuff is a recording outlet, as is POND.

Why call yourself GUM?

It’s my nickname, it comes from being called Gumby when I was younger, like the plasticine guy from the TV show Gumby.

Did you always want to be a musician? What's the first song you ever wrote as GUM?

I think I wanted to perform music for others as soon as I realized I liked music, as I had an ego even as a little kid. I can’t remember the first song I wrote for GUM as POND were making records at the same time and often (not always) my songs could be interchangeable for both projects.





Why is your album called Glamorous Damage?

It’s kind of about people glamorizing getting fucked up or being weirdos, when there is always a danger you could end up damaged yourself just through putting it on a pedestal.

How did your Tame Impala bandmate Kevin Parker end up doing a remix of “Anesthetized Lesson”? What do you think remixes do for your music?

Kevin offered to do one and I thought it would be fun. It’s always cool to have different interpretations or mixes of your initial idea.

What's your songwriting process for GUM like?

I write and record songs in my bedroom all day, and then I go play tennis, and then I go to the pub, and then I go home and see if the recordings still sound good or not, and if they do then I put them out on the Internet.

How do you describe your music to people who haven't heard it before?

Broken Laptop Rock and Roll

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#fivehead

Do you have an awesome Myspace-related story as a musician?

Tame Impala was actually discovered and signed off of Myspace, so there you go!