Story by Sosefina Fuamoli

The ascension of SPEED in recent years has seen one of Australia’s fiercest groups of any genre attain global powerhouse status, built off a simple ethos: love unconditionally, without fear or regret. 

The Sydney hardcore band has retained their “for us, by us” mantra, one that has been with them since their infancy, as the momentum around them has continued to build. From community and church halls, to festival stages and clubs that have drawn international crowds in the thousands, SPEED remains a band of brothers driven by a shared love for the scene, the power of community and an intense approach to musicianship.

With the release of their critically acclaimed debut album ONLY ONE MODE in 2024, SPEED cemented their status as a group to bring hardcore to the masses in a new way. Out of Australia, no less, this was an accomplishment that those inside and outside the scene knew meant something significant was shifting in the way more mainstream audiences were perceiving this music. 

Countless tours of Australia and international markets over the last two years alone have demonstrated the growth of the band, though the last year in particular has seen SPEED maneuver extreme highs with devastating lows. Grappling with the loss of three close friends – Aje Chang-Wook Yeo, Tahmid Nurullah and Alex Arthur – at the same time as dealing with a growing profile, SPEED have had to pull together stronger than before to navigate such a strange and unpredictable time. 

The pain, grief and love felt for their friends has manifested not just on stages, but on the band’s new EP project: ALL MY ANGELS. Three songs that honour the memories of those lost, while also bringing life’s complexities – both cruel and beautiful – into sharp focus, indicate SPEED’s hunger to push forward into new territory as a group.

“From the very beginning, SPEED has always tried to channel the essence of relationships and connection,” vocalist Jem Siow muses. “Real meaningful, tangible connection between real people.”

”We’ve been trying to champion the beauty of being able to sit down eye to eye with people; to be able to talk to them, understand them in the moment, and to take time to be present in every experience. Hardcore has been this vehicle that has allowed us to do that.”

When we tap in with Siow, he is driving with the rest of the band to Chicago - one of the many stops on their latest North American run, this time supporting Turnstile. Cradling a can of energy drink, Siow smiles through exhaustion. The last 18 months has been some of the most trying for him, but it has also provided the frontman with some of the most life-affirming moments he can remember. 

We hear this across the ALL MY ANGELS project: the energy of a band strengthening their vice grip on life, despite the curveballs it continues to hurl their way. The swagger and the groove on a track like ‘AIN’T MY GAME’; the powerful attack stance maintained on ‘PEACE’... SPEED, on this record, have pushed themselves through heartbreak, into a space of redefined appreciation for everything they have.

“I’m feeling very at peace with everything,” Siow says. “I’m feeling very fucking tired, but extremely charged, invigorated and more inspired than ever.” 

“This whole concept we’re touching on and the things we’re channeling into this record, it all stems from a heavy place. At the same time, it’s all coming from the same approach the band has always had, which is to tell our story. The last six years have been a huge process, for me and this band, of introspection and reflection…recalibration. Thinking about meaning, thinking about purpose.” 

The growth of SPEED and what that means not only for Sydney hardcore, but for the genre more broadly speaking, is something Siow remains ever-conscious of. Though they’ve been dominating crowds in the thousands, playing stages at Coachella and even now, touring with another of the world’s biggest artists, SPEED refuses to lose their sense of home and place within the scene that has raised them.

“Thinking about this responsibility I feel that I have right now about this band, it’s taken a completely different shape,” Siow explains. “It once existed for the 20, 50, 100 people who we knew in our scene; it was very much rooted in this “for us, by us” mentality. Now, the awareness that this band belongs to hundreds, even tens of thousands of people around the world beyond us… we really feel a sense of responsibility with how we export our art.

There are so many people listening and that is such an honour, it is such a privilege to have as an artist. So with this record, as heavy as it is, it’s just real. We’re just friends who are dealing with the enormity of this project, which at the same time is coupled with real life. There are beautiful moments, but then there are also some really ugly moments in there as well.”

