Sydney Hardcore’s MOST WANTED–SPEED Interview on Keeping Traditional Hardcore Alive, Cross-Continental Scenes and Advice for the Next Gen…

The Sydney, Australia based hardcore band, Speed, recently debuted their first full-length record: ONLY ONE MODE, on July 12, 2024. Speed continues to dominate the modern-day hardcore scene with music and live performances that are played hard, played fast, and embody their ethos of "for us, by us." The band continues to impact the trajectory of hardcore, focused solely on doing what they do for the love of their family, friends and the culture of Australian hardcore. Read on for BTS of the production of the album, steps to getting there, and where they’re going next. 

Would you start off by introducing yourself, your role in the band, and a fun fact about you?

My name is Jem, I am the vocalist in Speed, and my most prized possession is my cat called chicken. 

Given that your first full length album, ONLY ONE MODE just dropped last Friday on July 12th, I think it’s pressing to say congratulations first of all, but secondly to cover the basics. What bands, artists, experiences etc helped inspire this LP? 

We’re a band that started going to shows throughout the mid-2000s here in Australia, and a lot of the sonic influences we’re pulling from come from bands that were very influential to us in our early years, right when we were getting into everything. I think that’s part of what we’re trying to channel with this band—those things that made us most excited about the genre in general. On a more current and modern level, I don’t think we can understate the impact of a vocalist like Scott Vogel or a band like Terror. Some people have described me as being almost evangelistic about hardcore, and I think a lot of that passion—my passion for what we do—has definitely been inspired by someone like Scott Vogel.

Stylistically, Trapped Under Ice was one of our favorite bands growing up. The swagger, the overall expression of style and heaviness—was a very big influence for us. With Only One Mode, we felt that there was a lot of hype about the band, especially online. Personally, I felt that the hype very much superseded the substance. Up until a few weeks ago, we only had a demo and an EP. It’s crazy to think about. So, with this LP, we saw it as a chance to demonstrate what we’re capable of and to create the best body of work we could at this point in time. We hope to do justice to this platform and fan base that we’ve been miraculously blessed with.

Thank you for sharing that. I’ve interviewed a few different bands since COVID, and it’s interesting how social media has played a huge role in the growth of bands and how they’ve received so much positive feedback from the scene. It’s great to see that you’re down-to-earth and recognize the platform you have and how it affects your music.

Yeah, I don’t believe that this is something that’s necessarily just happening to us, to Speed. People sometimes focus on our experience, but Speed is just part of a larger movement. What we’re talking about right now, the position we find ourselves in, is a moment in hardcore. The post-COVID era of hardcore is like a giant wave that the whole world is going through, and we’re just very lucky to be wrapped up in it.

So, the next question I have is about Only One Mode. Even in its title, it reflects Speed’s individuality. Your music is distinctly yours. How would you say the creative process for this album reflects the band’s journey, both musically and personally?

It’s been a short journey, really. We started in 2019, so it’s only been a few years. We’re a band from Australia, from Sydney, and with that, we’ve always been conscious of the ceiling—or what we thought was the ceiling—around us. The songs we wrote were always meant to be played in the context of 100 to 200 people. That was the potential we saw for ourselves; that was the space we existed in, week in, week out.

But going into this album, after playing festivals to 6,000 to 10,000 hardcore kids—I'm not talking about crossover festivals, but just hardcore—playing to that many people really inspired us in terms of what’s possible. It also put us on stages in front of people and in contexts we never thought possible. So, with this album, we wanted to create something that was still authentic to the small rooms we’ve always played in, but also something that was anthemic and catchy. We wanted to make music that people could dance to and sing along to while staying true to our influences. From the demo, the influences have mostly been the same. We don’t have any aspirations to be anything more than a hardcore band—musically, spiritually, and ethically. That’s why we started, and despite everything going crazy now, that remains the same.

