Jebediah came roaring out of a late-’90s Australian rock renaissance that also gave us the likes of Silverchair, Powderfinger, Something For Kate, Killing Heidi, You Am I, Magic Dirt, and Spiderbait.
With their deceptively simple but melodic and heartfelt brand of pop rock, Jebediah was the soundtrack for countless teenagers who spent their days alone in their bedrooms or down the skate park.
After radio silence for a few years, the band recently reignited their late ’90s spark to perform a series of acclaimed tours and unveil a band anthology. We recently caught up with drummer Brett Mitchell to learn about the gear he couldn’t live without.
Back To Basics
A snare, it has wooden rims and people always say it looks and sounds nice. They hardly ever say those things about me, which is fair enough really. Maybe I can try being more wooden. Or, err… rimming.
I’d also bring a kick pedal, because I have a ‘special needs’ foot, and a stick bag, which might be cheating, since this contains a fairly random assortment of spare bits and pieces, as well as sticks which are of course very important.
Evolution
The evolution of my drum setup has mirrored my own growth as a human being – curiously minimal. Luckily, it’s also pretty sensible, I think. I always loved tom rolls, so two would never suffice, my second kit had four but truth be told I never really used the second floor tom enough to justify its place.
You have to carry everything around, after all. A lot. So, a five-piece kit with a hi-hat (almost obligatory), two crashes (same reasoning as the toms), and a ride for extra noise. I guess I’m a creature of habit – that’s been my setup for a long time now.
About five years ago I got a Yamaha kit called a Phoenix. I don’t anticipate ever needing or wanting another.
Hitting The Studio
It translates to the studio exceptionally well, as long as I make sure the skins are in good shape and I have spent some time tuning. The shells have so much life that we’ve never been able to subdue them enough to handle easily in the studio without some sort of dampening – bits of gaffa tape or whatnot.
Seems a shame, but there you have it. On the other hand, nice to know there is some untapped potential remaining.
Back In The Day
My first kit was a “Star” for $550 from a classified ad in the paper. Made in Japan, kinda before that was a good thing I suspect. It had a yellowed mother of pearl vinyl coating on the shells, and no bottom skins on the toms.
I remember the guy — who coincidentally I went to school with — stated in the ad it had Pearl hardware, and didn’t mention the brand of the kit, so I thought it was a Pearl kit. I didn’t really know what “hardware” meant in drum-speak.
So that was a bit disappointing, but I bought it anyway ’cause I could afford it. I was desperate to stop hitting ice-cream containers with chopsticks – I actually did that.
Gear Vs Style
I’ve come to think people should do whatever makes them happy. Especially when it comes to music – whether making it or listening to it. And I’m certainly no expert on style, in any form or field.
I do sometimes wonder when I’m watching a young drummer play that they might have spent a bit longer learning how to use a single kick pedal before getting a double, or held off on the 10-piece kit and incessant fills before they could actually keep time.
But really, who cares? It’s supposed to be fun, I believe, so whatever floats your boat. I have a feeling that some of the people with the specciest (yes, I know that isn’t a proper word) gear of all probably never even use it in public, only alone in their bedrooms.
And, as with probably many things done alone in bedrooms, this might be best for everyone.
Getting Weird
There was something called the Tension Watch, by Tama I think, which was designed to sit on a drum skin next to each lug and display a measure of the tightness of the skin on a little dial to help you achieve “perfect” tuning.
It was cool, but also kinda fragile, heavy, and fiddly to use. Recommended for deaf people though. I got a set of roto toms once too. I’ve never once used them in live performance or recording as far as I remember.
Pretty sure they are somewhere in the shed, but my girlfriend locked the key in there recently so I couldn’t verify that without bolt cutters.
Jebediah recently hit up Melbourne Zoo’s incredible Twilights 2016 program, which is set to rock on right into March – check out the details below.
Melbourne Zoo Twilights 2016
Far From Folsom Featuring Tex Perkins
and The Tennessee Four with Rachael Tidd, supported by Vic Simms
The Waifs & Ruby Boots
José González & Tiny Ruins
John Butler Trio & Tinpan Orange (2 shows)
Josh Pyke & Winterbourne
Birds Of Tokyo & Fractures
Jebediah & Glenn Richards
Mark Seymour and The Undertow & Ben Salter
San Cisco & Last Dinosaurs
Kasey Chambers & Karise Eden
Colin Hay
C.W. Stoneking & Marlon Williams
Björn Again
Belinda Carlisle & Pseudo Echo
Tickets on sale 8am Thursday, 22nd October
Friday, 29th January — Saturday, 12th March 2016
Melbourne Zoo
Tickets: Melbourne Zoo
