The Beatles' Psychedelic Era Heavily Influenced One of Today's Biggest Psychedelic Artists

Kevin Parker, more commonly known as Tame Impala, has made a comfortable space for himself within the alternative music realm. Exploding far beyond just an internet niche, the 40-year-old Australian artist has paved a lane entirely his own by fusing psychedelia with indie rock since 2007. He’s made his name known for doing everything himself, from writing, to performing, to producing, to mixing. His authenticity and musical genius has led to Grammy Awards, sold-out tours, and a ravenously devoted fanbase.

But though the music most certainly mirrors nothing of his peers, there’s a plethora of sources for Tame Impala’s sound. Parker has noted the impact of The Bee Gees, My Bloody Valentine, and stated that he has a "fetish for extremely sugary pop music" from such artists as Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. However, most seeds can be traced back to one particularly iconic band.

Drawing significant influence from The Beatles, particularly their late-'60s psychedelic era, he pays direct homage to them in his layered production, dreamy vocals, reverb-heavy soundscapes, and experimental effects. In fact, Parker directly cites Abbey Road as his favorite project. Here are the parallels between both artists’ discographies and how the Beatles continue to shape the ever evolving landscape of modern rock.

The Beatles' Psychedelic Influence on Tame Impala

From 2010s Innerspeaker to 2015’s Currents, Impala’s sound is a dynamic exploration of modern psychedelia. He’s created soundscapes that feel like alternate planes of consciousness by layering swirling synths, reverb-heavy guitars, and dreamy textures that bow to that late-’60s sound the Beatles helped shaped. Albums like 1966’s Revolver and 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s made an undeniable impact in defining psychedelic rock as we know it, including surreal lyrics, unusual sounds, and studio experimentation. It empowered artists to be unconfined within their sonic exploration and dare to use everything they can as an instrument, letting their inner child run free while making their art.

Alongside frequent producer George Martin, the Beatles pioneered techniques like reverse loops, tape manipulation, layered vocal harmonies, and placing the mic in unusual ways to distort sound. With that same brazen hunger to discover and reinvent, Parker tweaked and played with saturation, pitch-shifting and dreamy reverb washes. Within their own right, both artists reimagined what a recording could sound like, often inventing new techniques just by maintaining allegiance to their intuitive compass.

Beyond sonic landscapes, Tame Impala also borrows the Beatles’ ability to tell stories through a lens of psychology and consciousness rather than straightforward narrative. Songs like the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “I Am the Walrus,” find themselves centered on self reflection and mind expansion, which basically colors all of Impala’s Currents. Parker has dived head first into inner turmoil, emotional introspection, and yearning to find identity as reality slips further away.

1966’s “Tomorrow Never Knows” drowns in the idea of letting go of control, finding roots buried in Eastern philosophy and a psychedelic trip. In fact, its anchoring line is “turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.” Similarly, 2015’s “Let It Happen” echoes that very same sentiment, finding comfort in having no comfort at all. Parker repeatedly circles the idea of resisting change vs surrendering to it, coming home to the truth that loss of control is true liberation. The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” and Impala’s “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” find similar ground within their addiction to nostalgia and confusion about reality. Both songs deal with the idea that forward motion doesn’t always feel forward, emotionally or mentally.