Jay Watson of GUM on New Music, Tame Impala, and Collaboration Albums

There are few musicians who can do it all. Sing, write, produce, and play every instrument imaginable. For the most part, those who can handle every element of the studio are well-known due to their expertise; however, some remain under the radar. Jay Watson defines the archetype of an artist who can do it all on his own. He’s toured with Tame Impala since the early days, is a founding member of the psychedelic band Pond, and when he’s on his own, he releases music under the name GUM.

In 2024, Watson teamed up with King Gizzard’s Ambrose Kenny Smith for a collaborative album and also released a new album with Pond. GUM’s latest track, “Expanding Blue,” marks Watson’s solo return after two years, laying the groundwork for his upcoming album, out next year. He calls it a Jazz track, but he’s aware it has no bearing on the genre in a traditional sense.

For the past month, Tame Impala’s been touring North America, with Watson lending his craft to guitar, keys, and backing vocals. While on a day off in LA, Watson hopped on a call with me before hiking up a hill in Hollywood to discuss new music, touring with Tame, and his workflow.

Sam: First off, I caught night one of the Tame Impala tour in Brooklyn, and opening with “Apocalypse Dreams” was perfect. What’s it like to play the older material that’s now 15 years old?

Jay: It’s great, man. “Apocalypse Dreams” we’ve always played, but as we play the older ones, it reminds me of our little shows back in the day. I get little nuggets of nostalgia from doing stuff 15 years ago.

How’s the tour going in general?

Oh yeah, it’s going great, man. Really. I think people seem to be enjoying it. It’s something different; the show is in the round, in the middle of the floor, so it’s different.

You have a lot going on right now. Last year, you released new music with Pond and Ambrose Kenny Smith, and you’re on tour with Tame Impala. Your first solo single in two years is out now. How’s it feel to have new solo music out?

It’s cool. I just wanted to have something out before the end of the year, before the album comes out next year. And it’s a pretty relaxed song, but I really like it. It’s kind of a mix of Jazz and soul influences. I was like, ‘The new albums coming out next year, here’s my version of Jazz music.’ It’s not really Jazz at all, but it’s just from me listening to Jazz, and the changes in the feel of it.

Why “Expanding Blue” as the first single? Can you tell me a little about recording the song?

I don’t really think of it as a single. It was just one of my favorites from the new album, and it’s my favorite to listen to because of the mood it creates. I’d had the chord progression for years, but didn’t really know where to take it, so this song, along with many of the other songs on the upcoming album, is like one idea that slowly unfolds. Not many of them are ‘chorus, verse, chorus,’ sort of pop songs; the idea just sort of unfolds and develops as it goes along. 

There’s a lot of music I’ve been listening to over the past couple of years that’s like that. Like, Spirit Of Eden by Talk Talk, and the Radiohead album, A Moon Shaped Pool.

There isn’t much that’s been said about the new album. What can you say? What can fans look forward to next year?

Um, yeah, I don’t know. I put a lot into it. I think it is probably my best album, lyric-wise. I’ve gotten a lot better at writing lyrics, and care a lot more than I used to about lyrics. It’s probably my most earnest record, and I tried to set a specific mood.

On my older albums, I would do all sorts of different styles of music on the same record. Whereas this one, just flows. There’s still some faster stuff and wilder stuff than the first song. But in general, I tried to have a record that had a certain feel to it, rather than jumping all over the place.

So the record kind of stays in that jazzy, “Expanding Blue” vibe?

It’s funny, none of it sounds like jazz, and some of it is still loud rock music with fuzz guitars and stuff. But it’s just harmonically, the way the chord changes, and the drums are inspired by Jazz, I guess. But, no Jazz person would think it sounds like Jazz, you know what I mean? It’s just what I’ve taken from the genre.

If you’re really accurate at recreating a type of music or something, it can end up a bit derivative. So, I like being inspired by stuff that I can’t really do myself, because it comes out as my own thing.

Going back to your work with Ambrose Kenny Smith, that’s a match made in heaven. How did that collaboration affect your approach to the new record?

Yeah, it just made me want to do more music with other people. He works so fast, and those guys, as you know, make so much music all the time, which is what I’ve always wanted to do, and now, I want to do it even more. 

I have more ideas than I have time to make music. It inspired me to be more prolific as long as the quality doesn’t suffer. I don’t see how it’s a bad thing, as long as you’re inspired while you’re making it.

From an outside perspective, I feel like you make more music than most artists. How do you stay afloat mentally and creatively when you’re doing a Tame tour, recording with Pond, and you’re making music as GUM?

Yeah, it gets hard sometimes, but you just have to make sure that whatever you’re currently working on, you’re putting 100% into it and not getting distracted by the other things. It’s easy for me to get distracted, especially because I’m a bit ADD or something. It’s really easy to do a lot of things at once and accomplish none of them. Like, I half-finish lots of things. 

I’ve become better at focusing on one thing at a time and ensuring it’s as good as it can be. I’m fortunate enough at the moment not to have a day job, as this is all I do. I have two kids, and other than being with them, that’s all I do. My hobby is music and music equipment, and my free time is spent listening to music. I’ve got no excuse, really. In my head, it’s just how I use my time. There’s just a lot of stuff to want to make and be inspired by and strive for. 

When you’re working with Tame or Pond, do you ever have moments where you think of something you can steal for a GUM record?

I mean, yeah, sometimes I’ll be rehearsing, and I’ll play something, and I’ll be like, I need to remember that for later. Obviously, if it can work in the thing I’m currently working on, I will use it. However, I try not to save things for specific projects, because it’s just a slippery slope. Once you start trying to compartmentalize the music you make and save stuff to particular projects, you run the risk of it not coming out. 

But I have lots of old demos on my phone, and ideas from 10 years ago that made it onto that record with Ambrose. If it’s good, almost nothing gets wasted in the long run. If it’s good and you don’t forget it after 10 years, that implies it was memorable.

Earlier, you mentioned wanting to record with more new people after working with Ambrose. Are there any artists that you’d love to work with?

There’s heaps of stuff I really like. I mean, everyone’s going nuts over that new Geese record. And I really like that. I really liked their last one, too. I’d love to record with them or collaborate on a project one day. Yeah, yeah. There’s just not a lot of time in the world to do all the things you want to do.

What other new music are you into?

My friend creates music under the name DeepFaith. He sent me a song the other day, “Y&I,” and it’s really awesome. I also like the band Water From Your Eyes. I don’t know heaps of the new bands, but stuff pops up in my algorithm. I tend to listen to the same things that I’ve been listening to for years. 

Well, congrats on the tour. What’s one older Tame track you’d love to hear played live again?

On our last tour, we played “Runway, Houses, City, Clouds.” That’s my favorite song off Innerspeaker, so I’ll go with that one.

Awesome, that’s one of my favorites. Thanks for doing this, good luck with the rest of the tour.

Thanks, Sam, nice to meet you.

Jay Watson is GUM. Listen to his new song here. Find more on GUM here.