Rock’n’roll life lessons from AIRBOURNE’S master Joel O’keeffe.
The Airbourne frontman lives, breathes and drinks rock’n’roll, which means he’s learned plenty and forgotten even more
AIRBOURNE WENT BACK to basics for new album Boneshaker, flying to Nashville to record a stripped-back, rough and ready new album with famed country producer Dave Cobb. It was the latest learning curve in a career packed full of them, so naturally, we got frontman Joel O’ Keeffe to let us in on a few of his most sacred tidbits.
GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA WAS FANTASTIC
“My brother Ryan [Airbourne drummer] and I were raised in a very small town called Warrnambool. Right over the back fence were cliffs and the ocean. There was no internet back then but we had all these VHS tapes of Iron Maiden and AC/DC playing at Donington and we ate them up. We used to stand at the top of those cliffs and say: Someday we will become rock musicians… and it came true!”
ROCK’N’ROLL MEANS EVERYTHING
“It’s my life and it always will be. From the moment I wake up ’til my head touches the pillow. Rock’n’roll is where I live.”
I’LL NEVER FORGET AIRBOURNE’S FIRST GIG
“It was at a Battle Of The Bands in Warrnambool and everyone told us that we played much, much too loud. We only had three songs and I got up on a table that broke beneath me, but I carried on playing. Afterwards this jobsworth guy got me up against the wall for jeopardising the safety of his event, so Ryan and I looked at one another and we got him up against the wall. But we wanted to fucking entertain people… who needs fuckin’ bands that come out onstage and stare at their shoes?”
GREAT ROCK’N’ROLL IS ALL ABOUT ESCAPISM
“Most importantly, it will make you forget about reality for a while. We used to love playing at the Astoria [the London venue that closed its doors in 2009] because you’d walk into that place and the outside world ceased to exist. Seeing a band in a venue like that was unreal. That was before the masses of cellphones raised in the air. Why don’t people enjoy the show anymore? Get off social media and just live in the moment!”
AC/DC ARE THE GREATEST BAND EVER
“They have all of the elements that the great rock’n’roll bands before them had – I’m talking about people like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly or Jerry Lee Lewis – and they’ve made them their own.
They take you to place where you’re completely free. It’s like an adrenaline shot; they get you up and going.”
BUT WE’RE NOT THE NEW AC/DC
“Mate, if people think that then I really don’t have a problem. Everyone has their own opinion and it’s cool. We grew up listening to AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and The Angels, plus The Easybeats who came before them, and all of those bands have an Australian rock’n’roll sound. It should be its own genre on itunes.
We just fuckin’ love Aussie pub rock and we’re proud to be a part of that.”
TAKE A CHANCE
“That’s what we did with Dave Cobb. Yeah, it was a brave thing to do but in all our early conversations we were finishing each other’s sentences. We knew exactly what we had in mind. Gear-wise, we wanted to focus up to the year of 1978 – anything afterwards was off limits but that’s how Cobb works anyway.
We walked into his studio and everything was set up like Led Zeppelin II [which came out in 1969]. We were on the same page every step of the way – he didn’t even ask us to make demos of the songs. One day we walked into the studio and he asked: ‘Who wants tequila?’ ‘Um… it’s not even 10 in the morning, but OK.’”
AN ALBUM IS AS LONG AS IT NEEDS TO BE
“Boneshaker is 10 tracks over just 30 minutes of music. That’s pretty quick. We were contracted to supply 40 minutes and the only way to find out how long the album lasted for was to throw it onto itunes and make a playlist. When we realised we went, ‘Oh shit’ but the label was fine about it. They said that it needed to be a 30-minute punch in the face, and that’s exactly what we did.”
DON’T WAIT FOR A COUNTRY ALBUM FROM US
“Should it happen then it’ll be a long way down the line. Working in Nashville with Cobb was a great experience and the place is full of brilliant musicians, including guitarists that make you want to just go home and smash everything up.
Look, I like Johnny Cash and
I’ll never stop listening to him or Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers and we’ll learn from the lyrics and music of country-rock, but I don’t know for sure that the train will ever stop at that station.”
I STILL MISS LEMMY
“It’s hard to believe that come December he’ll have been gone for four years. The world is definitely one less louder without him. When we made the video for Runnin’ Wild we had just watched the movie Con Air [1997] and loved the character that flew the plane and drove the truck. He looked a bit like Lemmy. When we suggested finding an actor that resembled the guy from the film the label asked: ‘Why not just get Lemmy?’ He agreed to be in the video, but he didn’t want to be paid – only to be collected and dropped back at the Rainbow in a limousine. He had drinks on ice when he arrived and told us: ‘Hey boys, jump in the back.’ It was our first meeting with him and there was a long conversation with loads and loads of great stories. It felt like Lem was the master and we were his apprentices, and as long as I live I’ll never forget that very special moment in our lives.”
“GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA AND LIVE IN THE MOMENT!”
WHEN I SEE SOMETHING, I HAVE TO CLIMB UP IT
“It’s been an obsession of mine since we had a tree in the backyard at home. Less than a year ago I was diagnosed
as having ADHD, and that explained a lot. Climbing things is a compulsion. At school I used to get onto the roof. I’d be up there with my cassette Walkman on, listening to AC/DC’S Shot Down In Flames without a care in the world as the teachers tried to call me down. I still can’t believe nobody said to my parents: ‘Your kid can’t pay attention in class and doesn’t do what he’s told, we should probably get him tested for a few things’, but they didn’t. All these years later, promoters try to stop me from climbing up the stage. There’s no better view of an audience than looking down at them from the canopy. It’s quite a sight, especially if you’re hungover.”
IN ROCK’N’ROLL, YOU NEVER STOP LEARNING
“Every day presents a new situation – that’s why I love it so much. I’m sitting here and talking to you now after just an hour of sleep [and having turned up for the interview 45 minutes late – Ed]. Seriously, I might be drinking coffee but I’m still drunk, so in that sense I’m learning something new about myself. This is not an act.”
DRINKING IS STILL FUN
“And I don’t intend to stop. I wouldn’t say that it’s part of life but… it kind of is, too. Drinking is fun. I do it even more when we are not playing shows. I know there will come a point when I will have to say: ‘My liver tells me I’ll have to stop.’ It happened to Zakk Wylde. If someday the world ran out of booze and all that was left was rock’n’roll, I’d still be happy.”
ROCK WILL NEVER DIE
“Of course Gene Simmons is entitled to his opinion in saying those things, but there are many, many people would that will tell him he’s wrong. We play to a lot of people in fields all over the world that would only be too happy to present clear evidence of rock’n’roll being alive and well. It might not be the biggest thing in a fashion sense, but it doesn’t need to be.”
KEEP YOUR RITUALS
“When boarding a plane I always play the same live version of Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell. It begins with a classical intro, Carmina
Burana, and then someone introduces the band. By that point the plane has usually pulled away from the steps and taxied out onto the runway. If you can time it right, the song begins just as the turbines kick in. When that plane lifts off and you feel like you’ve left the earth, there’s nothing better than knowing you’ve got two tanks of gas either side of you and with Meat roaring through that all-time classic song. And of course, you’re also aware that before too long the stewardesses will be coming round the cabin with the drinks trolley!”
BONESHAKER IS OUT NOW VIA SPINEFARM
“LESS THAN A YEAR AGO I WAS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING ADHD. THAT EXPLAINED A LOT”