Jebediah
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Jebediah

Most of us are not impartial to hitting the snooze button early in the morning – especially here at Forté. Receiving the call for this interview a little later than expected from Kevin Mitchell, the vocalist and guitarist of Aussie rock band Jebediah, you really can’t blame the man for wanting a sleep in.

“Sorry I’m a little late, I slept in this morning,” Mitchell confesses.

“I’ve now got a bit of time to kind of relax. It’s a very busy November and December coming up.”

Mitchell and his three alternative rocker band mates have had a massive career with limited sleep ins, last year marking the 20th anniversary for the Perth outfit which they celebrated with a sold out national tour of the country.

When you look at how far Jebediah have come since their formation in 1995, with five studio albums and a monumental compilations album behind them, it’s hard to think that it was never their intention to be together for so long.

“I don’t think I had any intentions beyond my very immediate future back then. We didn’t know where it was going to lead and we never sat down and worked out any goals or ambitions – we were just kind of riding a wave,” Mitchell says.

“I do recall been quoted in the late 90s saying something along the lines of ‘this is kind of like a let’s have fun in our 20s band’. So I think I thought that into my late 30s it would all be over, and it almost was in a way. By the time I was 30, Jebediah were on hiatus, we had four albums and I was doing the solo thing which I didn’t see coming.”

Now, 21 years later Mitchell says Jebediah have moved into this third stage of their life as they prepare to hit the stage for A Day on the Green this November. Joining the likes of Spiderbait, You Am I and Something for Kate, Mitchell is beyond excited to be playing among these like-minded bands.

“I don’t know who was responsible for giving us the call, but I am very grateful that they did because if I had like read this tour was happening with bands that I really, really love and the Jebs weren’t on it, I would have just been like ‘agh, why weren’t we on this tour!!?’ I would have been so fucking jealous.

“All three of those bands are people that I have a lot of love and respect for. So I keep reminding myself about that – I want to make sure that I enjoy it as much as possible. It’s going to be a fucking blast.”

This will be Mitchell’s second time performing at a Day on the Green, previously on the line-up as his folk-pop alter ego Bob Evans three years ago. For Jebediah however, this will be the first time the outfit graces the winery stage, with Mitchell admitting it was an opportunity he never really saw coming.

“I thought that they thought we were just too rough around the edges to play at a sophisticated winery show. But I’m really excited for my band mates because it is just the best. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever done a festival where I have been treated so well and played in such beautiful surroundings. I’m sure they will be excited too about not having to listen to me talk about how great it is.”

Between discussing the copious amount of fine wine, pates and artisan cheeses Mitchell will be enjoying on the tour, the zealous musician boasts this as a real dream come true for the band.

“For an opportunity like this to fall in our lap 20 years into our career, it just makes me think thank fuck we never broke up. Because if we broke up, look what we would be missing out on.”

The Jebs will be hitting the stage in the early afternoon for what sounds to be a very crowd pleasing performance, with Mitchell promising to “be on our fucking game”. Fingers crossed for the classic 90s hits like ‘Leaving Home’ and ‘Harpoon’, or even their later track ‘She’s Like a Comet’.

Following the last stop on the Day on the Green tour, Mitchell will begin his solo tour as Bob Evans alongside Josh Pyke four days later. As for what’s next for the Jebs? Well, Mitchell says their time at these gigs could see the hatching of some future plans for the group, who are currently spread out across Australia.

“I expect that at one of these gigs, perhaps at about 8pm in the evening, we’ll all be well lubricated and ready to come up with a plan. I would love for us to start getting together again and start knocking some ideas around and see what happens.

“It’s been five years since the last Jebs record, but I think that while we are still all together and having fun, the idea of making another record… well the door is very much open.”

Written by Talia Rinaldo

When & Where: A Day on the Green @ Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong – November 12 & Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley – November 13

For more information and for tickets visit the website.