Kevin Parker

Parker later spoke of how his musical relationship with Canyons came to be: "They used to run a label which Tame Impala used to sort of be on. We released a 12” vinyl with them once, on one side it had three Tame Impala songs and on the other it was the same three songs remixed by Canyons and that was really cool, it was a really casual relationship. We always talked about releasing things but we never got round to it because I’d just go round to his house and talk about music for a while. So we never actually got anything pressed until we had signed with Modular and then we went back and did stuff with Canyons."

On 9 February 2019 Parker married his girlfriend Sophie Lawrence at a vineyard in Western Australia. He was previously in a relationship with Melody Prochet of Melody's Echo Chamber, whose 2012 debut album Melody's Echo Chamber he produced.

Kevin Parker and the rest of Tame Impala are fans of the Fremantle Dockers; as evidenced by Tame Impala’s interview with Nardwuar the human serviette in 2013, and Tame Impala’s Instagram page celebrating Nat Fyfe’s Brownlow Medal win in 2015. Parker currently divides his time between Perth and Los Angeles, where he owns a home in the Hollywood Hills

Essentially, the key components to Parker's pedal setup is a Holy Grail reverb into a Blues Driver into a Carbon Copy delay into a Dyna Comp into a Small Stone phaser into a Fuzz Face and then into a Diamond Vibrato (vibrato added during Lonerism-era). The reverb into a fuzz and phasers set to a slow rate are the hallmarks of Parker's guitar sound, which has influenced many modern psychedelic rock bands to have a similar setup, which Parker says "it’s the most flattering thing in the world to hear a band ripping you off. I know some people get pissed off by it, but if I ever hear an artist and I can tell they’re using a phaser pedal the way I do, it’s a massive compliment. It makes you feel like you’re making an impression, having an impact on people, which is really humbling, flattering".

In 2016, Parker remixed Miguel's "Waves" on the singer's EP, "Rogue Waves". He also did a remix of friend and bandmate Julien Barbagallo's track, "Longue la nuit".

Parker collaborated with Mark Ronson for the tracks "Summer Breaking", "Daffodils" and "Leaving Los Feliz" on Ronson's album Uptown Special. "Daffodils" premiered on 11 November 2014, which was primarily written by Parker and performed with his funk/disco band AAA Aardvark Getdown Services in late 2013 and early 2014.

Parker produced Perth hip hop/nu jazz septet Koi Child's debut album, with the debut single "Slow One" released on 11 November 2014. Parker discovered them when "two local groups - electronic hip-hop trio Child's Play and nu-jazz quartet Kashikoi - decided to get together for an experimental jam night at X-wray Cafe in Fremantle", with Parker in attendance. This gig landed Koi Child a supporting slot for Tame Impala on Rottnest Island.

In 2013, Parker collaborated with the French electronic duo Discodeine for their track 'Aydin', from their EP 'Aydin'. Parker provided vocals for the track. Also in 2013, Parker revealed that a new musical project involving French drummer (and Tame Impala live drummer) Julien Barbagallo, called Relation Longue Distance (which translates in English to "long distance relationship"), had formed. After playing some small shows in France, they hope to play some more shows, with the possibility of an official release.

Parker and Cam Avery formed the psychedelic funk/space rock band Kevin Spacey (a play on words, using Parker's first name with the space rock music they played to form the actor's name) on 22 July 2013. The band featured Parker on drums, Avery on bass and fellow Perth musician Cam Parkin on keys. The band was formed as a fundraiser for another Perth musician and close friend Felicity Groom who had her car stolen. Their set featured 5 improvised jams with Groom joining them on vocals for one of the jams. A full video of the gig emerged on YouTube which was filmed by an audience member. Kevin Spacey played their second gig under the name of The Golden Triangle Municipal Funk Band on 21 December 2013, where video emerged of a song that featured Parker on vocals, and guitar played by former front man of Perth band The Chemist, Ben Witt. The group changed their name once again to AAA Aardvark Getdown Services, where they were announced to be playing on 22 February 2014 at a gig organised by local record label Spinning Top, alongside fellow Perth acts Pond, The Silents, Felicity Groom and Peter Bibby.

