Balancing Act

For a guy who, you would think, is constantly pulling his hair out on account of being involved in a world-renowned band, and a respected 'side project' constantly gathering momentum, Jay Watson is one of the most down-to-earth people you will ever talk to. “I'm just packing up my house to move out because I'm heading on tour again, so I don't have to pay rent again while I'm away,” he laughs. “I'm always running late so I have a whole heap of emails crashing down on me, boring administrative stuff, but yeah, exciting times ahead.”

Watson, who plays in Tame Impala, Pond, and lends a helping hand with various other local projects, is releasing his debut solo record under the moniker Gum. The album, titled Delorean Highway, features ten tracks that reflect on negative aspects of Watson's personal life, although he doesn't seem to think many listeners will realise it. “I had really bad anxiety at the time and I was really depressed, which is quite funny because none of it really sounds depressing. If you read all the lyrics on a sheet of paper it would seem pretty dark, but it's all pretty sunshiney. I feel really good at the moment, but listening back to it, it seems pretty emo-ey lyrically. I just felt like I was a crappy alcoholic who didn't care about anyone else.”

According to Watson, working on Delorean Highway has certainly been different to what he's used to. “With Pond, all the ideas we have just happen. We don't veto too many ideas. It's hard, like with most of the lyrics and song titles, the other guys would chip in like, 'That's a bit cheesy' or 'don't do that' and vice versa, so it's definitely a bit weird doing everything yourself. There's stuff on [the album] that I know is cool, but there's a lot of it that I don't really have a perspective on. It's a bit ballsier in that respect – I never considered myself confident or arrogant enough to release a solo album before.

“It's not hard balancing everything. We have a great manager and she has people who help her, so that helps. But I don't even notice until I check my emails and there's like ten people's emails in capital letters going, 'Where are you, we've been asking about this for months!' and that's the only time it feels a bit, y'know... Really, I just feel like a big kid who gets to make noise. I don't have to have a job now which makes it a lot easier for me compared to most people, but I don't take it for granted at all. I've had to get a hobby for myself – it's football now – I go to games basically every weekend now because I need a hobby. I think we just do so much because we're never satisfied with what we've done. We don't hate it, but we move on very quickly because we always think we can do better. It's just an endless pursuit to make things perfect.”