It's interesting functioning as a hardcore band in this environment, but we just stick to what we’ve known for the 15 years before this band started. It’s like nothing has changed, but everything has changed, in a strange way.

So, this is more of a personal curiosity. I would love to know the story behind coining the phrase “Only One Mode.” Is there a cool anecdote, or did it just become your thing over time?

“Only One Mode” is a philosophy of how we live our lives. It’s about finding your people, finding your purpose, and pursuing your convictions in life with everything you’ve got. It’s about not being afraid to pursue what you believe in, whether that’s your personal ambitions, relationships, or whatever falls in between. Especially coming from Australia, from such a small scene that’s often been overlooked, growing up with our circle of friends, we became confident in who we were, what we stood for, and what we believed in. It’s just a mindset, a natural instinct of just this one thing.

I think that’s important because this album came out when I was 31. If I reflect on when I was younger, in my late teens to early 20s, a lot of the time, my friends and I were chasing the model of what we saw other bands do. We were trying to change some of our personality or alter ourselves to fit a certain mold that we thought would get us validation. “Only One Mode” represents championing yourself, championing your own identity, and being proud of that. People would say to me, "Oh, man, like beast mode," and I’d respond, "There’s only one mode." There’s only one way to do things, and that’s with everything you’ve got. “Only One Mode” could have been the title of any Speed record.

Yeah, the next three could be Only One Mode—but, you know, volume 1, 2, and 3. Having said that, we never thought we’d ever do an album. I never thought we’d stay alive this long or reach a point where we’d be good enough to do it. So, releasing an album now is wild. It was never part of the plan initially.

When you talk about how, when you were younger, you’d change things about yourself to conform to what others expected, a lot of rejecting that comes with time. As you get older, you reach that potential. What advice would you give to younger bands or people who are new to the scene and want to start a band or a project?

One of the most profound lessons this band has taught me is that when you put your identity into your art, that’s when you make your greatest work. The idea of identity is a journey, and it’s not something that I or the other guys have fully figured out. It’s a constantly evolving process, but it did take years for us to be comfortable with who we are, to accept the many facets that make up who we are as individuals, and to embrace that.

A big part of that comes from having a support network—a community or a circle of friends who bring out the best in you. That’s embodied in the spirit of Speed. We’re not the best musicians, we’re not the most talented performers, but we’re five amazing friends. The chemistry that comes from that is something special.

That’s something I can definitely stand behind. We’re a product of a larger friendship circle in Sydney that we’re very proud of. It’s from that support and understanding with my friends that I am the way I am, and we channel that into our music. That’s the most important thing in being a band—making music and creating art with people you deeply love. It’s not a business; it’s not a company. We’re friends on a journey together, doing something special and meaningful. The bond we have always comes first.

That’s true, especially in the music scene. There’s a lot that goes with it—good and bad. So, having people who have your back and can push you in the right direction is crucial.

I agree. In our experience, this is just normal for being a hardcore kid. You go to shows, meet people, see others playing on stage, and realize you can do the same thing. You start a band, go on stage, and make memories together. Especially in something as underground as this, where there’s no money in it, the only thing we have to gain is the experiences we create together. It’s a labor of love, a selfless endeavor. That’s the experience we knew.

When you’re involved in a space like this, which rewards such a high level of participation and commitment, it creates strong bonds. There are ups and downs, like driving in a van for 20 hours with your best mates, playing for five people, then turning around and driving home, getting paid nothing—but those are some of the best experiences of my life. For someone playing a different style of music for different reasons, it might not be worth it, but for us, it absolutely was.

You've touched on this in previous interviews—how you pay homage to hardcore's roots and traditions, but also push boundaries musically. I watched a YouTube video of THE FIRST TEST song, and the comments were really interesting, especially since you play the flute in it. There’s a funky bass line, too. How do you balance honoring the genre’s traditions while also innovating and creating your own sound?

