| 1st December 2007 09:02 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Airbourne: Bringing Back Drinkin' And Rockin' (And Pukin')
Friday November 30, 2007 @ 11:30 AM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
By Andre Mihsin
Aussie pub rockers Airbourne will be release their Runnin' Wild debut record in North America on Jan. 29, but the record has already been out in their native land for a few months. In that time singer/guitarist Joel O'Keefe has had his share of rock 'n' roll experiences, including meeting The Rolling Stones, receiving Lemmy's seal of approval, seeing Tommy Lee dance around and even puking blood.
Airbourne
ChartAttack: How do you think Airbourne's brand of Aussie pub rock will translate here in North America?
Well, Aussie pub rock stemmed originally from Robert Johnson sort of blues and Chuck Berry and then The Who. It's basically rock 'n' roll and rock 'n' roll works everywhere in the world.
There are going to be a lot of AC/DC comparisons when Runnin' Wild comes out. Is there any pressure on you guys?
AC/DC is probably the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world, well definitely to come out of Australia anyway. We're an Aussie pub rock band. Rose Tattoo, AC/DC, The Angels, or Angel City, I think it was called overseas. AC/DC was the biggest one to get out of Australia, that's [the sound] that used to come out of Australia. But it's been like 10 or even 20 years since there's been a band with a similar sound to ours to come out of there. The last one was called The Poor. Yeah, we wear our influences on our sleeves, but at the end of the day it's all about rock 'n' roll and it's all about a good time.
I don't think we've got any shoes to fill. I don't think we're 30 years to late. I think we've still got that newer sound, quite harder and faster, a bit more like Motorhead.
You guys toured with Motorhead in Australia. Did you get to meet Lemmy?
He was at the side of the stage when we came off at a couple of shows and he said he really liked us and I was like, he's a god of rock 'n' roll. If he likes your band then you're doing something right. If Lemmy says it, then that's it.
You also toured with The Rolling Stones. How was that?
They're probably like the biggest band in the world, but they're just the nicest bunch of guys. The security didn't even care. Whereas with Motley Crue it was the other way around. We weren't allowed to go near Motley Crue. The closest we got was Tommy Lee dancing around to hip-hop backstage (laughs), which is not very Motley Crue at all.
Apparently he's through with rock music and is focused on being a dance or house DJ or whatever the hell it is he's doing.
Yeah, I just try to put that out of my head when I listen to "Kickstart My Heart" because I love that song.
Bob Marlette produced Runnin' Wild. He also did records with Alice Cooper and Tony Iommi. What was it like working with him?
Bob's a really good guy. He understood the band from start to finish. He just wanted to come out and punch like a boxer with the gloves off. Just smack you right in the head. He also said, "Guys, I'm here to press a record. You guys do your thing and if I see you're going down the wrong track I might say go back to where you started because you were on something good beforehand." He got us to think a little bit more about what we're doing. Before that we would just play hard and play hard and not really think about anything we were doing. He said maybe just have a few less beers when you come into the studio and get some work done. But Bob Marlette and Dave Shipman the engineer were a great team. It was really good the rapport we had with those guys. It was kind of like we we're best mates from the first date.
There's been a buzz surrounding your band in North America, in particular your live shows. Tell us about the Airbourne live experience.
We drink a fair bit before we go on. You start feeling the vibe work up and up. We played in Baltimore last night and as soon as we got down there you can feel the connection. People had the T-shirts and as soon as we walked on they were chanting the name and singing all the words. It was one of those magical moments, like our first real show in the U.S. It was wild. Everyone was getting pretty wasted.
A lot of people tend to drink when they come to our shows. In Australia at a bunch of pubs we actually smashed the bar tab record. So instead of, like, the usual two or three grand that might go to the bar for drinking, it's actually gone triple that or something like that. People are just having so much of a good time and it's so energetic and intense that they just keep drinkin' and drinkin' and drinkin' and rockin' and drinkin'. It's just great.
It sounds great, but how are you feeling today after playing a gig last night?
Last night after the show half of us were throwing up everywhere. I was throwing up blood! It was only because I had the flu and I didn't realize I had all these Advil Cold And Flu, ephedrine and ibuprofen, just stuff you get from the pharmacy. I didn't realize how much of those I had and then I drank half a bottle of Jack and I was fucked. But it made a good show.
Well, Canadians like to drink and rock so we can't wait to get you guys here.
Yeah, everyone's talking about going up to Canada. There seems to be a lot of love from the radio stations up there. It's looking really good so we'll be in Canada pretty soon I reckon. We hear a lot of things about how Canadians love to rock 'n' roll and they love to have a good time.
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
| 1st December 2007 09:18 PM |
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| pdog |
Medal Of Honor Airbourne is the best WWII shooter game I've ever played. It's actually the best video game I've ever played....
My PS3 is fucking sweet! |
| 2nd December 2007 05:33 AM |
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| corgi37 |
Airborne's career in Australia has long been Stillborn.
Dont fall for the crap. |
| 2nd December 2007 12:26 PM |
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| Lil Brian |
quote:
pdog wrote:
Medal Of Honor Airbourne is the best WWII shooter game I've ever played.
I loved the other MOH titles. What's new this time around? |
| 2nd December 2007 03:48 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Not much excitement here, huh? Guess I won't look into them any further. |
| 2nd December 2007 04:03 PM |
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| pdog |
quote:
Lil Brian wrote:
I loved the other MOH titles. What's new this time around?
Read the reviews on Gamespot. I loved it... and if you have a Ps3 or sumthin' go get it. The best and probasbly the end of the line for WWII shooters, you can't break much new ground, they pretty much did all that can be done with this one. |
| 3rd December 2007 08:48 AM |
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| Lil Brian |
quote:
pdog wrote:
Read the reviews on Gamespot. I loved it... and if you have a Ps3 or sumthin' go get it. The best and probasbly the end of the line for WWII shooters, you can't break much new ground, they pretty much did all that can be done with this one.
Thanks. I'll definitely grab it. Playing in "realistic" mode, I'll just say I'm glad I wasn't there! My heart goes out to all WWII vets and their families for the tremendous sacrifice they made for us all. |
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