Kevin Parker and Tame Impala hit it big with 2012's Lonerism and its ensuing single "Elephant," which gained a lot of traction on alternative radio.
Now gearing up for a U.S. tour, the singer addressed several topics in a radio.com interview, including a new album, the success of "Elephant" and commercialization:
On taking time off from the road: This year was meant to be a year off from touring, a cool-off period, because the last couple years have been pretty intense. They've really tested our relationships with our girlfriends, to say the least.
On new material: I'm working all the time on new material, but I don't like to play new songs before they are finished. I like the idea of people hearing new songs once the production is complete. For me, that's the biggest part of Tame Impala. It's the whole production. I see myself as a producer. I prefer that to be the first experience people have with a song.
I have been working on a new light show for the set, though. I've found a new way to synchronize all the lights to what is happening in the songs, so it's 100 times more interactive. I love the idea of the audio interacting with the visual.
On the success of "Elephant" and its appearance in a BlackBerry commercial: I guess I always wish I knew more about the industry. But I'm a novice. As soon as it gets into that world, like what pieces of the puzzle have caused this thing to happen, I just have no idea.
I think I've only seen it about half the way through. I don't think it was even the finished version. I just saw a demo version of it. But I don't know, ads are weird. I don't hate them. I don't hate bands that have songs in ads. For me, I know in myself, when I'm in love with a piece of music or in love with an artist, and it means something deeply personal to me, if I see it associated with something like an ad, or something that makes it part of the real world, maybe it takes away from that sacred part of my soul, and puts it in the real world. For me, it's not as magical.
On the next album: For me, I'm working on it all the time and I'm so involved in it, that it's almost impossible to tell how far away it is from being finished. I'm always adding things to it and taking things away. It's like a piece of clay, slowly shaping into something. You could just stop at any moment and it would be finished. It would be something. It would be a sculpture or a bowl or whatever. And you could keep fingering it forever, and it wouldn't necessarily be more finished or better. It is just up to you to decide when that piece of clay is something. That's sort of how it is with me. I'll start working on a song, and in a couple hours, it's a song, it can be listened to. I can work on it another six months, or I can not work on it at all. It literally comes down to ... I don't know what it comes down to. A deadline I guess.
The band currently has four scheduled tour stops:
11/9: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
11/12: Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
11/13: Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
11/15: Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
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