I think sonically, there’s a path we follow that respects the confines of tradition. A lot of our inspiration comes from 90s New York metallic hardcore, so we naturally operate within that framework. But from a more holistic approach to creating art, I don't see any rules. That’s part of our mission as a band—embracing who we are. With THE FIRST TEST, I wanted to write an instrumental part, something we could really jam to, like a groove that’s different from the usual hardcore mosh intros. We already had a mosh instrumental, so I aimed for something groovier. I also wanted to write something my brother could dance to since he’s a hip-hop dancer. That’s why the drum beats are the way they are.

The song's structure reflects this approach. The first half is all about the lyrics and the vocals, while the second half focuses on the instruments and the music itself. When we first wrote it, the gaps weren't filled in, and the sound wasn’t complete. But when I listened back, I heard this flute trill in my head. I’ve played the flute since I was a kid, so it just felt right. What you hear on the track is exactly what popped into my mind. I recorded it and sent it to the guys, and they were on board. It was organic, and it became a talking point. People were surprised, but to me, it was just natural—music is music, instruments are instruments. It’s part of who I am.

I think the night we played that song in Pittsburgh, just before it was released, was the last time I ever played a set with the flute. The reaction was overwhelming, and I realized this instrument was now part of our gear permanently. It’s funny because I’ve played in bands since I was 13 or 14, and it never crossed my mind before. It was just normal for me, but I didn’t anticipate how it would resonate with others.

Aside from the new record, I think it's equally important to talk about being from Sydney. How has being a Sydney hardcore band influenced your music, this record, and your perspective on the Australian and American hardcore scenes?

Yeah, definitely. I grew up in Sydney. We come from a really small scene, even within Australia, which hasn’t been well-represented globally or really recognized. We played in bands for years before Speed, and Dennis and Kane still play in a band called Relentless, which we consider legendary in the Sydney hardcore scene. About 10 or 11 years ago, they actually went to America and played shows there. It wasn't a massive band, but they still managed to go and play. That was a big deal.

They even opened This Is Hardcore in 2012 or 2013, and they toured with Ringworm in the U.S. They’ve done some crazy stuff. To us, that’s always been absolutely legendary. But for the rest of us in the band, none of our other bands ever made it to America or achieved global recognition. When we started this band, I was 27 or 28, and I was so aware of the ceiling in terms of what hardcore could achieve. We’ve been so isolated from the rest of the world, but that isolation helped us cultivate our own culture in Sydney—the way we do things, the way we think, and how we support each other. It created a framework for how hardcore operates here—it's humble, low-level, and community-based. It’s also been more accepting than some larger scenes I’ve experienced elsewhere.

You know, I’m 31 now—I already know who my friends are and who my people are. Meeting others around the world has been one of the best parts of this band, but even beyond that, we’re so happy with what we have in Sydney. This band isn't trying to do anything beyond being a hardcore band. We’ve already played with Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice. We’ve done Sound and Fury twice and This Is Hardcore. What more is there? It was a dream for us just to play one show on American soil, even if it was just opening a local show.

Australia’s hardcore scene is reflective of a small-town vibe. It's in a bit of a renaissance right now, with a lot of new people getting involved. There’s a lot of excitement, but we’re still waiting for more bands to start. Despite the scene's growth, the fact that many of us lived through a time when it nearly died out has created a stronger sense of unity across the board. Most people in Australia want the same things for hardcore, even if beef and drama still exist. The ethics and ethos in Australian hardcore are something I’m really proud of.

So, how has maintaining a DIY ethos shaped your artistic integrity and approach to the music industry?

I would just add that, like I mentioned before, the band started with our friends and our people, and that mindset extends to the entire Speed team. As we’ve grown, we’ve continued to work with people we’ve known for a long time—people who share the same vision as us. There’s no auditioning for band members or other roles; it’s a very close-knit group.

