“Jebediah’s apparent strategy is simple,” I wrote in December last year; “Take to the stage and kick several shades of shit from any lingering doubts about their ongoing aptitude.”

At the time, it’d been a while between drinks for Perth quartet, who rose to national prominence off the back of their 1997 debut, Slightly Odway. During the ensuing years, their high-energy alternative rock – occasionally intercut with slower, ballad-like singles, in ‘Harpoon’ and ‘Feet Touch The Ground’ – was on a par with Silverchair, Spiderbait, You Am I et al in terms of both triple j airplay and frequent festival appearances. The foursome - frontman Kevin Mitchell, his older brother and drummer Brett, bassist Vanessa Thornton, and guitarist Chris Daymond - took a breather after the so-so chart performance of their independently-released fourth album, Braxton Hicks (2004), Kevin Mitchell pursued (and found) success with his solo project Bob Evans. Jebediah would continue to play sporadically, but by and large, it seemed as though the group weren’t in any hurry to return to the studio.

Now their fifth album is being released on April 15 via Brisbane-based independent label Dew Process. Kosciuszko was recorded on-and-off over several years with Dave Parkin (Snowman, Sugar Army) in a Perth studio, whenever the four members could find the time. Bar now-Melbournite Kevin Mitchell – the only member able to support himself as a full-time musician – the other three still live in Perth. Mitchell senior works for a logistics company, Daymond works at 78 Records, and Thornton recently completed a Bachelor of Science, between playing with Felicity Groom & The Black Black Smoke.
 
I spent a couple of days with the band in early December last year, while they played a short run of shows and shot the video for ‘She’s Like A Comet’ – their current single, which is receiving heavy airplay on both alternative and commercial radio – in Sydney. With those experiences still fresh in mind, TheVine connected with drummer Brett Mitchell.

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You've been in this situation before, where you sit down and do a bunch of phone interviews to promote the new record. How does it feel this time around?

It’s coming back to me. Promo is one of those things which – as I’m sure you know – ranges from genuinely painful to genuinely enjoyable. So it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. It’s always nice to have the chance to talk about things in a meaningful way, or in a way that you think is going to be relevant to people. But that doesn’t always happen. What can I say? I’m just kind of going with the flow, and trying not to be too cynical about it.

At this stage, which sensation is more accurate: painful, or enjoyable?

I have to say, it probably has been more enjoyable than I would’ve anticipated. Maybe that’s because the commercial [success] is happening with the single (‘She’s Like A Comet’). Plus there’s that [band] history there, which a lot of people seem to be familiar with. I guess people have got a couple of different angles to approach us from, and maybe that’s helping me smooth it over.


Jebediah - 'She's Like A Comet'

The single has been doing well, hasn’t it?

Yeah. I’m certainly spun out. It’s very strange to me, that after all this time, we get this song pretty much across the board on radio. It’s certainly never happened before. It’s awesome because it’s giving us a springboard, which I’m sure we did need. But it’s still a shock. It probably doesn’t bear anything, really; it’s one of those things that’s just happened, and perhaps it’s a random event. We just have to capitalise on it.

I have to ask about the album title, Kosciuszko. Is there a significance behind it? Can we draw some parallels between it being the summit of Jebediah's musical career so far, or some such?

I was actually a bit worried about the symbolism that people might interpret in that. It seemed like it might be a little bit grand, or arrogant, or something. But in actual fact, that doesn’t exist at all, and I’m still at the point now – speaking of promo – where I’m actually telling the truth about most things. So the truth with [the album title] is that it was Kevin’s baby.

Apparently The Beatles were going to call The White Album Everest. He must have read something about it. Obviously it never happened, and I don’t know if anyone else has ever gone down that path. But the appealing thing to me about it, is that it’s essentially a nonsense word. It doesn’t even look like a word, when you see it written on the page. We’ve always had a lean in that direction, so I think it kind of fits. As for the symbolism – I don’t know. People can make of it what they will.

So if you’re telling the truth this time around, does that mean you’ve been telling lies during past interviews?

Well, it depends. If you get asked the same question enough times, you sort of feel like you need to say something new. Which, by definition, would be a lie, if you’d previously told the truth [laughs]. I don’t know. Maybe there’s more to talk about this time around; maybe we got a bit worn down in the past with all that stuff. But it’s not really bothering me at the moment, and I’m happy to chat with people pretty much on face value.

The most recent press release for the album states that, when you toured with The Smashing Pumpkins years ago, you “sold more merch than the headline act”. Is this true?

[Pause] Yeah, I do remember reading that. I don’t know. We should be richer than we are if that happened…I can’t remember. Maybe we had some cool tees. Man, that’s going back so far. In actual fact, we didn’t even tour with them. I think we only did the one show.

Oh, the press release is telling lies?

[Laughs] It’s one of those things that creeps into the press, or whatever, and after a while you just go, “Yeah, whatever; that looks good.” Because really, that stuff isn’t for us at all, you know? It doesn’t even have to… I guess press is always about representing you in ways that you wouldn’t choose to represent yourselves. So, just let ‘em run with it. Yeah, we sold more merch than The Smashing Pumpkins! Why not?

