Australian one-man band Tame Impala is an indie icon throughout the world–and rightfully so. Tame Impala went from a tiny indie psych-rock artist uploading music alongside his friends onto the website Myspace, to evolving into a top artist making music alongside giant artists such as Kanye West, Travis Scott, Diana Ross, and more. Tame Impala has also been invited to make original songs for blockbuster movies such as Barbie and Elvis. In fact, even if you’ve never heard the name Tame Impala before, I’m more than confident that you have heard one of his songs before without ever even realizing it.
Kevin Parker, the solo band member of Tame Impala, started off this cultural phenomenon by simply making music because he loved to do so. Kevin Parker made Tame Impala himself, it stars only himself, and he has recorded all of the songs entirely on his own. Parker has stated before that he didn’t plan on Tame Impala ever getting big. Parker simply made music as a side hobby that he liked doing–and look where it has turned out. Tame Impala is proof to everybody that anybody can become famous–all you need to do is what you love.
Tame Impala’s top song titled, “The Less I Know the Better”, has over 1.4 billion streams–and Kevin Parker made that song because he simply just liked disco music and wanted to make a disco-sounding song. Kevin Parker has also stated that he stores the demo songs for the band just on his iPod or his laptop. Kevin Parker’s song on the Lonerism album titled, “It Feels Like We Only Go Backwards,” was even recorded simply by plugging his guitar directly into his laptop and recording. Another of Parker’s songs on the same album titled, “Elephant,” was a song he would play in local bars with his friends–and even then, these songs are some of his most famous–with Elephant even being featured in a movie.
Needless to say, Kevin Parker’s Tame Impala is an inspiration to all aspiring musicians and celebrities. The fact that he was just winging it and playing music because he loved to do so and didn’t expect anything back, and then blew up and is now currently on top of the world is inspirational. Who knows, maybe you could be the next Tame Impala–if you love something enough to pursue it.