"There's been mini-series, stage shows, biographies and documentaries, but I wanted to bring something to his life about the man himself, beyond the image.
"He was a massive star, there's no doubt about that. He sort of single-handedly invented rock and roll in Australia. He drove from town to town making people play his records, and that's how Australian rock was invented.
"Everyone knows that part of his life. They know he had enormous ups and enormous downs, and I cover all of that - but from the eyes of the eight-year-old boy that I was."
Inside the O'Keefe family
"Johnny and my dad Barry had very similar personalities - they just chose two entirely different careers," O'Keefe said.
"Johnny was known as 'the wild one' and Barry was 'the mild one'.
"They were a very close family. And I remember Uncle John as a beautiful, big-hearted, warm man, who always had half a grin on his face, with a Dunhill in his hand and a whiskey in the other.
"But he was really interested in your life. And when you walked down the street people would stop and wave at him. But he was just my uncle - and that's why I feel so warmly about telling his story."
On mental health
Andrew opened up about his stint in rehab earlier this year - and he's felt the parallels between his own struggles to his uncle's.
"Uncle John himself struggled in life with mental health particularly," O'Keefe said.
"He was a 24/7 kind of worker - and eventually that started to take its toll.
"But he was one of the first Australian celebrities to go public about his own mental health struggles. He used to refer to the Ryde Psychiatric Institute as his winter palace.
"I wasn't quite as resilient."
"I've struggled a little bit in that regard lately I suppose. Life has thrown a few things at me that I wasn't quite prepared for. I wasn't quite as resilient as I imagined I'd be.
"But we are so lucky in this country that we have people who do know how to deal with that stuff - and it's simply a matter of asking.
"I think we all know the feeling of taking on too much and that we can't get ahead in life, and I felt that for quite a while - that everything had come crashing down and there's no way out. But there's always a way out."
Andrew's tour dates
- Friday, October 25 2019 – Thebarton Theatre – ADELAIDE, SA | Tickets
- Saturday, October 26 2019 – Barossa Arts Centre – BAROSSA VALLEY, SA | Tickets
- Friday, November 1 2019 – The Events Centre – CALOUNDRA, QLD | Tickets
- Saturday, November 2 2019 – The Star – GOLD COAST, QLD | Tickets
- Friday, November 8 2019 – Regal Theatre – PERTH, WA | Tickets
- Saturday, November 9 2019 – Regal Theatre – PERTH, WA | Tickets
- Friday, November 15 2019 – Burnie Town Hall – BURNIE, TAS | Tickets
- Saturday, November 16 2019 – Wrestpoint Entertainment Centre – HOBART, TAS | Tickets
- Friday, November 22 2019 – Newcastle Civic Theatre – NEWCASTLE, NSW | Tickets
- Saturday, November 23 2019 – State Theatre – SYDNEY, NSW | Tickets
