For anyone who came of age in Australia during the 1990s, the name Jebediah conjures an immediate rush of recognition — jangling guitars, anthemic choruses and a particular kind of sun-bleached Perth energy. Now, more than three decades after four friends from Western Australia decided to form a band, their story is finally getting the full documentary treatment with Jebediah: Are We OK?, an eleven-years-in-the-making film that goes far deeper than a simple nostalgia exercise.

Four friends, 30 years, and one unbroken lineup

What makes Jebediah genuinely remarkable — beyond their catalogue of beloved songs — is a feat that eludes most bands anywhere in the world: the same four people who started together are still standing together. Lead guitarist Chris Daymond, bassist Vanessa Thornton, lead vocalist Kevin Mitchell and his brother Brett Mitchell on drums have held the lineup intact across three decades of Australian music.

Producer Brooke Silcox, who spent eleven years working on the film alongside director Arlo Dean Cook, says that longevity alone sets the band apart from virtually every other act in rock history.

"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."

The band built their reputation on classic tracks including Leaving Home, Harpoon and She's Like a Comet, and became visually synonymous with the so-called Bull Creek spaceship — officially known as Futuro house — a distinctive structure near the Perth suburb where they all grew up, which featured on their album artwork.

A documentary that was never meant to be a documentary

The film's origin story is as organic as the band's own. Cook, a musician himself, had no grand documentary ambition when he first picked up a camera around Jebediah. He set out simply to document their 20-year anniversary tour in 2015 — but what he witnessed over those weeks changed his thinking entirely.

"Just being around them and witnessing how close they were and how good that relationship was, I was just like, 'Wow, this is incredible!'" Cook said. "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."

Thornton, for her part, was deeply sceptical. When Cook floated the idea, the band's reaction was amusement more than enthusiasm.

"Arlo told me one day 'I think there's a story here' and we were like, 'That would be a pretty boring story,'" she recalled 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."

The filmmaker who became part of the band

Perhaps the most extraordinary subplot of Are We OK? is what happened to Cook himself during production. After years embedded with the group, he found himself crossing from observer to participant when one band member needed to step back from touring commitments.

"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," Cook explained. "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."

Cook went on to play 15 shows and two tours with Jebediah — all while the documentary he was making about them remained unfinished. "Before the film was finished, I literally got to step into their shoes and be one of the characters," he said. "Then I got to come home and finish editing the film."

Thornton was also struck by just how unobtrusive Cook managed to be during some of the band's most private and difficult 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?'" she said.

High moments and hard truths — a documentary that doesn't flinch

Cook is candid about the emotional toll of capturing a band through its highest highs and most testing lows. The camera, he says, became both a professional instrument and a personal shield during turbulent periods.

"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.

For audiences who weren't yet born when Harpoon first climbed the Australian charts, the film is being described as an entry point into a feeling sometimes called "anemoia" — a wistful longing for a time one never actually experienced. Jebediah's story, as Cook and Silcox see it, is not simply a music history lesson but a portrait of friendship, loyalty and the rare decision four people made to grow up together rather than drift apart.

Jebediah: Are We OK? is now screening.