We’re also extremely hands-on with everything. For us, it’s about managing and running everything ourselves. We only ever work with people who are part of our family. That’s how we keep the DIY ethos alive—we’re in control of what we do and don’t sacrifice our vision for anything.

As guys who have grown up in the hardcore scene, and dedicate their musical careers towards keeping the genre alive in all aspects, style of moshing style of music and ethos, how do you perceive the genre's evolution over the years, and where do you see it heading in the future?

We got into hardcore in a time that I think was a lot harder to penetrate. It was a lot more underground. It wasn't this thing that was proliferated all through the internet. We didn't really have social media even when we got into hardcore. Also, I think a lot of the attitudes that surrounded the scene helped keep it underground because it was very protected. In a way a lot of us had to earn our stripes. I think there is some merit to that because being so counterculture, this space I mean, it is meant to exist aside from mainstream society. That’s the point of it, because it’s meant for people who don’t feel like they fit in. Me and the guys struggled in almost every other sphere in our lives, yet we found acceptance in the space, here in hardcore. Flash Forward almost twenty years now, the accessibility and pint of entry for hardcore seems so much easier because you can literally open up an app on your phone and see it in front of you. I think that there are many, many ways in which the scene has progressed positively. It is much more accepting and understanding of most people. I think that it also recognized that a lot of people share this experience of feeling like an outsider. Which is great because having that experience validated in a space like this gave me a place to express ourselves and gave me and my friends an opportunity to create something meaningful with our lives in a world that feels so helpless. But I think the biggest threat to what’s happening with hardcore is that our culture in many ways may become diluted. This is a tricky thing because as important as it is to be accepting and inclusive, hardcore is inherently dangerous. It is inherently violent. I think that overall it’s heading in the direction that’s a net positive for sure, but right now we are at a point where the space is growing so feverishly, that culture is taking some time to catch up. People are reckoning with the fact that it is so big and a lot of people are a part of it, there are a lot of people trying to protect it and keep it going, and there are a lot of new people who are coming in and are trying to give their own impression on it who maybe don’t understand tradition. It’s a tricky balancing thing. But I do believe that overall it is heading the right way. Hardcore is 100% still preserved and will be preserved. It's just that I think we are moving into a space where hardcore is becoming more dynamic and more diverse. [...] When Speed set out we had no other ambition aside from being a hardcore band. Now our greatest challenge is being able to navigate an opportunity that seems bigger than hardcore in many ways while still remaining true to what we know. I think if hardcore bands nowadays that are getting bigger don’t honor the ethics, I think that’s when you will start to see it change more drastically.  

Touring across North America and Europe must have been transformative. Can you share a specific moment or experience that profoundly impacted the bands’ perspective on music and community?

Yeah, definitely. We had the opportunity to play in Gothenburg last year, which wasn’t really on our radar as a hardcore hotspot. But when we arrived, it was at a youth center with a 200-capacity show that was sold out. What blew us away was that more than half the crowd was under 18. The promoters were older dudes, in their late 30s to 40s, working alongside 16 and 17-year-old kids who were helping put the show together.

The energy was insane—kids were moshing from start to finish. The entire lineup was made up of Swedish local bands, and every single one of them killed it. The show was run by volunteers, and there was this incredible unity between generations, from the new kids to the old heads. It was exactly what we believe hardcore is all about.

To be on the other side of the world, in a place so removed from what we’re used to, and see such a thriving hardcore culture that’s built on and intertwined with the youth was incredible. It was the first time in a long time that I saw my own experience from 15, 16 years ago reflected in another scene. For us, that’s the most exciting thing about hardcore—seeing how the culture manifests in different places, how people digest and shape it within their own context. Gothenburg hardcore was fucking awesome.

Thank you so much to Jem from Speed for participating in this interview, and for all the thoughtful responses. Stream ONLY ONE MODE, out now on all platforms and catch them at a gig if they’re in a city near you. This interview was partially summarized for print formatting and a comprehensible read!