SPEED: ‘Across The Country, There’s Bands Made Up Of Young People Carrying The Torch For Hardcore’

SPEED may be global travellers, sharing the stage with Turnstile and playing at festivals like Coachella and Graspop Metal Meeting, but they haven’t lost their humility or the essence of who they are.

With their new EP, ALL MY ANGELS, out on Thursday, 23 October, SPEED haven’t just taken giant steps forward, musically, but they’ve also dug into the most vulnerable corners of their beings to come up with an unforgettable three-song release. Following on from the success of their debut album, ONLY ONE MODE, released last year, the Sydney hardcore band maintain their momentum and further proves why they’ve become a global powerhouse.

Recorded, produced, and mixed by the band’s close collaborator, Elliott Gallart at the Chameleon Studios in Sydney, ALL MY ANGELS finds the band in a period of reflection as they grieved the passing of three close friends in recent years. The three songs on the EP explore grief while honouring the memories of the band’s lost loved ones, marking their heaviest-hitting material to date.

While the band have built a global reputation for their music and supporting the community, mourning loved ones has magnified SPEED’s central ethos: “To love unconditionally, without fear or regret.”

The Music catches up with vocalist Jem Siow and guitarist Josh Clayton ahead of the release of their new EP, and before their US tour dates with Turnstile alongside Amyl & The Sniffers, Mannequin Pussy, Blood Orange, and Jane Remover, and European dates opening for Malevolence alongside Dying Wish and Psycho-Frame.

Reflecting on their growth and learning curves since the release of ONLY ONE MODE, Siow ponders, “That’s a big question that is difficult to answer, specifically, but the only answer would be an incredible amount that I don’t think any of us could have anticipated.

“The learning process in every single stage of the band, every single aspect of it is something that’s happening every second, every second of living, like I’m constantly learning and growing and fucking up and realising and being challenged, you know?”

In terms of the band’s music, Siow comments that SPEED know more about and are more confident about their strengths, what they like to do, and what they’d like to focus more on.

He explains, “Obviously, SPEED is, and always will be, an aggressive band, a very highly energetic band, but at the core of what we really love, the best moments of SPEED, I think, are the other groovy moments—the moments that feel swagged out, the moments that feel like we’re really expressing our personalities through the rhythm and the riffs—and I think that’s one of the big things that we’ve been trying to focus on a bit more, just on a pure musical level.”

In a move that will probably surprise fans, there are moments on ALL MY ANGELS where the band throws in some samples and synthesisers, all without sacrificing the overtly heavy nature of their music.

As Siow notes, every sample and synth was “100% created by us,” from the Samba element at the end of AIN’T MY GAME to the synth section that pieces the two halves of PEACE together. While recording their latest EP, the band decided to explore and play with some different devices to deliver the key messages instilled in ALL MY ANGELS.

“We are a modern hardcore band that is influenced a lot by our roots in, like, ‘90s New York hardcore, if you’re trying to trace it back a little bit more specifically,” Siow tells. “But we are very much a modern hardcore band in the sense that we are open to different influences and exploring different ways we can express ourselves while still coming from the same place.

“So, I think that this record was very intentional with opening up the palette for SPEED, because the first few records were very rooted in traditional style, very rudimentary in that way. But we’re definitely at the stage now where, just as musicians, we’re trying to add a little bit more to the conversation, which can be very limited in a small, little kind of world that hardcore exists in.”

Music ultimately became a powerful tool for the members of SPEED as they found ways to cope with their grief. It became a coping mechanism, a method of self-expression.

Discussing what powers SPEED to continue loving unconditionally in the face of loss and cruelty in the world, Clayton remarks that the band keep their strength because they “see the rewards of it.”

“The thing that this band has given us has been just like, some of the most insane, unprecedented experiences that we could ever imagine,” Clayton adds, “Like, we often talk about it as, what we’re doing at the moment is not something that we ever dreamed of because it wasn’t rooted in possibility.

“There is no reason why a hardcore band should be able to do the things that we’ve been able to do, and going through that, and then going through the hard times as well, losing friends and being away from family so much, and having relationships break down, all of the trade-off that comes with that has forced us closer together, and really reveals the true character of your friends and family, and I think that all it does is deepen the bond that you have with each other.

“You know, before this band, Jem was my best friend, but now, we’ve been through so many things together that it feels stronger than that. I didn’t think there was a level above having best friends, but this band has put us in that position, with each other, our partners, our families, and everything. So, I think that’s what it means to us at this point.”

Without Siow coming off as cheesy or corny, the EP served as a way to reflect on the people who surround him on the band’s wild journey. The community built by the Sydney hardcore scene—and the losses it’s faced—are close to his heart.

