In what has been a flagship year for hardcore, there are few bands that have reaped the rewards quite like Speed. Though, saying that, there are few bands that have stuck to their guns in the face of critical acclaim quite like Speed either. Starting 2024 as the scene’s best kept secret and seeing it out as award winners, future Coachella performers and viral sensations, it’s been as crazy a 12 months as any band could ask for, let alone one that never expected to make it out of Sydney.

But it is in their honesty, integrity and sheer love and adoration for this music that the band have found their way into so many people’s hearts and headphones. In promoting everything that hardcore should be about – expression, community and tolerance – they have proven themselves to be worthy flagbearers for the scene, and it is still only just getting started.

To attempt to sum up everything up, Rock Sound were lucky enough to grab vocalist Jem Siow for a chat during a moment of downtime…

Rock Sound: First, it’s fair to say it has been a frantic year for you. How has it been keeping the same energy flowing throughout everything you have done?

Jem: “The thing is, we’re a hardcore band. As intense as this year has been, this is what we do. It’s the essence of what all of this is. If there is one thing that Speed can rely on, and the parts of Speed that I can always vouch for, it’s the energy and the passion. I can’t say that we have the most original music or we are the most technical musicians, but every fucking night, no matter how tired or jetlagged we are, we will always go hard as fuck. There’s only one mode, without being cheesy about it. Also, to add to that, as overwhelming as all of this can be, it’s also the thing of dreams. As a hardcore band from Sydney, playing shows like we have around the world is insane. We’ve been on tour for six months out of this year, and we are very aware that this is a position that no other Australian hardcore band has been in. We feel responsible for delivering whilst flying our flag and representing our scene. Doing the opportunity justice. So, there is no other choice than to go as hard as we can for as long as you can.”

RS: How do you now look back on the beginning of the band’s story and compare it to where you have been able to go from there? What do you remember about that time?

Jem: “We started this band with such pure and humble intentions, born out of the potential that we thought we had. We started with the ambition to just be a hardcore band in Sydney and to be able to put on hardcore shows. Mix that in with the time in our lives that we started things, me being 27, in a position where we have learned from a lot of mistakes and learned a lot about ourselves, and you see that we started from a place of just wanting to champion true authenticity. Hardcore wasn’t considered cool around our friends or people in Australia when we began. But we saw it as the coolest thing ever and wanted to champion it. It made it easier for us to accept things because we were already on the back foot because it meant that we could just double down. We could do everything we thought it should be done and be exactly the version of ourselves we wanted to be.”

RS: If you aren’t starting something with pure intentions, you are already setting yourself up to fail. This has resonated with so many people because they have seen just how honest it is to who you are and not you trying to be something you’re not…

Jem: “This whole band has been an incredible journey, and so many lessons have been learned. About myself, each other and how to approach and navigate this world. When we released ‘WE SEE YOU’, that was a song based solely on our friendship group and how we saw hardcore through the lens we had in Sydney. When we filmed the video for that, posted on street corners, I could see people walking past and thought, ‘We’re going to end up on Catatonic Youths, bro’. But also, who really gives a fuck? This is what we do, and I think it’s fresh. And every single thing we have done, we believe with our entire being. Some of it is tongue in cheek, and some is pretty obnoxious, but seeing how it has been received so positively has taught me so much. If you accept yourself and are on a journey to find yourself and put that out into the world without any restrictions, that is where you create your best art and the most meaningful message you can explore. I have spent so much of my life trying to find myself, of ticking boxes I thought needed ticking to get to a certain place. There are so many reasons behind that, but with this band, it was the first time I tried to accept myself for who I am and want to be. It has come back so feverishly and so intensely.”

RS: What has it been like to navigate people wanting to be a part of what Speed is?

Jem: “I see what is happening with Speed now not just being a Speed thing. It’s a hardcore thing. We pinch ourselves every day and process it while still asking ourselves why it is happening. Why has hardcore blown up so insanely at this time when it had every reason to fail? It’s purely a testament to the whole construct of what this subculture stands for. With that, it gives us even more responsibility because with this sea of newcomers flooding into the scene, they must understand the essence of it. It’s a tricky position. The discourse for ten years leading up to Speed back home was, ‘How do we get kids to come to shows? How do we get people to start bands? How do we get people to care about this for the right reasons?’ Now it has become, ‘How do we make sure that the culture doesn’t become diluted?’”

RS: That happens in every local scene, the doubt that comes with whether you have to chop and change things to keep up with demand. But the reality is that you got there from marching to your own beat, so why would you ever stop and change that

Jem: “This band started with a mission statement and that was to celebrate and promote hardcore culture. That’s been the defining guideline, the metric, the target from day one and it’s what we use to navigate every circumstance that we find ourselves in. This band has been trying to embody the spirit of hardcore as purely as we can from the beginning, and when I think about what that means, it’s about humanity. It’s about realness. That has made it easier for us to exist within this. We’re not perfect people or these pop stars or manufactured rock stars who have a manual for acting and behaving. We don’t have many figures from Australia that have been in this position before us. We are just friends that are in a project together. We don’t claim to know everything; we know what we know. That has influenced every decision we have made, from how we rolled out our album and how we have curated the shows we play, the charities we donate to or the shirts we wear on stage. Everything is something we think about and deliberate whilst falling back on the knowledge that we have. That, to me, is what hardcore is.  Channelling what I know to be real into what we are making.

