Kevin Parker, the mastermind behind multi-platinum psychedelic pop outfit Tame Impala, is the latest featured guest on Amoeba Music‘s ‘What’s In My Bag?‘ series. While his own music doesn’t exactly show the influences, his fandom of some heavier music is readily displayed across this episode.

During his time at the music chain’s Hollywood, CA location, Parker picked up Australian post-grunge outfit Silverchair‘s gold-certified 1997 sophomore album “Freak Show“. He also snagged a copy of Deftones‘ 2x multi-platinum alternative metal landmark “White Pony“, and alternative rockers Queens Of The Stone Age‘s sophomore album “Rated R“.

Speaking of his love of Deftones and “White Pony“, Parker shared [transcribed by theprp.com]:

“Deftones – ‘White Pony‘, also kind of a soundtrack to [my youth.] A lot of this [Parker‘s record choices at Amoeba Music] is nostalgia, It’s like me taking a trip down memory lane. That’s what I’ve used today for. I never actually had the real CD because my friend burnt me a copy of this. I have to say, I’m sorry, which was like real taboo back in the day if you’re a fan of music, but I was obsessed with this album. I had been into a lot of nü-metal and stuff from like when I was a kid. Deftones was the one that like carried through into like teenage years and stuff.

It’s another album I listen… I hear songs from now and I’m like, uhhn… it almost hurts to listen to it. It just takes me right back there to being such a fragile human. I never remember ‘Back To School‘ being track one. I think they may have changed it. For me, I put on this album and ‘Feiticeira” is the first thing.

You know like the first sound that comes on an album? Like that’s the one that gets you, for me that’s track one and they’ve changed it. They seem to have revised history. Maybe I just had, maybe my burnt copy was not the right one, but it’s vital that the first track has all the right things about it. It has to announce the album it’s like the flagbearer of the album. Once you’ve got that one in, the rest the album can kind of just it sort of makes itself. A big responsibility the first track, definitely.”

Parker isn’t wrong about the revised “White Pony” track listing. The original release of the album actually didn’t feature “Back To School (Mini Maggit)“. That song was hastily thrown together in a sense to appease their label, who were seeking a single more in line with the trends at the time .

A subsequent reissue of “White Pony” found that song included as the opening track, with the label also pushing the band to move ahead with the newly added track as the album’s second single. Members of the group have since expressed that they preferred the original running order of the record, calling the decision an unfortunate “compromise.”

Speaking to The Ringer back in 2020, Deftones vocalist/guitarist Chino Moreno voiced his own struggles with “Back To School“, stating:

“I remember Guy [Oseary, Maverick Records chairman] calling me and saying, ‘This chorus on the last song (‘Pink Maggit‘) … that’s a hit chorus. All you gotta do is write something a little more upbeat on it. Why don’t you rap on it, man?’ I was like, ‘Hell no. We just made a statement record, and you guys all loved it when we put it out a few months back.’

Going to record [‘Back To School‘], I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to show [Guy] how easy it is to make a simple, formatted, verse-chorus-rap-bridge song.’ I sent it to them as quickly as possible so they could be like, ‘Wow, they did this that quick?’ They got it, and they loved it. I thought it was so-so.”

As for Parker‘s thoughts on Queens Of The Stone Age‘s major label debut “Rated R“, he offered:

“Lastly, ‘Rated R‘ by Queens Of The Stone Age. Again, very nostalgic, very important album for my musical upbringing. Thrashed this album. Thrashed the hell out of it in my my car. When I got my license, I had a CD of it in my car. Just full volume driving around my hometown. These songs made me feel like I was on drugs before I even took drugs. It’s so kind of like, psychedelic, but so hard rock at the same time.

‘Better Living Through Chemistry‘ is an example of that. Takes you on a journey. This album taught me that rock music can be like hard but also totally like sexy, you know? Like a machine. Queens Of The Stone Age sound for like this album and the album before it, ‘Songs For The Deaf‘, is totally unique. It has that sort of like disciplined motoric sound to it.

The guitar I play now is tuned down because of this album. Like I still haven’t tuned up to standard tuning. Queens Of The Stone Age definitely changed the way I play guitar. I went from being like, just trying to be as angry and and angsty as possible, to just like being really controlled and like, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun, you know what I mean?”

You can see what else Parker took home in the below episode: