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Sydney hardcore punk band Speed have won the inaugural NSW Music Prize, beating Grammy winners RÜFÜS DU SOL and controversial drill pioneers OneFour to take home the $80,000 prize on Monday night.
But for Speed, it’s the glory of knowing they have well and truly broken into the mainstream that has the band feeling honoured.
Sydney hardcore band Speed have taken out the inaugural NSW Music Prize, winning $80,000.Credit: Jack Rudder
“We started out with pretty humble intentions of just being a band that existed for the scene that we operate in,” guitarist Joshua Clayton told this masthead via Zoom after back-to-back shows in Seoul, South Korea. “To be recognised for something like this is a really awesome thing … something that we appreciate a lot.”
The state government staged the NSW Music Prize for the first time on Monday night, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, as the country’s newest and “most lucrative music awards”.
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Also crowned were ARIA award-winners BARKAA (Big Tidda) and Ninajirachi (I Love My Computer), who each took home $40,000 for the NSW First Nations Music Prize and the NSW Breakthrough Artist of the Year award, respectively.
“This will give these artists a big career boost, and I also hope it will inspire the next generation to aim high,” said NSW Arts Minister John Graham of the $160,000 prize pool split across three categories.
Speed’s debut studio album, Only One Mode, was judged in the top category as the release with the most significant and meaningful impact over the past 12 months.
The album, released in July 2024, secured the group – comprised of frontman Jem Siow, guitarists Dennis “D-Cold” Vichidvongsa and Clayton, bassist Aaron “Saato” Siow and Kane Vardon on drums – the ARIA award for best hard rock or heavy metal album in 2024.
BARKAA became the first Aboriginal woman to win the ARIA Award for Best Hip Hop/Rap Release last week, thanks to her EP Big Tidda. She has now also won the inaugural NSW First Nations Music Prize.Credit: Justin McManus
One year later, the band have well and truly broken into the mainstream. In April, Speed made history as the first Australian hardcore act ever to perform at Coachella; this month, they attended the ARIA Awards as bBest Australian live act nominees.
Speed’s songs do not shy away from tough topics – their 2020 single A Dumb Dog Gets Flogged was a critical reaction to the federal government’s response to the Black Summer bushfires, while their 2024 track Only Foes includes the lyric “F--- feeling foreign in my own home”, a reference to Siow’s experience being marginalised as a first generation Asian-Australian.
That authenticity – and sense of community – is what Clayton attributes the band’s mammoth 12 months to, in part.
“I think a lot of those values have been lost in the society that we’re living in these days, and I think that, as people, we really want that connection with each other,” Clayton said.
“We really value authenticity more than ever right now ... so I think that young people, finding their feet in music scenes, are relating to that more than they ever have.”
Community and authenticity were two themes to emerge on the 2025 ARIA Awards red carpet, when this masthead asked stars what the industry needed right now. They said that government investment, more music festivals and listeners actively streaming local acts would help.
“The streaming revolution is pushing more American music to Australian listeners,” Graham said. “This award is part of our effort to support local musicians to cut through and build a fan base.”
ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd, who was behind the industry association’s controversial partnership with streaming giant Spotify, said the prizes would “open doors to new audiences and real opportunities”.
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“They strengthen the wider ecosystem that makes NSW such an important place for music in Australia and across the world,” Herd said.
“Recognising and elevating talent in this way is essential if we want a vibrant state that allows new music to thrive.”
Herd is also an advisory board member of Sound NSW, which delivers the initiative. Part of the state government’s 10-year Contemporary Music Strategy, the NSW Music Prize aims to strengthen the local music industry in the face of increasing competition from overseas artists, owing to streaming.
Clayton remained coy about how Speed will use their prize money. The band are touring and haven’t had a chance to talk about it, he said, before adding that it “needs to be something that benefits the entire scene”.
“We consider this not necessarily as an award for us,” Clayton said. “We really see winning this award as a recognition of hardcore as a genre in Australia right now.
“I think the most appropriate way for us to use the money from the prize is towards something that can help foster the next generation of hardcore as well.”
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