Australian artist Kevin Parker, better known as Tame Impala, is launching a musical instrument company called Telepathic Instruments.
A website and Instagram page for the brand were set up last week, with the Instagram bio describing Telepathic Instruments as "an electronic instruments company founded by Tame Impala and friends". Parker has since added the handle to his own bio, confirming his involvement.
Very little has been revealed about Telepathic Instruments so far; the less we know the better, apparently. The brand's first post depicts its logo image, made up of four piano keys, alongside a heavily distorted synth pad and vocal, while the second post shows a pixelated figure looking out to the ocean, with no audio.
The Telepathic Instruments website doesn't tell us much more, featuring a similarly pixelated logo accompanied by a processed vocal and synth that both sound as if they've been run through a bitcrusher. All of the sounds in the teasers have been remarkably lo-fi, leading us to wonder if Parker will be launching his own retro 8-bit synthesizer, or even an effects pedal.
Last year, Parker revealed his favourite synth in an interview with Synth History: the Sequential Circuits Pro One. "The Pro One to this day is still one of my favorite synths [...] It had this sound that I just fell in love with. It sounded like crying in outer space."
Later in the interview, Parker weighed in on the analogue vs digital debate. "I love analog synths, it’s a whole experience, but I'll never argue that they sound better than a digital clone. It's all about the process.
"The process of using an old synth just makes you feel a certain way, and that leads you to different things, for better or for worse. Digital synths have their place too."
Last Friday, Parker joined Dua Lipa on stage for her headline set at Glastonbury Festival, performing his 2015 hit The Less I Know The Better.
