Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker reveals how he gave away his biggest ever song to mate Mark Ronson
With over half a billion plays and double platinum status, The Less I Know The Better is one of Tame Impala’s biggest hits. But the band’s creative supremo Kevin Parker almost gave it away.
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Tame Impala’s creative supremo Kevin Parker almost lost the biggest song of his career.
The Australian artist, whose credit appears on tracks by Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Kanye West and ASAP Rocky, gave his smash hit The Less I Know The Better, to his British-American hit maker friend Mark Ronson for his record.
In the latest edition of GQ Australia, which features the in-demand Australian musician on its cover — and inside in a variety of fashion photos — Parker reveals he wrestled with asking Ronson for the song back.
It is now Tame Impala’s most streamed song with well over half a billion plays and achieved double platinum status in America courtesy of a viral TikTok video last year.
“OK so The Less I Know The Better was one that I wrote on my own. I gave it to Mark Ronson for his album, but I took it back. I was putting off telling him that I wanted to use it for me,” Parker tells GQ in the new issue, on sale today.
“I was in America recording with him for a few days. I was like, ‘OK now, [I’ve] got to tell him I want it for me.’
“When I finally mustered up the strength, he was like, ‘Oh yeah, dude, I was going to say this song is yours. I feel like I’ve stolen your hard drive!’ He was thinking the same thing anyway.”
Tame Impala is Parker’s solo artist vehicle for album releases but becomes a band when he tours.
He releases the much-anticipated fourth record The Slow Rush on February 14 and will announce an arena tour of Australia on Monday.
While Tame Impala launched onto the world stage as a psychedelic rock band with their debut album Innerspeaker in 2010, Parker has proven to be a sonic shapeshifter with every record since and The Slow Rush is no exception.
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“I know that I’ve got a lot of ideas, genre-wise in there,” he says. “I wanted just to make an album that was dance music, hip-hop and R&B-friendly, but still had the instruments that I love to use and a lot more of them.”
Ahead of the release of The Slow Rush, Tame Impala unveiled their homecoming tour plans, booking arena gigs in April.
They kick off at Brisbane’s Entertainment Centre on April 18, Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on April 20, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on April 23, Adelaide’s Entertainment Centre Arena on April 25 and back home to Perth’s RAC Arena on April 28.
The latest issue of GQ is out today.
Originally published as Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker reveals how he gave away his biggest ever song to mate Mark Ronson