Mark Ronson Was Moved By Kevin Parker's Help On 'Uptown Special'

It's early in the morning UK-time when The Music phones award-winning producer Mark Ronson. We've been asked "not to ask any questions about Amy Winehouse" in the wake of the release of the documentary Amy: its release seems to have coincided perfectly with a round of promo interviews from Ronson, who is being quoted everywhere on the subject. Over the course of our conversation we can hear Ronson try to mumble through a mouthful of toothpaste; he admits he's brushing his teeth as he just woke up and "I'm a bit late for everything."

"I'd sound like a douche if I tried to explain why everybody liked the thing that we made."

We ask what Mark Ronson has been doing since he finished work on his third record Uptown Special last year. "I've been doing little remixes here and there," Ronson begins, "but this has probably been the longest that I haven't really been in the studio for a while. I'm going to go back to mixing records for other people which I think of as my real day job, and it's a really lovely honeymoon that I get to come to Australia again and play shows."

He's bringing a slew of guest stars with him on his honeymoon — his upcoming Australian tour, including an appearance at Splendour In The Grass ("I can't wait," Ronson says), is the musical equivalent of Entourage, really. "It's kind of just how it has to be: if I can't get those people I'm not going to come do the show because I know I can't do the album justice, the way I'd like to do it, if I don't have them. It's as simple as if they can't do it then unfortunately there's no show, but fortunately everyone was available."

His guest stars include Daniel Merriweather, Andrew Wyatt, Keyone Star, and our very own Kevin Parker. Ronson is practically gushing when he begins to talk about Parker, especially in reference to his contribution to Uptown Special.

"We met while we were doing Future [Music] Festival back in 2011; you know it was great because every night we had this side stage and Tame [Impala, Parker's main project] and us and MGMT and Zane Lowe was DJing and playing it — it was just a really good vibe and everybody had a lot of respect for each other.

"So when I started to work on this record I knew I wanted Kevin on it. I was really moved and thrilled that he came all the way over from Perth to Memphis to come and help us work on this record, because Tame Impala had already become such a big deal. That's what happened. So Kevin was in the studio and he sang some songs and he wrote Daffodils pretty much on the spot, which is one of the best songs on the record."

Sure Daffodils is a great song, but it's just not as catchy as his smash hit, Uptown Funk. "I don't even think we can even quantify it so much, it's just the stars kind of lined up and we made this thing that just seems to kind of, I don't know, reach everybody. I don't want to think about it too much because I'd sound like a douche if I tried to explain why everybody liked the thing that we made. It's just that they do and it's made and I couldn't be any more psyched about it."