Kevin Edward Mitchell (born 1 October 1977), known professionally as Bob Evans, is an Australian singer-songwriter; who primarily uses the pseudonym for his solo work. He is also the founding lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Perth-based alternative rock band Jebediah, formed in 1994, which has included his older brother Brett Mitchell on drums since the band's inception. Jebediah released five studio albums between 1997 and 2011, the first three of which debuted in the top ten on the Australian Albums Chart.
In 1999, Mitchell began performing as a solo folk-pop artist under the stage name "Bob Evans", a pseudonym he deliberately chose to distinguish his solo work from Jebediah. The project served as an outlet for his quieter, more introspective songwriting, drawing form musical influences outside the band's primary sound. His most successful solo effort, Suburban Songbook (2006), peaked at No. 15 on the ARIA Albums Chart, while his subsequent releases, Goodnight, Bull Creek! (2009), and Familiar Stranger (2013), both reached the top 40.
He released Car Boot Sale in 2016 and Tomorrowland in 2021. As of October 2023, Mitchell has released seven solo studio albums. He launched the Good Evans, It's A Bobcast! podcast in May 2016.
Biography Early life Mitchell was born on 1 October 1977. From the age of five to 18 years, he grew up in the outer Perth suburb of Bull Creek. His older brother, Brett, is a musician who played in various Perth-based groups, and both of his parents migrated from England. Mitchell's third studio album, Goodnight, Bull Creek! (3 April 2009) references his hometown, and Mitchell provided the following description at the time: "It's a very ordinary, plain little suburb with a primary school and a shopping centre and a BMX track."
Mitchell attended Bull Creek Primary School, where he played Australian rules football, and he also attended dance classes during his early adolescence. It was while he was engaged in theatre classes at Leeming Senior High School that he met Jebediah's lead guitarist Chris Daymond. Following Mitchell's successful completion of the Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE), he commenced an undergraduate degree at a Western Australian university. After the first year he decided to forgo his course, and as a member of Jebediah, he signed a record deal in 1996.
In May 2009, Mitchell revealed that he experienced depression for a brief period at the age of 16 years. The condition then reappeared in 2007, and he explained:
I was feeling down with myself. The only time I had ever suffered depression was as a teenager when I was at school and here I was, 31 years old, and the last thing I ever thought was that those feelings would come back. I was confused and angry about it, thinking, "This is ridiculous, I'm an adult for Christ's sake", admonishing myself.
The experience eventually inspired the track "Pasha Bulker" on Goodnight Bull Creek. In a series of three blog posts published in March 2013 on the website of Australian music magazine The Music, Mitchell revealed that he had been "a 17 year-old university drop out that was still living with his parents rent free whilst discovering the joys of smoking bucket bongs", and described his "working class, English immigrant parents."
Jebediah formation and early years
In late 1994, Mitchell formed Jebediah with three school mates: Daymond on lead guitar, Almin Fulurija on drums, and Vanessa Thornton on bass guitar. Thornton had played lead guitar in her previous band Hybrid, but switched to bass guitar. Fulurija was soon replaced on drums by Brett before they played their first gig in May 1995 at Leeming Senior High School. Initially, the group performed cover versions by Pearl Jam, Green Day, Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins.
As Jebediah's popularity grew, they competed in the Australian National Campus Band Competition and, in October, they won the national final in Lismore, New South Wales. This success led to an opening slot on the 1996 Summersault music festival, which was run by the promoter Steve Pavlovic. Jebediah performed at the Fremantle Oval on 7 January alongside the Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters and Sonic Youth. In the setlist they appeared between the Amps and Pavement: Mitchell told Adam Connors of The West Australian that "[w]e've got an excellent position, I don't know how the hell we got it. I don't know what it's going to be like, I just don't know." He felt that "[j]umping up and down to Jebediah is the easiest thing ... Anyone can do it and you don't have to be a great dancer. That is how to deal with our music."
Jebediah signed with Murmur Records (a subsidiary label of Sony Music) in April 1996, "on the strength of their live shows alone. There were no demo recordings." The group won their first WAMi award in May that year for Best Stage Presence. In August they issued their first release, a five-track extended play, Twitch, which peaked at No. 61 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Mitchell and his three bandmates co-wrote their original material, with Mitchell supplying most of the lyrics. The band's first single, "Jerks of Attention", appeared in December, which earned a WAMi award, in mid-1997, for Most Popular Song and the group won the Most Popular Band category. Performances at Homebake and the Big Day Out, in addition to support shows for Soundgarden, Everclear, the Presidents of the United States of America, Silverchair and You Am I, further raised the band's profile.
On 8 September 1997 the band released their first studio album, Slightly Odway, which peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained in the top 50 for 54 weeks. Slightly Odway was certified double platinum in 1998 by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). During tours in 1998, Mitchell "first started playing solo shows", according to Thornton. Jebediah's follow-up album, Of Someday Shambles, was recorded in 1999 and its first single "Animal" peaked at No. 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart, while the album reached No. 2. Of Someday Shambles eventually earned a platinum certification from ARIA.