As a younger teenager, Parker had periods where he felt lost and alone, saying: "I didn't have the most solid family life. I didn't have a solid base to fall back on there, so I was tackling a lot of things on my own. And I was just lost. I remember thinking, 'I've got no-one'. I remember once, when I was 15 or something, I was brushing my teeth, and I just broke down crying. I just felt so alone." Parker also felt that Tame Impala's 2012 album Lonerism "validates" a lot of the feelings he had as a teenager. He said: "It's got this weird hopefulness to it. Maybe that's the charm of it. Maybe that's why it's done so well."

In a display of Parker's work ethic, work on the next Tame Impala album Lonerism had already started before Innerspeaker was even released. Lonerism was released on 5 October 2012 to widespread critical acclaim, winning many Album of the Year awards from the likes of NME, Rolling Stone, and Triple J. Lonerism marks an extension of Parker's music, featuring synths and poppier melodies, and also a more lavish, lush and expansive sound. Commenting on the new-found sound, Parker said that "[Lonerism] will be the kind of music that I felt as though I wanted to make during Innerspeaker, but I felt that it was too much of a jump. Back when I was doing Innerspeaker, I felt like I should make an album with only guitars, and use no synths, because I felt like it was a compromise to what we do. But I now know that it's not." At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015 he won two trophies, Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year, for his work on Tame Impala's Currents (July 2015); the group won three further categories at the ceremony: Album of the Year, Best Group and Best Rock Album. On 30 March 2019, the band performed live on Saturday Night Live. On 13 April 2019 Tame Impala, performed as a headlining act of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. On 28 June 2019, the group performed as the Other Stage headliner at the Glastonbury Festival.

Parker joined Pond live on drums in late 2009 after being recruited by fellow Tame Impala members Jay Watson and Nick Allbrook. Parker later joined Pond in the studio on drums for the album Beard, Wives, Denim, and also produced it, putting his distinctive production sound on the album. Cameron Avery later filled in for Parker live on Pond's 2012 tour, while Parker was putting the finishing touches on the second Tame Impala album, Lonerism. On 28 June 2012, Parker joined Pond for a one-off performance with legendary Can frontman Damo Suzuki. Parker played drums and later played guitar for the one-off, totally improvised performance with one of his musical idols, Suzuki. Parker has also produced the Pond albums Hobo Rocket, Man It Feels Like Space Again, The Weather and Tasmania.

In 2012, Parker teamed up with French singer and then girlfriend, Melody Prochet, for her dream pop psychedelic project, Melody's Echo Chamber. The two met after Prochet gave Parker a CD with songs from her other band, My Bee's Garden. This led to a support slot for My Bee's Garden, opening for Tame Impala. Their collaborative self-titled album was released on 2 October 2012, to critical acclaim. Allmusic's Tim Sendra called it "a rather stunning debut". Parker played drums and bass guitar, and also a guitar solo on the track 'I Follow You', featuring his distinctive spacey, phased guitar sound with Prochet's dreamy vocals, and also produced the album.

In addition to a love of melody, Parker also loves "fucked-up explosive cosmic music" in the vein of The Flaming Lips, whom Parker collaborated with on the track Children of the Moon in 2012, for the release The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends.

In 2011, Mink Mussel Creek reformed; Parker produced and played drums on Mink Mussel Manticore, an album that was recorded live over the course of a week at local Fremantle venue, the Norfolk Basement. It was later released on USB wristband. As of 2015, the album has been re-released online as well as on vinyl.

Parker has collaborated with Australian electronic duo, Canyons, on various occasions throughout Tame Impala's existence. Canyons have remixed many Tame Impala songs, and in 2011 Parker repaid the favour by contributing vocals on the songs "Tonight" and "When I See You Again" on their album Keep Your Dreams. A bearded Parker also appeared in their music video for 'When I See You Again', for a shot where Parker has been cloned many times on an outdoor staircase.

