When it comes to the hardcore scene, Jem Siow, vocalist and occasional flutist, etc. for Australian hardcore band SPEED, doesn’t exactly feel the online comments sections are the best representation. Instead, he remains a purist at heart, espousing the physical camaraderie and unity offered in-person among the pockets of hardcore scenes that have developed in cities across the world. He spoke about that in a recent interview with Clash, in which he stated:
“[Hardcore’s] not meant to exist in the comments section, and it’s not meant to exist online. The way you learn the etiquette, the way that you learn the values of the culture, the way that you learn the entire fundamentals of what it is to be a hardcore kid – it’s by experiencing it in real time, week after week, year after year, and learning from the peers around you.”
While videos of crowdkilling, relentless stage dives and reckless mosh pit shenanigans do tend to work against the genre to curious onlookers, Jem‘s bandmate, guitarist Josh Clayton feels that the underlying unifying ethos of hardcore is what keeps the scene thriving:
“The reason why it works is because there is that mutual understanding and that’s built by the fact that people talk to each other; people are friends with each other. Each scene is different and has its own rules.”
While SPEED themselves certainly benefited from clips of the flute breakdown in their 2024 track “The First Test” going viral. Jem also would advise against tailoring a hardcore band towards viral fame:
“…We have to approach with a little bit of caution because all of these things are fucking awesome, but I never ever want to give the message for a second that [going viral and social media] is what your objective should be when you start a hardcore band.”
