By now you’re probably aware of the footage of a young(er) Tame Impala playing a Perth music festival to a fairly sparse crowd back in the day. It’s a reminder that even Australia’s biggest artists had to start somewhere.
But it seems that even when Tame Impala were struggling to draw a crowd at a local Perth music festival, even notables from across the pond were already recognising project leader Kevin Parker’s gift for songwriting and production.
As the AU Review writes, back in 2007 Parker reached out to Swedish psychedelic group Dungen, asking them to have a listen to his latest material and enquiring as to whether they might be interested in mixing the record for him.
Parker was a great admirer of Dungen’s work and the two bands often garnered comparisons in the press. As the AU Review notes, former Tame member Nick Allbrook once told the band he was front row for their Perth show in 2006.
Dungen turned Parker down. But not because they didn’t think his songs were worthy of their time, quite the opposite in fact. The band reportedly told Parker the songs didn’t need any mixing, saying, “Just put it out! It’s amazing as it is!”
Tame Impala, of course, went on to a rapid rise following the release of their debut album, Innerspeaker, garnering widespread international attention with their follow-up, Lonerism.
So do they regret the decision that cost them a place in Aussie music history? Not so much. Check out the full interview over on The AU Review.
