Project Description

Interview with

BOB EVANS

by Amy Smith

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Bob Evans, the ARIA winning alter ego of Jebediah frontman Kevin Mitchell, has graced the Australian music scene for more than two decades and has written some of the country’s most beloved songs.

Under the alias of Bob Evans, Mitchell has released five albums, all of which showcase the versatility and skill of this talented songsmith. Gentle, acoustic melodies prevail, enveloping the classic folk storytelling and strong emotional pull that charactises Mitchells’ substantial body of work.

Amy Smith caught up with Bob recently for a chat.

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You have described ‘Full Circle’ as an introduction of your work for people who have never heard of Bob Evans. There are a lot of songs to choose from over five studio albums! How did you go about choosing which material best represents Bob Evans?

Well, a good portion of the record chose itself really, songs like “Don’t You Think it’s Time?” and “Nowhere Without You” were always going to be on it.  Some songs have become live favourites or fan favourites like “Wonderful You” and so I wanted them on there.  Others, like “Wintersong” I have never once played live and it was never played on the radio or anything but it represents a certain kind of colour that I think is important in the overall picture.

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What are some of the songs that you would’ve liked to have featured, but didn’t quite make the cut? Why?

No one’s asked me that yet!  There are lots actually.  I would have loved “Power of Speech” to be on there cos I think it’s just unique, in that it is a bossanova song, recorded really lovingly.  I just love the sound of that song and the lyrics are a bit silly and supposed to raise a smile.  It is the only bossa nova song I’ve ever done and stands as my own little homage, if you will, to a genre that I have a very deep, sincere affection for.

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Full Circle is divided into two parts. The first part embodies a selection of your original material and the second part features covers that you have performed over the years; Quite eclectic choices too! From Lily Allen through to The Beatles. Do you feel that performing covers is a large part of the Bob Evans persona? Is this why you chose to feature cover songs on the album?

No, it’s not really a big part of my persona.  I’m not known for it I don’t think.  But I do enjoy the challenge when it comes up and most of those cover songs, nearly all of them, were recorded because I was asked to do it, like for triple j for example.  I enjoy the opportunity to do something a little unexpected.  People might often just assume that songwriters only listen to music within their own sort of genre but that’s never the case.  I’ve gone through stages of listening to just about every kind of music except for heavy metal.  That’s probably the only one I’ve never been drawn to for some reason. So doing a cover gives me a chance to expose that a little and challenge those assumptions whilst also trying to put my own personality in to it.

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Fans will be happy that Full Circle includes a brand new single, ‘Drowning’, which you released with a video a couple of weeks ago. How do you feel the response to that single has been?

I’m not sure really.  I doubt many people have heard it! Like you said, I think the people who follow me like it but beyond that I have no idea.  Maybe I’ll find out when I start playing it live at my shows.

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You’ve announced that your upcoming tour will feature a ‘Song Raffle’ where fans can select any song from your back catalogue, including cover songs and B-sides! This is a fantastic idea, but very ambitious!

a) What prompted this idea and how are you feeling about it?

Well I wanted to do something kind of special and people are always requesting songs at my shows that I can’t remember how to play so I thought this could be a good way to address that. Like most good ideas though, the realization of what I would have to do to make it possible has set in and now I hate myself for committing to it!  I’ll have to rehearse something like 80 songs and probably won’t end up having to play half of them.

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b) How are you preparing for this? Is there time to re-visit everything or do you plan to wing it?

I can’t just wing it.  I’m nowhere near talented or mentally strong enough.  Nope, I’ll have to rehearse every sing one of them and then just cross my fingers. Look, I mess up songs, forget lyrics at the best of times.  I still fluff the lyrics every now and then to “Don’t You Think it’s Time?” and I’ve played it at every show I’ve ever played since 2005.

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For me, one of the most exciting things about your shows is that they are never exactly the same. Whether that be how you preset the material, for example employing different band set ups vs solo performances OR whether you decided to change it up on the spot like inviting a fan up on stage. What are you most looking forward to about getting back on the road?

Thanks.  Well I’ve been doing this for long enough now to know that the unexpected bits of a show are always the best bits, or most memorable.  So I always have that in the back of my mind when I’m playing a show. I think what I’m most looking forward to on this tour is playing with a pianist and violinist.  I’ve never done it before and I just think there is a chance it might be quite beautiful.

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