JOEL O’KEEFFE, AIRBOURNE: “MEAT AND POTATOES ROCK N ROLL, NO VEGETABLES”
Interview by Paul Marshall
If you’re a long-term reader of mine, you’ll know I like to do things a little differently. The standard interview format, polite questions, predictable answers, promotional rhythm, tends to drain the electricity out of what should be a rock ’n’ roll conversation.
So when I sat down with Joel O'Keeffe of Airbourne, I warned him straight up: this wasn’t going to be a paint-by-numbers chat.
And to kick things off, I told him something slightly absurd, but entirely true.
Just before the interview, I asked ChatGPT: Is Airbourne the best band in the world?
The answer came back clean and almost philosophical:
“If you're asking as a rock fan rather than a music critic, the answer is: for some people, absolutely.”
Joel smirked when I read it out.
“Yeah… well that’s good,” he said. And honestly, he wasn’t wrong.
“MISUNDERSTOOD? YOU’RE RIGHT, IT’S LEFT OF FIELD”
I asked Joel what people most misunderstand about Airbourne, musically and personally.
He didn’t hesitate.
“Misunderstand? You’re right, it’s left of field,” he laughed. “Come see us live. It’s pretty simple, meat and potatoes rock ’n’ roll, with no vegetables at all.”
No garnish. No concept album theory. No overthinking.
“It’s a lot of energy,” he continued, almost narrowing the whole identity of the band down to a single voltage reading. “It’s not complicated.”
And in a world where rock bands often arrive wrapped in mythology and marketing decks, that simplicity feels almost radical.
AGE, ADRENALINE AND FOUR VERY SWEATY HUMANS
Airbourne’s reputation has always been built on physical intensity, sweat, volume, chaos, and the sense that every show might collapse under its own combustion.
So I asked whether that physicality changes with age.
“Rock ’n’ roll keeps you young,” Joel said. “I don’t know how guys did it without a can of Red Bull.”
But underneath the humour is something more grounded. The band, he explained, still feeds off the crowd, that exchange of energy between stage and audience that no production budget can replicate.
“We give all of ourselves every night,” he said. “It gets harder, but we’re still there doing it.”
After the show?
“We’re four very sweaty humans in ripped jeans,” he laughed. “And afterwards we go very quiet… like we’re in a library, processing what just happened.”
Then, more honestly:
“It takes a while to recover. But nothing a beer in a quiet place can’t fix.”
If you’ve never witnessed an Airbourne show, he made it sound less like entertainment and more like survival, in the best possible way.
THE RAW STEAK MOMENT
I warned Joel some of my questions were left of centre. I don’t think he was prepared for what came next.
What’s the most ridiculous thing a fan has ever given you?
He didn’t even blink.
“Yeah… just a full raw piece of meat,” he said. “A steak. It was warm and all bloody.”
The fan’s reasoning?
“There you go mate, you need to eat something.”
It landed somewhere between generosity, chaos, and a public health advisory.
“Its the thought that counts,” Joel added, as if trying to reconcile affection with food safety violations.
RIDERS, JUNGLES AND A MINI AMAZON BACKSTAGE
I mentioned a story about other artists requesting surreal rider items, even a framed photo of Jason Statham in a dressing room (fellow Australian DJ duo Peking Duk).
Joel laughed, immediately referencing the cult film Airheads.
“We like that movie,” he said. “Ice cream in a helmet… that kind of thing.”
Airbourne, however, have traditionally kept things simple.
Then he paused.
“Now that you mention it… I think we should.”
And suddenly the imagination took over.
“I’ve always wanted to create a jungle in the band room, so maybe we could request some ferns, some wildlife, and some water features, and really create a mini Amazon. We’ll start by asking for an Amazon and see what we get.”
Somewhere, a fellow promoter quietly cries.
GUNS N’ ROSES, TERMINATOR 2 AND THE MTV EYE-OPENING MOMENT
Airbourne are currently stepping into major tour territory alongside Guns N' Roses, a full-circle moment for many rock bands.
I asked Joel what was the first Guns N’ Roses song he ever heard.
“You Could Be Mine video from Terminator 2,” he said immediately. “I was a kid and going to primary school and it was on Rage, (Australian MTV styled show). I’ve never forgotten it.”
