More than a nostalgia trip: The story behind Perth rock icons Jebediah

For nineties kids, Jebediah is the soundtrack to their youth.

For younger audiences, a compelling new documentary offers a dose of “anemoia” – the nostalgia for an era they never lived through – as it traces 30 years of raw Australian music culture through the eyes of four Perth friends who decided to grow up together instead of growing apart.

Jebediah: Are we OK? is the brainchild of director Arlo Dean Cook and producer Brooke Silcox who spent a collective 11 years with the group that defined 90s and early 2000s Australian alternative rock music.

“It’s very rare that a band will stay together over 30 years, and that it will still have the same lineup, and that’s just not an Australian thing - that’s an international thing,” Silcox said.

“I think it goes to show that this band is incredibly special, and it’s testament to the bonds that are in that band.”

Cook never intended to make a documentary about one of his favourite bands, instead he went in with the intention of filming their 20-year anniversary tour in 2015.

“Just being around them and witnessing how close they were and how good that relationship was, and I was just like, ‘Wow, this is incredible!’ It was one of those things where I never thought about making a documentary, but I thought, this is a story right here that needs to be told that no one’s told yet,” he said.

“And for some reason, I just sort of convinced myself that I knew that I could do it.”

The four-piece band is made up Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Vanessa Thornton on bass guitar, and brother duo Kevin and Brett Mitchell as lead singer and drummer.

Jebediah is best known for classic hits like Leaving Home, Harpoon, and She’s like a Comet and for their album art which included the famous Bull Creek spaceship – known as Futuro house – which was near where they all grew up.

Cook, who is a musician himself, filmed the band for just over a decade and before the documentary had finished, found himself in front of the camera as part of the band himself.

“At some point, very close to the end, they needed some help because one of them needed to step away from the band for a bunch of reasons,” he said.

“I was around so often anyway, and I play guitar, so they just asked if I would be willing to step in and do a few shows and help out. That was like a dream come true for me as a musician.

“Before the film was finished, I literally got to step into their shoes and be one of the characters. I still had my camera saying I needed specific shots, but I did 15 shows and two tours with them.

“Then I got to come home and finish editing the film.”

For Thornton, she never dreamed of a documentary being made about one of her bands - in fact, she thought it might have even been a boring topic.

“Arlo told me one day ‘I think there’s a story here’ and we were like, ‘That would be a pretty boring story’” she said with a laugh.

“But he thought there was a story there that he could tell, and we told him it was fine with us, and 11 years later, the film has hit the screens.”

While being filmed is part of the nature of being a rock star, Thornton said she was surprised at how incognito Cook was in some of their toughest moments.

“Being filmed wasn’t really that strange, but also, I was actually really surprised about how discreet he could be. Some of the footage that he’s got, I was like, ‘How the hell did you get that?’.”

The documentary covers the band’s highest of highs and lowest of lows which Cook describes as a tough experience at times.

“It was hard. I mean, they were such good friends that when the real dramas sort of started to unfold it was kind of helpful to have a camera for myself as a bit of a protective barrier because it was really very raw for a long time,” he said.

“But there were never any dramas and I never got asked to stop filming. Although some of those scenes took me quite a long time to edit because for a long time, I just didn’t really want to be back in that environment or mood.”

But Silcox said it was how the band held themselves and took care of one another through these tough times that brought them to the eventual storyline of the documentary.

“Ultimately, it’s about the family that we choose … and what it means to grow up,” she said.

“There was a really difficult time while making the film when one of them was really struggling, and watching the band work it out and pull through it, and the way that they went about it was pretty remarkable.”

But as far as Thornton is concerned, she’s still working on the growing up part.

“I’m the same as I was when I was 20, I reckon. I feel like that has been the beauty of playing in a band. You’re just in your own bubble, and it feels like I missed that bit where I was supposed to grow up because I was having too much fun, and I still am.”

As for what they hope people take away from the documentary, Silcox says: anemoia.

“I learnt a new word recently, which is called anemoia, and it means to feel nostalgia for a time that you did not live through. So, for audiences who didn’t live through the 90s, I really hope that they feel that with this documentary,” she said.

Jebediah: Are We OK? is playing at Luna Cinemas throughout October.

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