“We’re still growing and learning, but what you see is what you get. That’s why we put a flute in ‘THE FIRST TEST’. I’m a flute player and a flute teacher; I have played for 14 years before this and have a degree in flute performance. I did that because after high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do apart from music, but I couldn’t play guitar, and I could play the flute. I’m an Asian guy with no tattoos. I have a collection of plushies on my sofa at home. I teach kids to play ‘Hot Cross Buns’ every day. I wear ramen socks. People say that we are the hardest hardcore band out there right now, but you don’t even know, you know? People will make up things to criticise us about as well, and that’s fine because I don’t expect you to understand if you’re not in this. To be hardcore is to not be afraid of who you are, and you put it out there. And we will double down on that as we keep on growing.”

RS: You find yourself having to double down on that more so when what you are doing stretches outside of the audience you were initially targeting. You mention the flute solo in ‘THE FIRST TEST’, which has now been seen by people who don’t even know what hardcore is. Those moments are important but also aren’t what define you, and they never should…

Jem: “It is surreal to see that. It’s surreal to see this band be in conversations that it never should have been. I’m grateful, but it’s so funny. At the same time, some people aren’t going to understand what any of this is. I don’t expect them to understand it. It’s hard to understand all of this. But the one thing that will always be the guiding light will be our mission statement. People can make up whatever they want and take it all however they want, but I have never ever once done something and felt like I have compromised my values. It’s always there because we care and know what we stand for. People are reacting to ten seconds of a reel or a headline of an article; that’s all good with me. I’m thinking about this 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m contemplating everything to do with Speed and to do with hardcore every second of every day, bro. I have probably thought about this longer than anyone else, and even then, I am still trying to figure it out even though I’m living it. But I trust that the story we are telling, when we look back on it in five or ten years, will be made more sense of as time goes on. But the best way to communicate it will always be at a show. That is the best way for someone to get what Speed is about.”

RS: How has it been seeing people absorb Speed from different angles? From supporting Knocked Loose in the US to seeing the growth at Outbreak in the UK, what have these various vessels for channelling Speed taught you?

Jem: “Honestly, it’s a crazy thing to reflect on as a whole. Without sounding overly confident or cocky, the reality is that Speed appears to be a gateway band for a lot of new people. The people who are coming show from all over the place; this is their first-ever hardcore show. They are telling us this is their first hardcore show, and we’re having conversations with people who would never have heard of our band otherwise. There are people who like Speed who also don’t know about other hardcore bands. So we have a responsibility to nurture the culture in the right way because of that. That’s been the most important thing. The first concert I ever went to was Parkway Drive. I was a metalhead with side fringe and checkered Vans. They had three hardcore bands supporting them. The first time I saw a spin kick. It was the first time I saw people dressing as normal people playing power chords on stage without any theatrics. That shit ruined my life, I was a hardcore kid from there. So now I’m in a hardcore band opening for a metalcore tour, and kids are going to come and experience the same things I did for the first time. If 5% of the audience walks away liking it, then I need to show them what it is all about. We need to show them how to carry themselves in this culture in the right way. It’s so important to us that people know that this isn’t about any sort of clout. This isn’t about money or fame or any sort of rock star bullshit. We got into this because my friends and I loved the music and style and wanted to make good memories with that love.”

RS: That’s where longevity comes from. It’s why you will still be here in five years, and so many other bands disappear into the ether. You’re just doing what feels right, not letting any moment pass you by and enjoying the ride because without that, what’s the point?

Jem: “The purpose of this will always remain the same. Even though we were rocking up to 100 cap rooms in my $1000 car a couple of years ago, and now we are hitting venues in a bus with a driver, the root is still the same. Wherever we are in a year’s time, if this keeps on getting bigger and bigger or the momentum stops, it doesn’t fucking matter. We’re just going to be a hardcore band. This band was only supposed to play to our friendship level; it was never meant to reach further than that.”

RS: So, what would you say you are most proud of that 2024 has represented for Speed? From the songs you’ve released to the places you have been to the things you have achieved, what sticks out?

Jem: “I’m proud of the faith I have in my friends and the faith that I have in myself. We all quit our jobs at the end of last year to fully commit to this because we knew we had so much touring ahead. It was almost do or die for us because of that, we had no other choice. And for all of us, that required so much trust in each other. The longest tour we had done before this year had been two weeks. This year has been six months of being on the road. The first tour of this year was three months straight. We didn’t know what it would be like jumping into this lifestyle, even with how we are best friends. We have lived back home, and we have families and plans for the future that are not meant to be wrapped up within being a full-time touring hardcore band. But life takes you where it wants to, and you have to trust in your values and what you know is right in your heart. And that has been the most significant lesson I am most proud of. Because, so far, it has worked out.”