Benjamin Peter Speed (born 27 June 1979) is an Australian musician who composes scores for film, television and theatre. He performs and records as Mister Speed and was vocalist and songwriter in the Australian

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and hip hop band The New Pollutants. Growing up in Adelaide, Speed graduated with an honours degree in

Music Technology Music technology is the study or the use of any device, mechanism, machine or tool by a musician or composer to make or perform music; to compose, notate, playback or record songs or pieces; or to analyze or edit music. History The earlies ...

from the

Elder Conservatorium The Elder Conservatorium of Music, also known as "The Con", is Australia's senior academy of music and is located in the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is named in honour of its benefactor, Sir Thomas Elder. Dating in ...

of Music at

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and has a Masters Degree in Screen Composing from the

Australian Film Television and Radio School The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. History Establishe ...

(AFTRS) in Sydney.

Music

Early career and The New Pollutants: 2000–2005

Speed started making computer based music in 1998 and put on solo shows in Adelaide alongside

Ben Frost Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-Icelandic musician, composer, record producer, sound designer, and director. Life Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, a ...

in 2000. He performed at the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...

and

This Is Not Art This Is Not Art (TiNA) is a national festival of new media and arts organized in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia each year over the October long weekend since 1998. TiNA is dedicated to the work and ideas of artistic communities not genera ...

Festivals, supported

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It is now collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and man ...

on their Australian tour and released two 'Speed Presents' EPs as Mr Tappin' Fresh and The Other Half. In 2001 Speed met electronic musician Tyson Hopprich (DJ Tr!p) and in 2001 they formed The New Pollutants. From 2002 to 2004 they released a full-length album, ''

Hygene Atoms ''Hygene Atoms'' is a 2002 alternative hip hop and electronica album by Australian duo The New Pollutants (Mister Speed and DJ Tr!p), also known as Benjamin Speed Benjamin Peter Speed (born 27 June 1979) is an Australian musician who com ...

'', a 12" EP ''Urban Professional Nightmares'' and a 7" single ''Sid-Hop''. The New Pollutants sound traversed through a number of different genres including

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

, electro, Commodore 64 music, 1950s and 1960s pop, comedy,

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

. The New Pollutants were musically aligned with such Australian acts such as Curse Ov Dialect, The Herd, Music Vs Physics,

TZU TZU (pronounced "Tee Zed Yoo") were an Australian hip hop group, formed in 1999 by Joelistics, Yeroc, Seed MC and Paso Bionic. They used instruments in live performances, giving their shows a rock-infused feeling. Duzy What joined in 2005. TZ ...

and MKB. The New Pollutants played at Australian festivals such as the

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne (Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve ...

in 2004/5,

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

in 2003 and were headliners of the 2004

opening concert. In 2004 the group was voted Most Popular Dance Act by ''DB Magazine'' readers. The group also played on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

Radio's Mix-Up during the Amnesty Freedom Festival in 2004,

O'Ball 2003 & Newcastle's This Is Not Art (TINA) Festival in 2002.

Mister Speed: The Dreamer 2006–2007

After moving to Sydney in 2006, Speed signed to

Creative Vibes Creative Vibes was a record label that sourced, signed and released local Australian acts. It also licensed material from overseas and imported CDs and vinyl from around the world and had its own sales and distribution arm. Creative Vibes was no ...

record label and released his debut solo album ''The Dreamer'' in 2007. The album was based on hip hop, indie rock, pop, world music, electronica, reggae and experiemtal genres. A review in the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

described the album by saying "The opening sounds like a scene from The Godfather; it closes with a hybrid of hip-hop rock. In between there are snippets of 1950s French soundtracks, moody trip-hop and multiple samples. The vocals sway between Beck and Buck 65, moving from the philosophy of art to observations of love." The Dreamer became a feature album on

FBi Radio FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...

(NSW),

Three D Radio Three D Radio (call sign: 5DDD) is a community radio station based in Adelaide, Australia and located in St Peters, South Australia. Established in 1979, it broadcasts on 93.7 MHz across the greater metropolitan area of Adelaide and the surr ...

(SA),

3PBS PBS 106.7FM (call sign: PBS FM), also known as the Progressive Broadcasting Service, is a cooperatively owned community radio station in Melbourne, Australia, that broadcasts on 106.7FM, Digital radio and online. PBS celebrated its 40th year of ...

(Vic) and

Edge Radio Edge Radio (call sign: 7EDG) is a community radio station situated in the Australian city of Hobart. It is a youth oriented station, with most of its presenters under the age of thirty. Edge Radio focuses on local music, running a Tasmanian musi ...

(Tas) and the song ''Everybody Needs Somebody'' was put up on the

website for exclusive download.

