Biography
Formed with the aim of reshaping Sydney, Australia’s hardcore punk landscape, the five-piece Speed surpassed those ambitions by landing their opening pair of releases on the national charts while drawing notice well beyond the region.
Frontman Jem Siow serves as the driving force behind the band; born in Australia in 1993 to Malaysian immigrants, the vocalist gravitated toward aggressive sounds during his teenage years, ranging from Linkin Park through the Byron Bay metal outfit Parkway Drive. Encouraged by his parents, he launched the post-hardcore group Endless Heights alongside school friend and vocalist Joel Martorana, and the pair guided the project through a ten-year run from 2009 to 2019 that yielded multiple albums and EPs plus European support slots. Once Endless Heights dissolved, Siow assembled Speed alongside his brother Aaron on bass, guitarists Joshua Clayton and Dennis Vichidvongsa, and drummer Kane Vardon.
The band announced itself in 2020 via the debut single “A Dumb Dog Gets Flogged,” a pointed attack on the absence of decisive political action amid the devastating bushfires that had recently ravaged the country. Two years later the members had stockpiled material for their first EP, Gang Called Speed. Led by the track “Not That Nice,” itself a sharp rebuke of anti-Asian violence, the record both revitalized Australia’s hardcore community and climbed into the national Top Five. Speed subsequently launched international tours, received endorsements from Post Malone and blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and appeared at the Los Angeles punk festival Sound and Fury. The full-length Only One Mode followed in 2024 and secured three ARIA Award nominations, among them Best Group and Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.
Frontman Jem Siow serves as the driving force behind the band; born in Australia in 1993 to Malaysian immigrants, the vocalist gravitated toward aggressive sounds during his teenage years, ranging from Linkin Park through the Byron Bay metal outfit Parkway Drive. Encouraged by his parents, he launched the post-hardcore group Endless Heights alongside school friend and vocalist Joel Martorana, and the pair guided the project through a ten-year run from 2009 to 2019 that yielded multiple albums and EPs plus European support slots. Once Endless Heights dissolved, Siow assembled Speed alongside his brother Aaron on bass, guitarists Joshua Clayton and Dennis Vichidvongsa, and drummer Kane Vardon.
The band announced itself in 2020 via the debut single “A Dumb Dog Gets Flogged,” a pointed attack on the absence of decisive political action amid the devastating bushfires that had recently ravaged the country. Two years later the members had stockpiled material for their first EP, Gang Called Speed. Led by the track “Not That Nice,” itself a sharp rebuke of anti-Asian violence, the record both revitalized Australia’s hardcore community and climbed into the national Top Five. Speed subsequently launched international tours, received endorsements from Post Malone and blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and appeared at the Los Angeles punk festival Sound and Fury. The full-length Only One Mode followed in 2024 and secured three ARIA Award nominations, among them Best Group and Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.
Singles
