Benjamin Speed
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Peter Speed is an Australian musician who composes scores for film, television and theatre. He performs and records as Mister Speed and was vocalist and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 in the Australian alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

, electronic
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 band The New Pollutants.

Growing up in Adelaide, Speed graduated with an honours degree in Music Technology
Music technology
Music technology is a term that refers to all forms of technology involved with the musical arts, particularly the use of electronic devices and computer software to facilitate playback, recording, composition, storage and performance. This subject is taught at many different educational levels,...

 from the Elder Conservatorium of Music
Elder Conservatorium
The Elder Conservatorium of Music is Australia's senior academy of music and one of the country's most distinguished institutions for comprehensive education, professional training, and research in music...

 at Adelaide University and has a Masters Degree in Screen Composing from the Australian Film Television and Radio School
Australian Film Television and Radio School
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is the Australian national centre for professional education and advanced training in film, television, radio and digital media. The School is an Australian Commonwealth government statutory authority...

 (AFTRS) in Sydney.

Music

Early Career & 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 (musician)
Ben Frost is a musician, composer and producer. Frost is probably most widely recognized for his experimental music drawing widely on influences of minimalism, post-punk, black metal and noise best demonstrated on the 2007 release "Theory of Machines" and 2009's "BY THE THROAT"Frost's...

 in 2000. He performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival
Adelaide Fringe Festival
The Adelaide Fringe Festival is an arts festival held annually in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The event is the Southern Hemisphere's largest arts event and the second-largest fringe festival in the world, second in size only to the Edinburgh Fringe...

 and This Is Not Art
This Is Not Art
This Is Not Art is a national festival of new media and arts organised in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia each year over the October long weekend. Since its humble beginnings in 1998, it has become one of the leading arts festivals in Australia dedicated to the work and ideas of communities...

 Festivals, supported Anticon
Anticon
Anticon is an Oakland based independent record label founded in 1997. It is collectively owned among six founding artists and one manager...

 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
Hygene Atoms is an Alternative hip hop and Electronica album by The New Pollutants , also known as Benjamin Speed and Tyson Hopprich...

, 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 music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...

, trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...

, electro, Commodore 64 music, 1950s and 1960s pop, comedy, alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...

 and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

. The New Pollutants were musically aligned with such Australian acts such as Curse Ov Dialect, The Herd, Music Vs Physics, TZU
TZU
For the ancient chinese military strategist and author, see Sun Tzu.TZU are an Australian hip hop group, originating from Melbourne, Victoria. They are known for live shows with significant crowd involvement, at festivals such as Big Day Out, Falls Festival, MS Fest and the Meredith Music Festival,...

 and MKB.

The New Pollutants played at Australian festivals such as the Falls Festival
Falls Festival
The Falls Festival is a New Year's Eve music festival, held annually in Lorne, Victoria and Marion Bay, Tasmania Australia since 1993.It lasts four days, from 29 December to 1 January each year. The headline acts play mostly over two evenings, 30 December and 31 December...

 in 2004/5, Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...

 in 2003 and were headliners of the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival
Adelaide Fringe Festival
The Adelaide Fringe Festival is an arts festival held annually in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The event is the Southern Hemisphere's largest arts event and the second-largest fringe festival in the world, second in size only to the Edinburgh Fringe...

 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
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

 Radio's Mix-Up during the Amnesty Freedom Festival in 2004, Adelaide University 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
Creative Vibes is a record label that sources, signs and releases local Australian acts. It also licenses material from overseas and imports CDs and vinyl from around the world and has its own sales and distribution arm....

 record label and released his debut solo album The Dreamer
The Dreamer (Mister Speed album)
The Dreamer is a hip-hop and indie pop album by Mister Speed. This is his debut solo album.-Track listing:# "Unconventional Paradigm" – 1:07# "Art Is..." – 3:49# "Miss Bitty" – 3:27# "The World Song" – 2:18# "Ready For Action" – 3:27...

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 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 Radio
FBi is an independent, not-for-profit community radio station in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local alternative music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of which at least half comes from Sydney musicians.FBi began 'test...

 (NSW), Three D Radio
Three D Radio
Three D Radio is a community radio station based in Adelaide, Australia and located in Stepney, South Australia. Established in 1979, it broadcasts on 93.7 MHz across the greater metropolitan area of Adelaide and the surrounding rural areas...

 (SA), 3PBS (Vic) and Edge Radio
Edge Radio
Edge Radio 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, arts and culture...

 (Tas) and the song Everybody Needs Somebody was put up on the Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

 website for exclusive download.

Metropolis Rescore

In 2004 as The New Pollutants, Speed composed and produced a new soundtrack to the silent film Metropolis
Metropolis (film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...

with Hopprich and premiered it at the 2005 Adelaide Film Festival
Adelaide Film Festival
The Adelaide Film Festival is a biennial and non-competitive film festival held over two weeks in late February, in Adelaide, South Australia....

