Jebediah was formed in Perth in 1994 with Kevin Mitchell on vocals and rhythm guitar, Vanessa Thornton on bass, Chris Daymond on lead guitar and Almin Fulurija on drums. Kevin's brother, Brett Mitchell replaced Almin on drums because Almin didn’t turn up to practice. Kevin, Vanesssa and Chris met at high school while Brett Mitchell had been a drummer with various bands. The band took their name from Jebediah Springfield, the fictional founder of Springfield on The Simpsons.
Jebediah played its first show at the Leeming High School formal at the Perth Sheraton Hotel under the name Jebadiah, where they played covers by bands such as Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins, and one original. At their seventh gig the band took out the Western Australian semi-finals of the 1995 National Campus Band Competition and with their thirteenth ever gig had won the national final in Lismore, NSW. This lead to an opening slot on the Summersault Music Festival before higher profile bands such as the Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters and Sonic Youth.
The band recorded the Twitch EP shortly before signing to Murmur, a label of Sony Music, in 1996. That year the band also won its first WAMi award for Best Stage Presence. Twitch was released in August 1996, debuting at number one on the Western Australian ARIA Chart. The band's next single, "Jerks of Attention", received substantial airplay on the Triple J radio network. High profile work on Homebake and the Big Day Out as well as support slots for Soundgarden, Everclear, the Presidents of the United States of America, Silverchair and You Am I further raised the band's profile.
The band won two WAMi awards in 1997 for "Most Popular Band" and "Most Popular Song" for "Jerks of Attention".
Following tours with the likes of the Presidents of the USA and Everclear, the band recorded and released its first album Slightly Odway in 1997. The album reached a peak of number seven on the national Australian charts due to the success of tracks like "Leaving Home" and "Military Strongmen" and number 2 on the ARIA alternative charts, within four months it was certified gold. "Leaving Home" was rated number 10 in the Triple J Hottest 100 music poll for 1997. Slightly Odway eventually went double-platinum (140,000 sales), with "Teflon" and "Harpoon" adding to its success. Jebediah also supported the Smashing Pumpkins in their 1998 Australian tour.
The band started recording its second album Of Someday Shambles in Melbourne in 1999. "Animal", the first single, reached number 16 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. The band started touring Canada and New Zealand and won further WAMi awards for best video for "Harpoon", and Vanessa Thornton winning Best Bass Player. Of Someday Shambles debuted at number 2 on the Australian album charts, reaching gold status and then platinum.
Jebediah started 2000 by playing its second Big Day Out tour. It continued touring internationally playing the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Jebediah released a split EP with Jimmy Eat World in the US through Big Wheel Recreation.
Jebediah recorded its self-titled third album in late 2000 and 2001. The first single "Fall Down" reached number 24 in late October 2001, the Jebediah album however was not released until five months later in March 2002. Whilst the album debuted at number 8 on the charts, it didn't quite reach gold status (with only 35,000 sales).
Jebediah and Sony Music both agreed to part company in 2003 with Jebediah to record future albums as an independent act. Gleesides & Sparities, a collection of B-sides and rare tracks was their final release through Sony recorded in 2003.
In 2004, Jebediah produced their fourth album Braxton Hicks and later released it on their own record label, Redline Records in conjunction with Shock Records. It debuted at number 26 on the Australian album chart while the first single "First Time" made the top 50.
In June 2005, Jebediah launched their 10 year anniversary tour and an EP to coincide. Their shows consisted mainly of b-sides and rarities that fans had requested on the bands official forums.
2006 and 2007 has seen Kevin Mitchell release and promote his second solo album, Suburban Songbook under his pseudonym Bob Evans.
2008 will see the Jebs return to the studio to write and rehearse new music for their next album, expected to be out late 2008.
i am pretty much crying because im dieing to go to your show with gyro on the 3rd of oct but my 18th bday is on the 12th of oct! it is to cruel :( i love you jebediah
hi lovely Pheobe, hope you are ROCKIN'! keep up the GREAT work, hopefully we'll see Jebs play some local shows soon! sending love from Fremantle and me x
hi Pheobe, so lovely to meet you too! thanks for ROCKIN' and keep up the great work! hopefully see you in Perth or the next time we are over! lots o love, bruna
Awesome concert on sunday! 1st chance i've had to make it to a gig since the old grovener back room days. cheers for signing my shirt too guys! i've waited 7 years for that!
