Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker is the man of the hour. Having recently unveiled their third album, Currents, to widespread international and local acclaim, Tame Impala now officially have the biggest album in the country.

Parker isn’t resting on his laurels, either. The frontman has been making the rounds as a guest star on Mark Ronson’s current Uptown Special tour, recently appearing with the producer at Splendour In The Grass.

Speaking recently to The Guardian, the psych rock auteur has also revealed that he is busying himself with more production work. “I’m producing an album by this other band, this hip-hop jazz group called Koi Child,” he says.

“They got played on BBC Radio1 the other day ­­– I was very proud. They actually called me Uncle Kevin. I was devastated. Like, really? Am I that old to you?” Indeed, it’s not surprising Parker is looked upon as something of an uncle figure by younger bands.

As Tone Deaf recently noted, you only have to go back to 2008 to see Tame Impala struggling to draw crowds at local Perth music festivals. Now, they’re one of the biggest bands in the country, and a shining beacon for a generation of younger bands.

That’s why it was a little disappointing to see Parker make some rather underwhelming remarks about the Australian psychedelic scene. Specifically, outside of his band and cohorts Pond and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Parker doesn’t really think there is much of one.

“I don’t think there is [an Australian psych scene],” Parker told The Guardian. “We’ve got our friends in Perth, like all the guys from Pond. We’ve all lived together at some point, a circle of friends of maybe 10 or 15 people.”

“And you know what, Jay [Watson, of Tame Impala, Pond and Gum] lived with the guys from King Gizzard when he was in Melbourne and they’ve got their own thing as well. I think our kind of clans merged for a little there. I’ve met them briefly and they seem like nice guys.”

No Australian psych scene? Come on, Kev. We reckon Dave Couri, the founder of Sydney Psych Fest, might disagree. “We have so many bands that are celebrated overseas – which is almost how this festival started,” Couri told Tone Deaf back in December.

“I’ve met so many bands on our travels to festivals in the US, and the conversation always became ‘Why can’t we do this at home?’… it’s been overwhelming the response we had this year of bands wanting to play this year, wanting to be involved. And there’s a mutual respect between the bands and with us.”

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“We have a truly unique and talent-rich pool here in Australia,” Couri added. “Groups that make it overseas seem to be received and recognised very well. The internet is a great thing, but the reality of living on an island means that our groups do suffer the tyranny of distance.”

While it is indeed tough for our Aussie bands to find an audience overseas — though King Gizzard seem to be doing a pretty good job — just looking at the lineup for the last Sydney Psych Fest reveals a rich and bustling scene happening in Australia.

Lats year’s event featured the likes of Immigrant Union, Glass Skies, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Citradels, and more. That’s not to mention the lineup for the upcoming Stargazed festival, a boutique event happening in Melbourne with appearances from Fierce Mild, BREVE, Baptism of Uzi, Hideous Towns, and more.

We reckon Kevin Parker is an absolute legend and Tame Impala are one of the best things to come out of the Australian music scene in years, but to say there’s no psych scene in Australia outside of the Perth mob and King Gizz is just inaccurate.

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