Alright, fact confirmed! I’ll put it on Jebediah’s Wikipedia page!

[Laughs] “It must be true!” I might go and edit it… [laughs]

(Continued next page)




Let's talk about drumming.

Ooh, we’re heading into murky territory, but I’m game.

What first attracted you?

I went over to a friend’s place after school, in Year 11 sometime, I think. He had a drum kit there. I think I’d been playing a bit of guitar previously. Basically, I listened to him play for a while, and thought, “Wow, that sounds awesome! Just like what you hear on a record!” So I hopped on and had a bit of a hit. I think there must have been something about it that clicked with me straight away. But as for what appeals...I guess it’s a little bit primal. Not that I’m driven by those instincts in life normally, but maybe that’s my outlet. Maybe that’s my primal outlet, whereas I’m kind of repressed in the rest of my life.

So it’s a way for you to blow off steam, in some ways.

Yeah, for sure. It really is very cathartic; it can be. Maybe another person would use a punching bag. And it’s certainly not an instrument that I have any interest in mastering, but you can go as far as you want with it. It’s quite satisfying to get better at something over time, even if it’s not for any direction or desire.

What's your relationship with the drum kit on a day-to-day basis? I know you work for a logistics company [in Perth]. Do you tend to play much during the workweek?

I actually bought an electronic kit last year, because it’s really not that easy to play or practise on your own time. There always seems to be other considerations; neighbours, or whatever. I figure that’s the best way for me to just have a tinker around at home, now. So in terms of playing daily: nup, it’s not something that I do anymore. I certainly did when I started playing, but some of that novelty has worn off. My focus at the moment would probably more along the lines of meeting requirements that’ve popped up over the last year. So I’ve basically just got to make sure I don’t fuck it up too often. That’s the simplest way to put it. That will require some practice!

Transitioning from a traditional drum kit to an electronic kit; was that tough?

It is very different. The good thing about playing an electronic drum kit, I reckon, is that it leads you to do things you wouldn’t normally ever think to do. There are [preprogrammed] sounds that will lead you in a certain way; the backing tracks on there will get you moving in a certain direction. That’s kind of cool, and I think most drummers would find that helpful if they didn’t have the initiative to seek that stuff out themselves. Which I really don’t; I’ve always just done what seemed to be called for in the songs.

Have you ever regretted your decision to play drums? Do you ever look at the others and think, 'Fuck, you've got it easy!'?

[Laughs] I think they look at me and think that! I think we probably all looked at each other at one point or another, and thought that. Drumming is my niche, up the back. But none of us knew how to play our instruments when we started. So maybe the fact that we’ve all been through that learning process together has meant that we just accept [the situation]. There’s some sort of middle ground that’s just unspoken.

These songs on Kosciuskzo have been in a complete form for quite a while now. What are your thoughts on the long time between writing and releasing music? Is that a frustrating process?

Not really. It only became apparent right toward the end of the recording process that we had an opportunity to do it properly; to release it properly. So I think it’s been quite nice to have some time to get our heads around [the songs], and to get back into it. Because it’s something we’ve spent so little time with in total, over the last few years. So some of it certainly has been frustrating. Because you just want to keep the ball rolling; even if it’s going kind of… downhill [laughs]. But this time around, it’s sort of like we’ve got nothing to lose. It’s not like there was a momentum there that has been broken by [the lag time]. It’s been good to have that time.


Jebediah - The making of Of Someday Shambles (1999)

When we met last you last year, you told me that your definition of success would be “if you could quit your day job and focus on the band full-time”. Are you any closer to realising that, Brett?

I think I’m very close to it. I think they’re going to fire me if I don’t quit. [laughs] No employer in their right mind is going to give someone six months off to tour. It feels like, now, the momentum is there, and it probably is inevitable. And I must admit, I will relish that moment. I’ll also be broke, but, you know; what the hell. [laughs]

Andrew McMillen

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JEBEDIAH - KOSCIUSZKO TOUR 2011

Thursday 5 May - Corner Hotel, Richmond - With Violent Soho and Valentiine
Friday 6 May - Corner Hotel, Richmond - With Violent Soho and Cola Wars (SOLD OUT)
Saturday 7 May - Bended Elbow, Geelong - With Violent Soho and special guests
Thursday 26 May - ANU Bar, Canberra - With Violent Soho and Young Revelry
Friday 27 May - Factory Theatre, Sydney - With Violent Soho and Young Revelry
Saturday 28 May - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle - With Violent Soho and Young Revelry
Friday 3 June - The Hi-Fi, Brisbane - With Violent Soho and Numbers Radio
Saturday 4 June - Irish Club, Toowoomba - With Violent Soho and and Numbers Radio
Friday 10 June - Astor Theatre, Perth - With Violent Soho and Joe Kings
Sunday 12 June - The Gov, Adelaide - With Violent Soho and Jackson Firebird
Friday 22 July - Republic Bar, Hobart - With Special Guests

jebediah.net