These are the effects pedals that Parker has been seen with in his pedal board as of 2011:

In addition to his work for Tame Impala, Parker was the drummer of Pond from 2009 until 2011. He remains their record producer, working with the band on the studio albums, Beard, Wives, Denim (2012), Hobo Rocket (2013), Man, It Feels Like Space Again (2015), The Weather (2017), and Tasmania (2019). As a producer, Parker has collaborated with artists such as Mark Ronson, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Travis Scott, Melody's Echo Chamber and The Flaming Lips.

After much touring in 2008 and 2009, Tame Impala's debut album, Innerspeaker was released to widespread critical acclaim in 2010, winning a J Award and a Rolling Stone Award for Album of the Year, and 5 nominations at the ARIAs. Parker's ability to take many elements of 1960s psychedelic rock, and give it a distinctly modern twist, creating a new and original sound was praised. Parker also received a WAMI Award for Best Guitarist and an APRA Award for Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year.

In 2008, after receiving an AUS$10,000 government grant, Mink Mussel Creek recorded its first album. However, due to circumstances out of the band's control, primarily concerning a problematic producer and dysfunctional recording process, the album was never released; the album was eventually leaked on the internet under the title Kingdom Tapes, and the band members went their separate ways with other musical projects.

Space Lime Peacock were a short-lived psychedelic funk band, formed in 2008, that featured Parker in various roles, such as on drums, backing vocals, guitar and bass. Space Lime Peacock also featured Jay Watson and Nick Allbrook of Tame Impala. They recorded an album's worth of demos, which never saw an official release, but were leaked on the internet. Parker's developing and distinct guitar tones can be heard on the demos.

In late 2007, Parker renamed the band to Tame Impala, and recruited Jay Watson on drums; Devenport went on to pursue an acting career.

In 2005, Parker formed a band called The Dee Dee Dums, (which would become the basis of Tame Impala) featuring current Tame Impala members Dominic Simper, and Luke Epstein. The Dee Dee Dums achieved some local acclaim, getting second place at the 2005 AmpFest and winning third place later that year in the state final of The Next Big Thing. In October 2006 Epstein was replaced by drummer Sam Devenport, Epstein going on to play with Sugarpuss. They later went on to win the Western Australia state final of the National Campus Band Competition.

In 2005, Parker, along with other musical companions, including Tame Impala member, Nick Allbrook and Shiny Joe Ryan, formed Mink Mussel Creek. Initially Parker was recruited as a guitarist with founding member Sam Devenport on the drums. However Sam would leave the band in 2007 and Parker moved onto the drums. Parker's drumming was a strong feature of the band's sound, which in turn propelled the Mink Mussel Creek brand of "heavy psych" forward. Mink Mussel Creek slowly built up a fanbase in Perth and was a popular live act.

After sending off approximately 20 songs, many of them later leaked to YouTube, that Parker had recorded as far back as 2003 to different record labels, Tame Impala was signed to Modular Recordings. After the release of their 2008 debut EP, Parker revealed his intentions for recording: "Most of the songs on the EP were never meant to be heard by the rest of Perth, let alone the rest of the world. They were just recorded for my own listening sake, and burning a CD of it and putting it in my car and giving it to my friends."

Kevin Richard Parker (born 20 January 1986) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known for his musical project Tame Impala, for which he writes, records, and produces the music. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015 he won two awards, Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year, for his work on Tame Impala's album Currents (2015).

At age 13, Parker met fellow Tame Impala member Dominic Simper in their music class at John XXIII College, Perth, whom he found a musical connection with. Parker and Simper started off playing covers of Rage Against the Machine, Unwritten Law, Sunk Loto and Korn songs, along with Dan Debuf, who is now a presenter on 2Day FM. In his late-teens, Parker discovered the many 1960s and 1970s psychedelic rock artists that would have a huge influence on his music, saying: "I got into bands like Cream and Jefferson Airplane in a big way, and loved the sound of their recordings. My friends were listening to bands like Brainticket and Demon Fuzz who opened my eyes to different ways of constructing songs. The Beatles way of singing vocal lines often crept into the recordings because they are so unique, whereas the elements we take from those other bands are usually common among a few other bands we listen to."