on bass guitar, the four-piece group entered Rockquest. They won the competition, and used the prize money to help fund their home studio, Red Sky Studio. Dann observed, "It started as a little room and then we needed to fit the drum kit in so we had to bust down another wall... Our parents put up with a lot but they're very tolerant." This line-up issued an independent four-track extended play, On the Way in 2000. The title track and "Into the Ocean" were co-written by Jon with Martyn Hume Cobbe. After a year Higham left the band to become a farmer. Evermore had other short-term members during their early years. At the 2002 NZ Music Awards (later known as the Aotearoa Music Awards), Evermore members met talent manager New Zealand-born Australian-based Rebekah Campbell, who then travelled to Feilding to hear their demos. Campbell, as their manager, conferred with her mentor John Woodruff who signed the group to his publishing company, Rough Cut. Woodruff travelled to Auckland to promote Evermore at the launch of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup in October 2002, fellow attendees included Woodruff's Canadian business partner Donald K. Tarlton. Evermore signed with Tarlton's record label, Aquarius Records, for Canadian releases. The group's first single, "Slipping Away", was released independently on 1 December 2002, with only 300 copies pressed. However, it received regular airplay on Australian national youth radio Triple J. Evermore toured supporting American band Brad in early January 2003. While on that tour they met Barrett Jones (of Visqueen), who offerred to produce their material. The New Zealand trio's five-track EP, Oil & Water, independently released on 13 January 2003, resulted in the band's first Australian concert tour – funded by Triple J. The EP reached No. 15 on the ARIA Heavy Rock & Metal singles chart and sold in excess of 5000 copies in Australia. Dann reflected, "[that's] the size of Feilding". Later in January 2003 they performed at the Big Day Out in Auckland. In the following month the Hume brothers established Fuze Music Limited with Martyn Cobbe. The group performed at SXSW in March 2003, Rodel Delfin of Hits Daily Double, listed them as one of 50 acts to see. Then they travelled to Toronto to play four shows. In August of that year the trio appeared on the cover of New Zealand Musician, following success in "Project NZM" – a promotion by