He described wanting to dress like them at school: flannel shirts, headbands, the whole aesthetic.
Then came a piece of rock trivia worth pausing on:
“Arnold Schwarzenegger actually invited them (Guns N Roses) to his house,” Joel said. “He loved the band and I need a song for my new movie and he offered to be in their (music) video”.
Rock history, somewhere between Hollywood myth and reality, which is often where the best stories live.
TIME TRAVEL AND BON SCOTT
Next I asked, if you could recruit any deceased guitarist for an Airbourne gig, who gets the call?
Joel didn’t choose a guitarist at all.
“I’d probably go back and this is going to break the mood here, but I’d get Bon Scott so I could play guitar and he could sing, just to flip it around on you.”
It was a perfect Airbourne answer: reverent, chaotic, and slightly mischievous.
NEW MUSIC, LEMMY AND THE LONG SHADOW OF MOTÖRHEAD
On new material, Joel is clearly energised. When asked to pick a standout from the upcoming record, he doesn’t overthink it.
“I’ll go with the first one for now,” he says. “I mean I love them all cos otherwise we wouldn’t put them on there. I really love the song Gutsy, I love playing it live.”
It’s the lead track from their new upcoming self titled album, due for release in August, and already feels built for the stage rather than the studio, which, for Airbourne, is usually the point.
Joel also talks about Alive After Death (Last Plane Out), a track that carries a different kind of weight entirely. The opening lines alone land with unexpected tenderness:
“When you speak my name, you give me back my tongue.
When you sing my songs, you give me back my lungs.”
“This one was really something else to write about,” he says, “because it was from his perspective, saying thank you to the fans through us writing the song.”
The “him” in question is rock legend Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, a figure who, for Airbourne, sits somewhere between influence, memory, and mythology.
Joel has never been shy about acknowledging that connection. He’s thanked Lemmy on stage for years, and the bond between the two bands runs deep. Airbourne toured and shared stages with Motörhead multiple times, beginning in the mid-2000s, building a relationship that quickly moved beyond professional respect into genuine friendship.
Lemmy’s presence around Airbourne’s history is more than symbolic. He appeared in the band’s Runnin’ Wild music video, and later that year Airbourne joined Motörhead on their 2008 North American Volcom tour, moments that now sit firmly in rock folklore.
Joel reflects on those years with a mix of affection and distance.
“It’s a bit of a blur back then,” he admits. “I used to drink a lot more.”
Then his tone shifts, softer, more reflective.
“Still the love for Lemmy and the band hasn’t gone away.”
He pauses again, trying to find the right words.
“It really is like he’s alive. He might be physically dead, but even then I don’t know… like no one knows. You go to a festival and everyone’s singing his songs, everyone’s wearing the T-shirt, everyone’s got their tattoos. Hellfest has a massive statue, like a ten-foot-high statue…”
He trails off mid-thought, almost catching himself.
“…and I’ve just gone on too long.”
But he hasn’t. Not really.
Because what he’s describing isn’t just nostalgia, it’s cultural permanence. The kind of presence that doesn’t fade with absence, only reshapes itself through volume, sweat, and shared memory.
And in that sense, Lemmy Kilmister never really left the room.
FINAL SETLIST DREAMS
Before wrapping, I asked Joel to pick five Guns N’ Roses songs he’d build into a perfect setlist.
He didn’t hesitate:
- You Could Be Mine
- Paradise City
- My Michelle
- Out Ta Get Me
- Live and Let Die
A setlist built on tension, drama and detonation.
Which, come to think of it, also describes Airbourne.
EPILOGUE: NO VEGETABLES, JUST FIRE
Joel O’Keeffe is exactly what you hope he is, no corporate sheen, no filter designed for safety, just a frontman wired permanently into live voltage.
He summed it up himself earlier in the interview, almost accidentally defining the entire band in a single sentence:
“Meat and potatoes rock ’n’ roll… no vegetables at all.”
Airbourne will bring that philosophy to New Zealand when they perform at Eden Park on 17 December 2026, as special guests on the Guns N' Roses World Tour 2026.
You’ve got to go, so you can expect volume, expect sweat, and expect simplicity pushed to its absolute limit.
Tickets Available Here: https://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/guns-n-roses-world-tour-2026-auckland-17-12-2026/event/2400645889371980