June, 2021 | VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 6
THE SPEEDWAYS
JUNE 2021 BY BART MENDOZA © MUSICSCENESD // MUSICSCENESD.COM
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Radio Sounds
In their three short years of existence, British powerpop quartet The Speedways has managed a terrific run of releases, each building on the one before and highly anticipated by fans. Songs such as “Kisses Are History” and “Empty Pages,” are full of classic hooks, harmonies, jangle, handclaps and teen angst, spotlighting real songcraft. If you’re a powerpop fan there is not a weak spot in their discography of two acclaimed albums, three singles and two EP’s, the latest, a disc of covers, Borrowed & Blue (Snap!! Records / Hurrah! Musica). The Speedways, featuring Matt Julian (lead vocals, lead & rhythm guitar), Mauro Venegas (lead & rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Adrian Alfonso (bass & backing vocals) and Kris Hood (drums), started as a solo project by Julian. He released the first Speedways album Just Another Regular Summer in May 2018. “It became a real band a couple of months later when the opportunity to play a show came together,” he said. “It’s been an active band ever since.” He notes the group’s name comes from the Morrissey song “Speedway.” “Everything was connected in the beginning. The songs, the artwork, the band name, the album title etc. It was a very personal thing then, but it’s a real band now.” Julian cites classic tunesmiths as an influence on his band’s melodic LOCAL NEWS | LocalUmbrellaNews.com
rock ‘n’ roll. “There are so many - Lennon & McCartney, Greenwich & Barry, Goffin & King, Pomus & Shuman, Buddy Holly, The Ramones, Tom Petty, Kirsty MacColl, Del Shannon, Arthur Alexander, Elvis Costello, The Smiths, Squeeze, Jackie De Shannon... loads more. I copy everyone,” he said good naturedly. “It just comes out in different ways. I like to stick within traditional themes and structures and I love a good middle eight.” The new EP, collecting covers of songs by Kirsty MacColl, Billy Ocean, Roky Erickson, Hanoi Rocks and ABBA, was put together for pragmatic reasons. “We wanted to stay as busy as possible during lockdowns so we thought a covers EP was the way to go,” Julian said. “There was no point rushing new material out or forcing new songs if they weren’t there.” The original plans were to record the Hanoi Rocks song as a b-side, “but our plans changed and it ended up as a full covers EP. I don’t actually remember how we chose the songs, but we all love pop and soul as much as we love rock n roll.”
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The band has yet to tour the U.S., but hopes are high to correct that situation sooner than later. “We were offered an American festival slot this September in Denver with some really cool bands, but it just couldn’t happen sadly. Hopefully one day we will get to go to America to play. It’s definitely top of the dream list.” The music biz is tougher than ever what motivates Julian to keep going? “Trying to write really good songs, playing music with my friends, hanging out and drinking, travelling to different places, meeting new people and playing with other cool bands,” he said. “All the best stuff.” While Borrowed & Blue is hot off the presses, plans are already underway for more recordings and a return to gigging. “We have shows in the diary and further ones penciled in which is great,” Julian said. “We’re writing songs for the next record and rehearsing as often as we can. As I said earlier, the Speedways started off as a solo thing, but for the next record we’re all going to write & arrange. I think it’ll give us a new dimension and make us a better band.” With two great albums behind him, Julian is looking forward to expanding the band’s horizons a little. “I’m really proud of my writing on the first two records,” he said. “I think the songs are great, but I’d much rather it was a group effort from now.” www.thespeedways.bandcamp.com
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