Jebediah then released the single "Fall Down" in October 2001, ahead of their self-titled album, which appeared on 3 March 2002. "Fall Down" peaked at No. 24, while the album reached No. 8. Their fourth album, Braxton Hicks, followed on 12 July 2004 using the band's own label, Redline Records. Following Braxton Hicks, Jebediah embarked on a six-year hiatus, providing Mitchell with time to focus on his solo work. They resumed the band for the release of their fifth studio album, Kosciuszko, on 15 April 2011.
2003–2009: Bob Evans' Suburban trilogy
Since 1999 Mitchell performs and releases his solo work under the pseudonym of Bob Evans, which was chosen "because it was written on a T-shirt I was wearing". He created the name to play low-profile solo shows in Perth. In 2013, Mitchell elaborated, "It was just a way to be incognito, to separate myself from Jebediah. I had to create this kind of pseudonym so I could do things without people really knowing about it and having expectations about it." As Bob Evans, he concludes written communication with the sign offs: "XXXBOBXXX" or "XXXbobXXX".
Bob Evan's debut album, Suburban Kid, was released on 8 September 2003 by Redline Records, Evans co-produced it with Simon Struthers. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny compared the album to his material with Jebediah: it showed a "more intimate, roots-flavored dimension of his songwriting." It was described in a Yourgigs' review as "an album of youthful introspection, love and loss." The album was later acquired by EMI following Mitchell's transfer to that music company. Mitchell recorded Suburban Kid at a home studio owned by Struthers, who was the bass guitarist for Perth band Adam Said Galore. The song "The Hermit" was co-written by Mitchell with another Perth musician, Luke Steele (of the Sleepy Jackson and later a member of Empire of the Sun), while Steele's sister, Katy Steele (of Little Birdy), contributed backing vocals.
In August 2014, as part of Double J's Artist in Residence series, Mitchell revealed that the Streets' album A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004) was a major influence on his subsequent lyrical work, both for Jebediah and his solo project as Bob Evans. He felt that it was "one of the smartest albums ever made." Mitchell described the work of the Streets' lyricist, Mike Skinner, as "folk poetry".
The second Bob Evans studio album, Suburban Songbook, was released on 10 June 2006. Mitchell sent the demo version to record producers he was interested in and was surprised by a quick response from an American, Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, Yo La Tengo, Sheryl Crow): "Normally when you send a demo to a producer overseas you are lucky to even hear back. Within a month of him hearing the demos I was on a plane to Nashville to begin recording. The whole process seemed blessed." Jones embraced Mitchell's vision and suggested a more refined, listener-friendly approach. Suburban Songbook debuted at No. 15 on the ARIA Albums Charts. Its lead single, "Don't You Think It's Time?" (May 2006), was accompanied by a music video in which a mural is painted of Mitchell and his then-girlfriend (later his wife). The single was followed by an EP, Nowhere Without You (September 2006). At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006 Mitchell won his first ARIA Award: for Best Adult Contemporary Album for Suburban Songbook. He was also nominated for Best Male Artist. In 2010 Mitchell recalled: "Everything off Suburban Songbook is very special to me because it documents a watershed moment in my life, both personally and professionally, that will never happen again."
For his third Bob Evans album, Goodnight, Bull Creek!, Mitchell recorded in Nashville again, with Jones as producer. He hired singer-songwriter Melissa Mathers as a backing vocalist. According to Mitchell, the album is the final instalment in his suburban musical trilogy. "The title is referring to me saying farewells, as I said with the last record that I would only do one more suburban record as part of the trilogy. Ironically, this record isn't very suburban at all though; not nearly as much as the last one. But it is the end of the chapter."
Goodnight, Bull Creek! was released on 3 April 2009 and debuted at No. 22. Natalie Salvo of TheDwarf.com.au website felt it was "a pretty patchy effort that at its worst gets dangerously close to Ben Lee's excruciating blend of twee pop ... I have issues with the fact that I've heard the bulk of the music in some way or shape before because many of the guitar flourishes seem to be borrowed from a batch of fifties/sixties easy-listening nostalgia classics." At the ARIA Awards that year it was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album and he was nominated for Best Male Artist.
2009–2012: Basement Birds and Kosciuzko
During 2008 Bob Evans' backing band included Steve Parkin as a guitarist and backing vocalist (ex-Vinyl, Autopilot, solo). By mid-2009 the pair were writing songs together and were corresponding with Kavyen Temperley (of Eskimo Joe) and solo singer-songwriter Josh Pyke. All four wanted to form a side project, Basement Birds, to showcase new material. Their debut single, "Waiting for You", was released in April 2010: it is co-written by Mitchell, Parkin, Pyke and Temperley. The group's self-titled album appeared in July and peaked at No. 12.