He shares, “When people say, like, Sydney hardcore, or Australian hardcore, I’m seeing the images of our best friends, you know? And as devastating and tragic as it has been to go through several losses that we have in the last few years, the compounding feeling amidst all of that is how special those relationships have been, and have been informed by being intentionally invested in one another and allocating time and energy every day to focusing on these relationships around us.”

So, while the loss of loved ones has been insurmountable, SPEED have been brought even closer together as a result. “It’s been powerful bonding experiences for us as well for those who are still here,” Siow admits.

The local community came together following the loss of their friends, and the band feel even closer to the people around them. “The loss of people, in itself, is like a gift in a strange, strange way,” he muses, “I don’t even think too much about the cathartic experience of writing music. It’s really about the experience of coming together through the music. It’s the thing that underpins all of these relationships: is this space that we exist in?”

As a hardcore band from Sydney, SPEED have seen a lot: the lockout laws came into effect when the group were 18-19 years old—formative years for experiencing the world and experiencing nightlife—as well as venue closures, gentrification, and a whole lot of red tape for putting on all-ages shows. Not that that’s stopped them.

“For most of us, the amount of spaces that were available for us to go and see music and engage with hardcore was definitely stifled by what was happening,” Clayton admits, “and I think the impacts of it are still there today.”

Reflecting on his teenage years, Clayton recalls attending gigs at the local Masonic Hall or youth clubs, where spaces were rented out regularly for shows that happened every week.

“I think that’s lit a fire under us to try and make that space available where we can – it’s still really difficult,” Clayton continues, “Now, the amount of red tape and logistics that go into that and the cost makes it next to impossible, but we’re really lucky that we’ve been empowered to be able to do that.

“And yes, it’s a massive priority to us, and we’re seeing the benefits of it all over Australia. There’s new all-ages scenes popping up in every city, and there’s young people getting into hardcore for maybe the first time.”

Pointing out that it’s “not just a SPEED thing, Siow adds, “Everyone in our generation really feels this way, because we all know how much we’ve gotten from it between the ages of, like, 12 to 18.

“Bands around the country, labels and booking promoters have the same mindset of propping up the next gen, and I’ve got to give props to our booking agent and best friend, Candace [Krieger] from Beastmode.

“She’s probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, advocate for all-ages hardcore in the country. She’s really the one [who deals with] so many hurdles, as Josh was alluding to, to make this happen, and it’s very easy to just not do it. There are people on our team who are really making it happen.”

Looking at local hardcore scenes that have popped up across the country, SPEED are impressed.

“Across the country, there’s bands in Canberra, Newcastle, Adelaide, down in Melbourne, all made up of young people that are carrying the torch for hardcore now and building their own community, creating their own labels, putting on shows, doing all this awesome stuff,” Clayton shares.

Siow adds, “I’ve seen kids literally grow up in front of my eyes from coming to SPEED shows. He remembers a kid who attended their first-ever SPEED show at 13 or 14 years old, wearing a Pennywise t-shirt, and not being engaged with the local scene.

Six months later, that same punter went to another show and wore a SPEED shirt. After another six months, they were repping the ‘90s hardcore band, Cold As Life.

“I’m literally seeing these kids get it in real time,” Siow notes. “This is one of the most rewarding parts of the entire thing, because I can remember me and Josh getting into hardcore wearing face paint and fucking eyeliner and studded belts, and not knowing anything when we were 12 and 13, and how amazing those memories are for us.”

The kids are, it seems, alright. They’re in good hands. However, with venues closing, a cost-of-living crisis, and the requirement of consistent touring schedules to generate any income as a touring band, SPEED and the hardcore scene face the challenge of growing the scene while staying true to the community, and without compromising their morals.

They’re not worried, though. “It’s always been a super DIY thing, like, that’s the central ethic of what hardcore is,” Clayton says. “And I don’t think any of the best hardcore has been made with a massive budget.

“I think what makes the genre special is that you can create something with limited resources. The barrier to entry is really low. You don’t have to be good at your instrument. You don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to a drum teacher to teach you how to play hardcore; you can just do it. You can photocopy a record sleeve at your library; you do what needs to be done to get the music out.

“And I think that’s what makes the most unique and important stuff in the genre. That’s something that can never really be taken away, regardless of the resources available. Hardcore always adapts, and the spirit of it is what makes it what it is. So, I think as long as people are willing to put themselves out there to create it, it will be what it is, and it’ll respond to the environment that it’s made in.”

ALL MY ANGELS will be released on Thursday, 23 October via Last Ride Records + Flatspot Records.