Kevin Parker of Tame Impala has said that listening to the Bee Gees after taking mushrooms inspired him to change the sound of the music he was making.

The Australian band, synonymous with the psych-rock revival of recent years, release new album ‘Currents’ later this month. Parker has already discussed the album’s more dancefloor-friendly sound and has now revealed the specific moment that pushed him toward that music.

“I was in LA a few years ago and for some reason we’d taken mushrooms, it must have been the end of our tour,” he told The Guardian in a new interview.


“I was coked up as well, and a friend was driving us around LA in this old sedan. He was playing the Bee Gees and it had the most profound emotional effect. I’m getting butterflies just thinking about it. I was listening to ‘Staying Alive’, a song I’ve heard all my life. At that moment it had this really emotive, melancholy feel to it. The beat felt overwhelmingly strong and, at that moment, it sounded pretty psychedelic. It moved me, and that’s what I always want out of psych music. I want it to transport me.”

Parker also suggests that being put in a box as a pych musician was another factor in deciding to go against that grain. “I don’t like the idea that I’m a one-trick pony, even if I am!” he says. “No matter what else I do, I have to make sure that Elephant isn’t Tame Impala’s biggest song anywhere.”

Tame Impala release their third album ‘Currents’ on July 17 following on from 2012’s ‘Lonerism’ and 2010 debut ‘Innerspeaker’.

Pooneh Ghana Tame Impala live on stage

Tame Impala will play a handful of UK and Ireland dates later this year. They are as follows:

Electric Picnic Festival (September 4)

End Of The Road Festival (5)

Glasgow Barrowland (8)

Liverpool Olympia (9)

Isle of Wight Bestival (10)

To check the availability of Tame Impala tickets and get all the latest listings, head to NME.COM/tickets.


SEE ALSO: Tame Impala On New Album ‘Currents’: ‘The More I Explore, The More I Realise Boundaries Are Meant To Be Broken’

