Since 2018, The Speedways have consistently knocked out brilliant punk infused power pop. It is exercised by a keen style invoking a sense of romantic nostalgia playing on heartstrings tugging at timeless relevance. This was first captured within the grooves of their debut record Just Another Regular Summer and later expanded via a host of singles, two additional albums, a covers EP and through their latest compilation Triple Platinum. Coinciding with a growing discography is their journey becoming household name throughout Europe and now, the United States. In November 2023 the Speedways did a stint on the East Coast with The Whiffs. Nearly a year later they are will be hitting the West Coast with a slew of dates and an anticipated performance at Shaky Town Strut Festival.
It’s a long time coming and I for one am excited to finally catch them live. This brief tour will see The Speedways will play several dates in California as well as in Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona. The roundabout was set up with the help of Nico Bones, a fellow devotee of rock n’ roll whom they met, in person, at 2022’s Pump It Up festival in London. Nico Bones, who also organized and is playing the Shaky Town Strut Festival, will be joining The Speedways for several of the shows.
For the Shaky Town Strut Festival The Speedways will perform in Long Beach at Supply & Demand (9/6) and Alex’s Bar (9/7). This festival boasts an impressive line up and celebrates many groups who uphold the mantle of rock n’ roll, glam, punk and power pop. Among fellow bands playing Shaky Town Strut are Wyld Gooms, The Reflectors, The Hollywood Stars, Mel Machete, The Flytraps, Soft Jaw, The Thunderroads, Tenemnt Rats and many others! Held September 6th through 8th, it should prove a weekend to remember.
To learn more about The Speedways immanent West Coast invasion, I managed to catch up with them. They were kind enough to divulge their diabolical plans. During our chat they discussed comparing touring the United States to Europe, recording with the late Pat Collier, collaborating with Nico Bones and what is on the horizon for The Speedways.
NixBeat: In November 2023 The Speedways toured the East Coast of the United States with The Whiffs. How was the Speedways first time touring the states?
Matt Julian: Great! Real “dream come true” stuff. I feel we did it the right way in that we waited until there was genuine interest and we had enough material to justify travelling so far! We had fans drive a long way to see us and we got to meet and hang out with people who’ve liked us from the start which was really cool. Obviously just being in the US as a rock n roll fan is a thrill.
Mauro Venegas: Exciting and eye-opening!
NixBeat: What are some differences you’ve experienced playing in the States and Europe?
Matt Julian: In the US there are longer drives and no soundchecks! (only one all tour I think?!) Which is usually my idea of a nightmare, but I learned to absolutely love it.
Mauro Venegas: Sleeping on people’s couches in the US and hotels in Europe, haha! Seriously though, the couch-surfing was a lot of fun and people were so hospitable, rustling us up amazing breakfasts next day and so on. Plus getting to chat more in-depth with people who put us up and getting to learn a lot more about the country than you would otherwise. Never saw anyone with a gun collection in Europe, mind…!
NixBeat: What was it like to play with The Whiffs?
Matt Julian: It was brilliant, I mean we’re big fans of theirs anyway so you get to hear all those great songs every night…and they’re all really nice lads too. I enjoyed their company a lot, hopefully we get to do it again sometime.
Mauro Venegas: Good, we had to step up our game every night 
NixBeat: In preparation for the November 2023 tour, The Speedways released the compilation Triple Platinum on Beluga and Snap records. Triple Platinum boasts a collection of material from the first five years of The Speedways existence. What were some of your favorite tracks to revisit and remix?
Matt Julian: We chose to re-record the songs from Just Another Regular Summer that we still play live. So, it wasn’t really a case of re-visiting them as such. Although it gave us the opportunity to add new parts and change them up a tiny bit. The problem when you do stuff like that is you end up wanting to re-record and re-mix everything! They turned out well though I think.
Mauro Venegas: The remixes/remasters we kind of left to Jez Leather to work his magic on. The re-recordings were a lot of fun to do – adding new parts, vocal or guitar harmonies and so on. I loved doing em all but perhaps “Seen Better Days” and “Just Another Regular Summer” are the ones, that to me, really stands out in comparison to the originals.
NixBeat: On July 28, 2024 producer and former member of The Vibrators, Pat Collier passed away. Pat Collier had worked with The Speedways on Talk of the Town and Triple Platinum. What was it like to work with Pat Collier at Perry Vale Studios?