. 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
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building...

 (ACMI), as a part of the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

 Cultural Festival and at the 2006 Perth Revelations Film Festival
Revelation - Perth International Film Festival
Revelation Perth International Film Festival began in 1997. Founded to showcase a large range of independent feature films, documentaries, short films, and experimental works...

.
In 2010, it was performed at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

 and was also played at the 2011 Mona Foma
Mona foma
MONA FOMA is an annual festival based in Hobart, Tasmania, curated by Brian Ritchie bass player from the rock band Violent Femmes. It is billed as Tasmania's largest contemporary music festival and showcases the work of artists in a broad range of art forms, including sound, noise, dance, theatre,...

 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 will premiere at the 2011 Adelaide Film Festival
Adelaide Film Festival
The Adelaide Film Festival is a biennial and non-competitive film festival held over two weeks in late February, in Adelaide, South Australia....

 

The People's Republic Of Animation

In 2005, Speed composed for the first of many collaborations with The People's Republic of Animation
The People's Republic Of Animation
The People's Republic of Animation is an animation studio based in Adelaide, Australia. Since starting out on music videos for Australian bands in 2003, The People’s Republic of Animation has grown into a highly prolific studio creating international award-winning short films, TV commercials and...

 (PRA) in a series called Errorism: A Comedy of Terrors. He received the Best Original Score award at the 2006 St Kilda Film Festival for the animated short Carnivore Reflux, a film that was also a 2006 Tropfest finalist
2006 Tropfest finalists
The Tropfest short film festival is held in Sydney, Australia each year. This is the List of 2006's Short Listed films and winners.Malice In WonderlandDairy Farmers Youth Award 2006Directed by Sarah Goddard and Emily-Kate Byrne...

. 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
Shanghai International Film Festival
The Shanghai International Film Festival , abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia.Along with Tokyo International Film Festival, the SIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in Asia. The first festival was held from October 7 to 14, 1993, and was held biennially until...

 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
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...

 in France. In 2009, Speed composed the music for The Cat Piano
The Cat Piano
The Cat Piano is an award winning animated short film directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson and narrated by Nick Cave.-Plot:The Cat Piano is narrated by the main character of the animated short, an anthropomorphic cat. It is clear that the narration is a poem, which the poet is typing on a...

which features Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

 as narrator and in 2010 won an APRA/AGSC Award
APRA Awards of 2010
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2010 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards...

 for his work on The PRA's children's series Itty Bitty Ditties.

Other Work

Speed composed for the 2008 Tropfest finalist
2008 Tropfest finalists
The Tropfest short film festival is held in Sydney, Australia each year. The festival was won by Marry Me. Following is a list of the finalists....

 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
Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney and is held over 12 days in June. The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city centre and includes features,...

, and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2008 Film Critics Circle of Australia
Film Critics Circle of Australia
The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**...

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

Filmography

Title Director / Producers Format Release year
OK, Lets Talk About Me Closer Productions & SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...

TV documentary 2005
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...

Metropolis Rescore The New Pollutants feature film rescore project 2005
Errorism: A Comedy of Terrors - Series 1 Eddie White & The PRA short animation 2005
As Long As I'm Rollin' Jackson Pellow & Film Australia
Film Australia
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia. Its mission was to create an audio-visual record of Australian culture, through the commissioning, distribution and management of programs that deal with matters of national interest or...

short documentary 2005
Carnivore Reflux Eddie White, James Calvert & The PRA short animation 2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

The Catch Yasemin Sabuncu – The Feast Festival
Feast Festival
Feast Festival is a LGBTI Festival held annually in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The event is one of Australia's four major queer festivals, alongside Perth's Pride Festival, Melbourne's Midsumma and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras....

short film 2006
Birth Paul Leeming & The Sydney Film School short film 2006
Errorism: A Comedy of Terrors - Series 2 Eddie White & The PRA short animation 2006
Ayen’s Cooking School for African Men Sieh Mchawala, Vida Films & SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...

TV documentary 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...

Sweet and Sour Eddie White, The PRA & Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Shanghai Animation Film Studio is the animation division of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation in Shanghai, China. It is responsible for the production of Chinese animations.-History:...

short animation 2007
Fruitloop Kyra Bartley short film 2007
Mitsubishi Lancer "Safer In A Wild World" Eddie White, James Calvert & The PRA TV Commercial 2007
Who Wants to Be A Celebrity Chef Rose Aldahn / AFTRS short documentary 2007
Everyday Heroes AFTRS TV Department TV Magazine 2007
Purgatory Natalie Polomo (Exec Prod) & AFTRS Year of 2007 4 part TV mini series 2007
The Ghastly Gourmet Cooking Show James Calvert, The PRA & Nickelodeon Channel short animation TV pilot 2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...

