Kevin Parker: Tame Impala 'May Never Get' Money From Early Overseas Sales

Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker opened up to the good people of Reddit today, hosting an 'Ask Me Anything' session that covered every important topic from his favourite Ninja Turtle to his height, but the most eyebrow-raising factoid to have come out of the back-and-forth may be that — until recently, at least — he and the band had never seen a single cent from international sales of their music.

Answering a fan's question regarding his attitude towards online piracy, Parker explained, "I feel like music will be free sooner or later, and I think I'm all for it", telling the fan that "Some of my most important musical experiences were from a burnt CD with songs my friend downloaded for me at a terrible digital quality".

"I didn't care — it changed my life all the same. For me, the value of music is the value you extract from it," he wrote.

To further demonstrate the point, Parker wove an explanatory tale of where money in the music industry goes, and how it gets there, along the way pointing out that "someone high up" apparently helped themselves to the band's international earnings along the way, and that it wasn't until a successful synchronisation deal for a television advertisement that Parker was able to properly set himself up with funds from his career as a performer.

"Up until recently, from all of Tame Impala's record sales outside of Australia I had received zero dollars," he explained. "Someone high up spent the money before it got to me. I may never get that money.

"Then Blackberry and some Tequila brand or something put my song in an ad. Then I bought a house and set up a studio. I know what you're thinking: 'Wait so when I bought an album I was helping some businessman pay for his mansion on an island somewhere, and when some dude bought a mobile phone he was helping to pay an artist? WHHHYY?' I'll tel you why, It's MONEY. It doesn't always go where you want it to go.

"It's like a shopping trolley with a bung wheel. As far as I'm concerned the best thing you can do for an artist is LISTEN to the music, fall in love with it, talk about it, get it however you can get it. Let the corporations pay for [it]."

You can start with Disciples — Parker also posted a link to the new track, taken from the band's eagerly awaited third studio full-length, Currents, during the AMA; watch it below.

Tame Impala will perform as part of this year's massive Splendour In The Grass event; see the Festivals tab for more information.