Mauro Venegas: I probably have the most to say about Pat I guess, as I worked with him first in a previous band of mine (the Rocks) many, many years ago. I always liked his no-nonsense, capture the energy way of recording. So, I suggested using his place when it came to recording Talk of the Town. It made such a difference to get our tracking done as live as possible, as opposed to the slightly ramshackle way we’d done it previously! Perry Vale is a great room and has great gear. Pat knew what we were going for right away and he was great to work with. He’ll be much missed.
Matt Julian: He had a great ear for stuff. He always knew which was the best take and which parts didn’t quite work. A quiet guy in the studio, but I remember him emailing me after the first Talk Of The Town session and telling me that our music was “right up his street” which was really nice. Very glad we got to work with him.
NixBeat: The Speedways are doing a West Coast tour before playing the Shaky Town Strut festival on September 7th. These include dates in Las Vegas, NV and Phoenix Arizona. How did you get involved in playing Shaky Town Strut?
Matt Julian: After the East Coast dates last November we definitely had the West Coast in mind for this year. But, it’s not always as simple as that. Initially the Gonzo Ramen bar in Carlsbad, San Diego got in touch to offer us a show and I replied saying “well, funnily enough we are looking at coming over this year.” That kinda got the ball rolling before Nico took over and helped put everything together — including the Shaky Town Strut.
Mauro Venegas: Nico asked us to do it, basically, haha!
NixBeat: What are some groups you are looking forward to seeing at Shaky Town Strut?
Matt Julian: It’ll be nice to finally see/meet The Reflectors. Nico Bones (of course,) Soft Jaw (who play Carlsbad with us too) Tigerellas, Hollywood Stars, Billy Tibbals, and Mel Machete — who we’ve played with before.
NixBeat: Are there any particular places on your tour you are looking forward to playing?
Matt Julian: San Francisco, Phoenix.. Las Vegas is a pretty great location to have on your tour poster. I went there many moons ago and ended up at an Alice Cooper gig and saw an Elvis tribute later that same night (naturally). It’s all pretty exciting.
Mauro Venegas: Yes! When we did the West Coast it was Virginia I was most excited about, and this time I can’t wait to get to Arizona!
NixBeat: I understand that Nico Bones helped book this tour. How did The Speedways start collaborating with Nico Bones?
Adrian Alfonso: The punk rock n’ roll scene really shrinks the world. Los Pepes’ previous drummer Shaun moved to LA a few years back and joined the band Tenement Rats. When they came out to London to play a gig their singer Jonny really hit it off with us. When his pal Nico came to London in 2022 he hung out with us too. I guess it goes to show that this kind of music attracts a certain kind of people as we all seem to share a lot of the same values and sense of community.
Matt Julian: We met Nico at the London Power Pop Weekender a few years back, but we’ve known each other (in the internet sense) for a while. Similar to the East Coast last year. There are a lot of bands on a similar scene who we’ve either played with before or drank with before. Nico’s put a great run of shows together for us. We appreciate it a lot.
Mauro Venegas: Adrian probably knew Nico first. Adrian always knows everyone, haha! I remember meeting Nico at Pump It Up in London back in 2021 maybe (?) and having a blast with him. I think he even has the same Chilean background as I do. Unless we’d had too much tequila at that point and I heard that wrong or something…! Anyway, absolutely lovely guy and great band!
NixBeat: What can your U.S audiences expect from your performances?
Matt Julian: all your favourite Speedways hits delivered with English charm.
Mauro Venegas: We’ll give it some.
NixBeat: Can readers expect new material from The Speedways in the near future?
Matt Julian: Only if they’ve been good.
Mauro Venegas: I fuckin’ hope so!
NixBeat: What does the future hold for The Speedways?
Matt Julian: Well, we’ve recently hit the six year mark which is a pretty long time — three albums, a greatest hits LP (haha), a covers EP plus a bunch of singles and videos etc.. Not to mention a load of touring around Europe and the USA trips. We’ve kept busy and have always tried to do things the right way. So, in terms of the future, I’d say a new album followed by wherever that takes us.
Mauro Venegas: A new album next year! And then, que sera sera…
For more about the Speedways visit their Bandcamp!