I Was A Teenage Butterfly Eddie White, The PRA & Nickelodeon Channel short animation TV pilot 2008
Glass Jayne Montague / Windermere Blue Films short film 2008
A Northern Town Rachel Landers, Dylan Blowen, Pony Films & SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...

feature documentary 2008
The Tumbler Marc Gracie, Stacey Testro, Mondayitis & Ztudio feature film 2008
Street Angel Lucas Testro / AFTRS short film 2008
Vafadar Amin Palangi / AFTRS short film 2008
Death In The Garden Michael Chrisoulakis short film 2009
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...

The Cat Piano Eddie White, Ari Gibson & The PRA short animation 2009
The Snowman Juliet Lamont & Pony Films feature documentary 2009
The Mystery Of Flying Kicks Matthew Bate & Plexus Films short documentary TBA

Film

Year Award / Festival Category Film Result
2010 APRA/AGSC Screen Music Awards Best Music For A Children's Series Itty Bitty Ditties
2010 APRA/AGSC Screen Music Awards Best Music For A Documentary The Snowman
2009 APRA/AGSC Screen Music Awards Best Music For A Short Film The Cat Piano
2009 MPSE, USA Golden Reel Awards Verna Fields Award
Verna Fields Award
The Verna Fields Award is the Golden Reel Award which is annually presented by Motion Picture Sound Editors to a filmmaking student in order to recognize the excellence of their sound editing work. Luke Dunn Gielmuda of the Australian Film Television and Radio School won the 1998 award for his work...

Street Angel
2006 St. Kilda Film Festival Best Original Score Carnivore Reflux

Music

Year Award Category Result
2011 APRA PDA Awards Film And Television finalist (TBA)
2009 APRA PDA Awards Film And Television finalist
2005 Education & Arts Ministers' Awards (SA) Excellence in Arts Education (Artists: The New Pollutants)
2004 dB Magazine Awards Most Popular Dance Act (The New Pollutants)
2004 South Australian Music Industry (SAMI) Award Most Popular Electronic / Dance Act (The New Pollutants)
2003 dB Magazine Awards Most Popular Dance Act (The New Pollutants)

Discography

  • Speed Presents: Mr Tappin' Fresh EP 2001
  • Speed Presents: The Other Half Of Humanity EP 2001
  • The New Pollutants - Hygene Atoms
    Hygene Atoms
    Hygene Atoms is an Alternative hip hop and Electronica album by The New Pollutants , also known as Benjamin Speed and Tyson Hopprich...

     2002
  • The New Pollutants - Sid Hop 7" 2004
  • The New Pollutants - Urban Professional Nightmares 2004
  • The New Pollutants - Metropolis Rescore
    Metropolis Rescore
    Metropolis Rescore is a soundtrack by The New Pollutants for the silent film Metropolis. The soundtrack is for the 118-minute, digitally restored version which was released in 2002 by the F.W. Murnau Foundation and Kino International. In 2004 The New Pollutants composed and produced the new...

     2005
  • Mister Speed - The Dreamer
    The Dreamer (Mister Speed album)
    The Dreamer is a hip-hop and indie pop album by Mister Speed. This is his debut solo album.-Track listing:# "Unconventional Paradigm" – 1:07# "Art Is..." – 3:49# "Miss Bitty" – 3:27# "The World Song" – 2:18# "Ready For Action" – 3:27...

     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
    La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...

     - 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
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation
    The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

     – Sound Quality Volume 2: Approved for Export (2003)
  • Soobiesta - Straight Out Of Brisbane (2004)
  • 52nd Sydney Film Festival
    Sydney Film Festival
    The Sydney Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney and is held over 12 days in June. The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city centre and includes features,...

     - Music for Film: Cults Classics Curios (2005)
  • Blank Tapes CD Sampler 5a & 5b (2005)
  • Cyclic Defrost
    Cyclic Defrost
    Cyclic Defrost is Australia's only specialist electronic music magazine. It is edited by Sebastian Chan, Shaun Prescott and Alexandra Savvides, and covers independent electronic music, avant-rock, experimental sound art and left field hip hop....

     Presents: Interesting Music from Australia
    (2005)
  • Mythical Records - Odyssey of Rapture vol.1 (2008)

External links

  • Official Site
  • The Dreamer on Creative Vibes
  • Interview in Cyclic Defrost Magazine
    Cyclic Defrost
    Cyclic Defrost is Australia's only specialist electronic music magazine. It is edited by Sebastian Chan, Shaun Prescott and Alexandra Savvides, and covers independent electronic music, avant-rock, experimental sound art and left field hip hop....

     by Chris Downton
  • Interview in IF - Australian Film Magazine
    Inside Film Awards
    The Inside Film Awards is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, a format created by Australian Producer Andrew Dillon...

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