Film

Metropolis Rescore

In 2004 as The New Pollutants, Speed composed and produced a new soundtrack to the silent film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'' with Hopprich and premiered it at the

2005 Adelaide Film Festival The 2nd Adelaide Film Festival took place in Adelaide, Australia, from 18 February to 3 March 2005. Katrina Sedgwick was again Festival Director. Dennis O'Rourke received the 2005 Don Dunstan Award

. The live performance also featured actor/singer Astrid Pill as vocalist and musician Zoe Barry as cellist. The soundtrack has been described as "an infectious and unique approach ranging from Germanic trip hop and lo-fi electronica to unforgettable classical and breathtaking cinematica." Metropolis has subsequently performed at the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of film, television, videogames, and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. During the 2014-15 finan ...

(ACMI), as a part of the 2006

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Cultural Festival and at the 2006 Perth Revelations Film Festival. In 2010, it was performed at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

and was also played at the 2011 Mona foma Festival in Tasmania. Since then, a newly updated score is being composed to the 2010 restoration version which has an extra 30 minutes of footage originally thought lost. The updated score was premiered at the

2011 Adelaide Film Festival The 5th Adelaide Film Festival took place in Adelaide, Australia, from 24 February to 6 March 2011. Katrina Sedgwick was again Festival Director. Julietta Sichel was the head of the jury for the main competition. Judy Davis received the 2011 Don ...

The People's Republic Of Animation

In 2005, Speed composed for the first of many collaborations with The People's Republic of Animation (PRA) in a series called ''Errorism: A Comedy of Terrors''. He received the Best Original Score award at the 2006

St Kilda Film Festival St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19 ...

for the animated short ''Carnivore Reflux'',2006 St Kilda Film Festival Winners
a film that was also a 2006 Tropfest finalist. In 2007 Speed composed for the animated short music-film ''Sweet and Sour'' which premiered at both the Adelaide Film Festival and the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nex ...

in 2007 and has since won multiple awards and played at numerous international film festivals. He composed music for the winning 2008 Tropfest Supershort Series film ''Safer in a Wild World'', which was also chosen for official competition in the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

in France. In 2009, Speed composed the music for '' The Cat Piano'' which features

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

as narrator and in 2010 won an APRA/AGSC Award for his work on The PRA's children's series Itty Bitty Ditties.

Other work

Speed composed for the 2008 Tropfest finalist film ''Glass'' and the 2011 Tropfest Finalist ''The Maestro''. He did the feature film ''The Tumbler'', which premiered at the 2008 Perth Revelations Film Festival, and was selected for the 2008 São Paulo International Film Festival and has scored feature documentaries ''A Northern Town'' in 2008, which was nominated for a Dendy Award at the 2008

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

, and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2008

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

Awards, and ''The Snowman'' in 2010, which won the Australian Documentary Prize and was nominated for an AFI Award.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Film

Music

APRA PDA Awards 2009 Finalists
/ref>

Discography

* Speed Presents: Mr Tappin' Fresh EP 2001 * Speed Presents: The Other Half Of Humanity EP 2001 * The New Pollutants –

2002 * The New Pollutants – Sid Hop 7" 2004 * The New Pollutants – Urban Professional Nightmares 2004 * The New Pollutants – Metropolis Rescore 2005 * Mister Speed – The Dreamer 2007 * Benjamin Speed – Street Angel (soundtrack) 2009

Compilations and collaborations

* DJ Tr!p – Various: ''Right'' (2002) * DJ Tr!p – Various: ''Acute'' (2002) * DJ Tr!p – Various: ''Reflex'' (2002) * SubFM –

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

– ''The Fine Line'' (2002) * Surgery Records – ''2002A2D: Analogue 2 Digital'' (2002) * Semikazi Collective – 2002 Compilation (2002) * DJ Tr!p – ''Paintbox Compilation'' 12" (2003) * 3D Radio – ''Depth Charge 3'' (2003) * MISA – ''Sounds of MISA Volume 2: Setlist'' (2003) *

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

— ''Sound Quality Volume 2: Approved for Export'' (2003) * Soobiesta – ''Straight Out Of Brisbane'' (2004) * 52Nd

– ''Music for Film: Cults Classics Curios'' (2005) * ''Blank Tapes CD Sampler 5a & 5b'' (2005) * ''

Cyclic Defrost ''Cyclic Defrost'' is an Australian specialist electronic music magazine. It was founded and edited by Sebastian Chan, with current editors Bob Baker Fish, Chris Downton and Peter Hollo. It covers independent electronic music, avant-rock, experim ...

Presents: Interesting Music from Australia'' (2005) * Mythical Records – Odyssey of Rapture vol.1 (2008)

References

External links

Official Site

''The Dreamer'' on Creative Vibes

Interview
in

Magazine by Chris Downton
Interview
in IF – Australian Film Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Speed, Benjamin 1979 births APRA Award winners Australian film score composers Australian Film Television and Radio School alumni Male film score composers Living people Musicians from South Australia People from Adelaide

Music

Early career and The New Pollutants: 2000–2005

Mister Speed: The Dreamer 2006–2007

Film

Metropolis Rescore

The People's Republic Of Animation

Other work

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Film

Music

Discography

Compilations and collaborations

See also

References

External links