Tame Impala are a psychedelic rock band from Perth, Australia. They are signed to Modular Records. The band came to prominence in 2010 with the release of their first debut album, Innerspeaker. Their name refers to the impala, a medium sized antelope. They like to see themselves as "a steady flowing psychedelic groove rock band that emphasizes dream-like melody."
Tame Impala were formed from Kevin Parker's original blues/jazz/psychedelic band, the Dee Dee Dums. The Dee Dee Dums consisted of Parker (drums ) and Luke Epstein (guitar), with the band getting second place at the 2005 AmpFest and winning third place that year in the state final of The Next Big Thing.
In October 2006 Epstein was replaced by drummer Sam Devenport, Epstein going on to play with Sugarpuss. The Dee Dee Dums went on to win the WA state final of the National Campus Band Competition.
In late 2007 the band renamed to Tame Impala unveiling another new drummer and replacing the two-guitar attack for the more traditional guitar/bass/drums format. Devenport went on to pursue an acting career.
Tame Impala’s first single, "Sundown Syndrome", was recorded at Toerag Studios in London, with recording engineer Liam Watson, whilst the band was there in March 2009. "Sundown Syndrome" was premiered by Richard Kingsmill on his 2009 show on triple j on Sunday May 10. It was released in July, 2009 on vinyl and electronically along with a cover of Blue Boy's "Remember Me".
Tame Impala's debut album, Innerspeaker, was released on 21 May 2010. In the U.K. it's official release date was 28 June, however iTunes accidentally made it available to buy immediately (not pre-order) on 12 May. The album was released in the United States on 8 June to general and critical acclaim. Pitchfork named it Best New Music.
The band has been busy touring during mid 2010, with their 'Innerspeaker album tour' commencing on 13 May 2010, as the opening band for MGMT's 2010 American tour. The band returned to Australia to play at Splendour in the Grass festival, which was followed by a European Tour in July (including an appearance at the Reading Festival) and a national Australian tour in October.
In November they returned to the UK and Europe for a fifteen date tour, including their largest London headline show to date which was attended by Noel Gallagher, Tom Meighan, Sergio Pizzorno, Noel Fielding, Alexa Chung and Alison Mosshart, the band then went on to the United States for twenty headline dates including sold out New York, LA and San Francisco. They also received four 2010 ARIA Music Awards nominations which include, 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Rock Album' for Innerspeaker, 'Best Group' and also 'Breakthrough Artist'.