Of ALL MY ANGELS and where this is already taking SPEED, in terms of new music and concepts for a new album, Siow is already keen to be back in the studio once touring wraps up for the year. Ideas that have been gestating throughout this EP process are flourishing in ways that have reinvigorated the band. 

Any nerves about meeting the expectations ONLY ONE MODE set with its success are quickly quashed by the excitement of knowing the SPEED creative palette has incorporated more colours this time around.

“This has fully been a journey: what you hear and what you see has truly been a product of our circumstance,” Siow says. “I’ve had to simplify a lot of songs before when I’ve been writing because in the back of my head I’m like, “My brother [Aaron] has only been playing bass for two or three years at this point. He only has a certain technique, this riff might be too hard…” literally what you are hearing, has been written as a circumstance of our environment.”

With this record I’m like… if we’re trying to open the envelope a little bit for ourselves, let’s just see what we can do. We all put our heads together to discover more about ourselves and the record is the result of that. On top of that, we were trying to magnify all the best parts of SPEED that we love. We wanted to make it sound as fresh and swaggy as possible! This is a stepping stone to the next record and with that being said, this is the first time we’ve done a record that has been completely unchained.”

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ALL MY ANGELS, another collaboration with producer Elliot Gallart, serves as a reminder for Siow and his bandmates that they do, in fact, belong. Tall poppy and imposter syndrome are things that plague Australians, specifically artists, in an intense way – with much success comes much criticism, often from inside the house.

And while Siow is open about his own experiences with feeling inferior, he is confident in the direction art is taking him and SPEED. 

“ONLY ONE MODE was the culmination of the first few years of the band, really trying to plant a flag as a classic, modern Australian hardcore band,” he says. “We never thought that it would take us this far. We never thought that we would have this kind of platform.

The support from everybody worldwide has been such a fucking gee up. The imposter syndrome has gone now. I’m meant to be here. We know who we are and we know what our strengths are but I won’t lie, I really have felt that one of our shortcomings has been our musical identity. The more we can invest in ourselves, breaking down barriers and being transparent, challenging ourselves to be better; challenging ourselves to be more understanding, and to speak with more authenticity in every moment, it just makes the band better.”

The spirit of those lost remains threaded through each live moment SPEED experiences on stage; the intimacy felt in pockets of the recorded material and of course, within the DNA of each word put to paper. After all, it's within hardcore that powerful relationships have been formed for the band, and it is because of hardcore (and its community) that SPEED has been able to power through.

“Thinking about Aje, Tahmid and Alex, some of the best moments of their lives and of mine were shared because of this,” he says. “We talk about real life love, we talk about brotherhood, sisterhood and loyalty, unconditional love. That is just so fucking real when you live and die by it. There’s nothing more real than when someone leaves you and it’s like, “Farewell - this is all that I had, this was my life.”

“I’ve met so many people around the whole world who I never would have met [otherwise],” Siow adds.  “Especially growing up in an Asian family, a lot of my relatives were meant to be conservative and then I brought home people with face and neck tattoos when I was sixteen! These people have come to be some of the most supportive people in my life. This music has enriched our experiences.”

In finding fulfillment and acceptance through the music; Siow’s relationship with not only his bandmates, but with the whole Sydney scene around him, have become intrinsically tied with wisened and heartfelt  perspectives on life, death, and everything in between.

“It’s been a really tumultuous, yet profound few years we’ve had,” he says. “I can’t really overstate how grateful I am for all of it, it really just is what life is. It is about all these experiences and emotions. I’m not saying I’m grateful that I’ve lost anyone at all, because we have no control over any of those circumstances. 

As fucked up as it is, I feel so alive. I am doubling down on meaning and purpose.”

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Fresh off their conquest on Turnstile's NEVER ENOUGH tour, SPEED will celebrate the arrival of All My Angels with a European trek supporting Malevolence along with Dying Wish and Psycho-Frame. See the list of dates and cities below. Get tickets - HERE

All My Angels is now available via Flatspot Records and Last Ride Records. Order the EP - HERE