Kevin Mitchell

Kevin Edward Mitchell (born 1 October 1977), also known by the stage name of Bob Evans, is an Australian singer-songwriter; Mitchell uses the name for his primary solo project.

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.

He is also the founding lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Jebediah, which was formed in 1994 and features his older brother Brett Mitchell, who joined on drums before the group's first performance.

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.

After the first year he decided to forgo his course, and as a member of Jebediah, he signed a record deal in 1996.

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 band mates co-wrote their original material, with Mitchell supplying most of the lyrics.

Jebediah released five studio albums between 1997 and 2011, the first three of which entered the top ten on the ARIA Albums Chart.

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.

Mitchell commenced performing as a folk pop artist under the name "Bob Evans" in 1999 to showcase "quieter" songs that were influenced by music that was different from the primary sound of Jebediah, and he deliberately chose a stage name that would distinguish him from his band.

His most successful solo album Suburban Songbook, which was released on 10 June 2006, peaked at No. 15, and his next two solo albums Goodnight, Bull Creek! (3 April 2009) and Familiar Stranger (15 March 2013) reached the top 40.

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.

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.

In May 2009, Mitchell revealed that he experienced depression for a brief period at the age of 16 years.

In a series of three blog posts for TheMusic.com.au website, published in March 2013, 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."

He released Car Boot Sale in 2016 and Tomorrowland in 2021.

As of October 2023, Mitchell has released seven Bob Evans studio albums, and he launched the Good Evans, It's A Bobcast! podcast in May 2016.