Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with Australia’s Speed Dial. Together we discussed who they have on their speed dial, their influences, what is on the horizon, and so much more!
1. Mustard is grateful to have Speed Dial join them at Music Shelf. How is everyone doing?
Thanks for having us! We’re fantastic. Right now is an unsure time for Speed Dial. A couple of our members are going on to study or move away so we’re in a bit of a transitional period. But overall, the band is doing good.
2. Mustard wonders who does speed dial have on their speed dial.
Ren’s mum, Bec. She’s our patron – we’re always practicing at her house. Official band mum.
3. If Speed dial could have any human celebrity or artist on their speed dial, who would it be and why?
Robert Plant… Beebadoobee… Or if it doesn’t have to be a musician, James Corden for sure, just to piss him off. Hate that guy.
4. When and how did Speed Dial form? What is Speed Dial’s origin story?
Speed Dial was formed through a class project in music class at High School. We were asked to write a new original song, and in our group we created what is now “Help Me Out”. With encouragement from our music teacher, we decided to keep playing and form a band. We later played this song for a council competition in our hometown and earned the opportunity to record our EP. That was our first real band performance.
5. Who (or what) influences Speed Dial?
Every member has their own separate influences, but we all have roots in rock, whatever form it takes. If we were to generalise our collective inspirations, bands like Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Nirvana and particularly Smashing Pumpkins encapsulate our musical vision and intention.
6. What is Speed Dial’s creative process?
Our songwriting process has changed over time, but it remains that everyone contributes their own creative input to each track. Sometimes, a couple members collaborate on an idea (usually a riff or some lyrics) then bring it to the rest of the band to flesh it out. Other times, like with some of our fresh, unrecorded material, we’ve aimed to form the song together from scratch. Either way, the contribution of every band member is vital and evident in the final product.
7. In 2021 you released your self-titled EP. Could you share what it was like to put this EP together?
Firstly, in all honesty, the songs from this EP no longer represent our sound. Partially because we have grown so much as performers and writers, but we have also come out of our shell in terms of genre and energy. We never really had any proper studio experience at the time. It was cool to work with semi-professional equipment for the first time, however, the product was a 5 song EP, and we were only given a session of a few hours on one day to get through as much as we could. In turn, the recording itself was a bit rushed, and we don’t exactly love now how we sounded then. Despite this, it was a great learning experience and crucial for our growth as a band.
8. You can tell by the weather that…
You can tell by the weather, on February 8th 2026, Donald Trump will die of a heart attack and the stock market will subsequently crash as a result. International turmoil will ensue. Hunger. Poverty. Crime. Warfare. New World Order. The day of judgement is imminent. Mark my words.
9. Who does Speed Dial collectively wish would get away from them?
<redacted>
10. In July of 2022 you released “Just What I Want.” What was the inspiration behind this single?
On this occasion, Liv’s droning bassline and soulful lyrics were offered to the band to create the new single. From that we developed a pop-rock sound inspired by the indie music scene. The lyrics themselves were inspired by a being that Liv found quite dashing, bnut the final product, as mentioned, is a very collaborative effort.
11. A human gets the opportunity to see Speed Dial perform. How would you describe your live performance?
Energy and chemistry bleed through our live performances. Even when we make small mistakes, our coordination and understanding of each other makes our performances tight and lively. We are so close with each other, and our connection as performers and friends is definitely clear in our music
12. What is next for Speed Dial?
As we mentioned, we are undergoing some personnel changes as a couple of the members have to leave for other endeavors around this time. We will continue to write and hopefully our new sound will start to come forward in our recorded music.
13. Where can readers listen to your music?
We’re only on Spotify and Apple Music at the moment. We did discuss that we might expand our domain to YouTube at some point, even just for some smaller projects that are just for fun. You should totally come see all of our unreleased music at our live shows though… keep your eyes wide and your ears wider.
Music Shelf With Mustard 