SPEEDFREAK

Speaking in terms of character, I think every city has a few bands like Chicago's Speedfreak. Essentially an institution at this point, these are gritty, hard-boiled rockers that thrive in the inebriated ecstasy of dive-bar mayhem, capable of packing any stage (within the city limits) on just an afternoon's notice, and prone to releasing albums in time spans measured in decades. Frustratingly, most such bands remain unappreciated on a global scale, but it's not for lack of kicking ass or creativity. In particular, Speedfreak has long cranked up in the volume in Chicago with a distinct vintage of Southern-tinged rock and heavy metal fine-tuned for blasting out of the fastest vehicle you own.

We're premiering a music video today for a track off their last album Fast Lane Livin', which released earlier this year–this video for "Doomsday Devices" highlights Speedfreak's appetite for gleeful mischief as well as their hard-won chops.

Speedfreak is city grease, southern smoke, and motor oil combined into an infectious serum, and the dosage is plenty high on "Doomsday Devices." It's an oddly danceable track, actually, and should you see it performed live, it all starts to make sense. Drummer Dave Hornyak–also the owner of local venue Live Wire Lounge–mounts two cowbells to his kit and neglects neither, and the rest of the band never runs short on energy. Here in this video, they channel that energy into a tongue-in-cheek parody of classic PSAs.

I did mention earlier that there's probably some bands like Speedfreak out there, but they truly are a singular force in Chicago. Anyone entrenched in the local metal scene has surely seen them live (perhaps at Forever Deaf Fest last year) or heard their name passed around like a mythological force, and their members have helped keep the torch burning for, as mentioned, goddamn decades. I'm hoping for a new Speedfreak album before 2032, myself, but in the meantime you can be sure they'll be keeping our venues fucking loud.

The band comments:

"Doomsday Devices" was one of the last tracks we wrote for the Fast Lane record. While the lyrics to "Doomsday Devices" are really about living with bad habits, our videographer, Zane Rerek, had the idea to lean into the literal definition of a 'doomsday device'. With Zane in the director's chair, we thought it'd be fun to shoot the video like an old PSA, only instead of nuclear attack or satanic panic, heavy metal music was the big threat that had everyone clutching their pearls. We took a lot of inspiration from a bunch of old 1950s, 1960s, Ed Sullivan Show-style performances, and once we started shooting, it really came together as its own thing. We had a blast making the "Doomsday Devices" video, and we're stoked to share it with you!

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Speedfreak 2022
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Fast Lane Livin' released April 15th independently via Bandcamp. - Invisible Oranges.com

Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?

SF: In your face, loud, heavy metal rock and roll! The soundtrack to your next 48 hour bender



PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.

SF: Tom and Kevin formed the band when they were kids, joined shortly thereafter by Steve…Dave joined the party in 2016



PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?

SF: We’re inspired by all heavy music whether it’s from 1972 or 2022 – Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Motley Crue, Metallica, Pantera, the list goes on and on! As far as what we write about – all sorts of things but mainly the simple pleasures in life – heavy metal, booze, gambling, motorcycles, fast cars and beautiful women among other things…



PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?

SF: To show as many people a good time as possible! Getting the music out there and hopefully being the soundtrack to someones wild night out. Playing shows – whether it’s 10 or 1000 people we’re just there to rock your face off and party with you afterward!



PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?

SF: For this band as a whole – hard to say, we’ve had the honor of opening for some pretty cool bands so far…Playing the legendary Metro in Chicago was definitely a high point.



PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?

SF: Trying to use social media as effectively as possible…we’re naturally not very good promoters outside of our home turf in Chicago, but we have recently enlisted some awesome promo people to help with all that so we’re excited to see where that takes us!



PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?

SF: We still book all our own shows at this point – we haven’t signed with an agency or anything like that just yet. Possibly in the future though. We’ve got a killer show coming up opening for CROWBAR on July 30th that we’re really excited about!



PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?

SF: Having music so readily available online is revolutionary for independant artists nowadays, we love it! But since there are so many artists with their music out there, getting noticed is the tricky part. We love streaming sites like Spotify – we’re on there! Check us out!



PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?

SF: That’s a really tough one – there are so many great songs out there! Anything by Motorhead, haha! We have fun covering “Lifer” by Down every once in a while – that one’s a real ripper. Hmm…maybe “Sin City” by AC/DC? That song is pretty representative of what Speedfreak is all about.



PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?

SF: The music industry will never be perfect – there’s always going to be great artists out there that don’t get the recognition they deserve for one reason or the other. It would be cool if more regular people supported live music on the local level…go check out a band you’ve never heard before! You just might like them!



PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?

SF: Trying to get the word out about our album, and starting to work on some new song ideas for the next one!



PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?

SF: We have a linktree! It’s got links to all our stuff online, check it out!

https://linktr.ee/Speedfreak - PETE'S ROCK NEWS AND VIEWS.COM

Band: Speedfreak
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Country: USA
Genre: Rock, metal
Full Length: Fast Lane Livin’
Format: Digital, CD, cassette
Label: Independent
Release date: April 15, 2022
It’s album review time and today we have quite the ‘groovy’ record to talk about so let’s get into it!
With this new track list of 8 new songs, it’s clear to me the inspiration and purpose behind this record was to create the perfect ‘Country Rock/Rock and Roll’ experience for the listener using blooming production and adrenaline-fueled riffs and lyrics.
This is the type of album you’d play in a fast car going along the Highway or jumping into your motorbike on a clear day and spending hours just following the road listening to an album as jacked up as this one.
If I had to compare this sound based on lyricism and adrenaline I’d have to look at a band like ‘Black Label Society’ who are often labeled ‘Biker Metal’ and it’s for the same reasons I’d put this record in that category, or a band like ‘Rev Theory’ who have that high energy, badass ‘Hard Rock’ feel to them that utilize the personalities and conviction of the artists involved to create not only a good album but an exciting one.
If you’re in the mood for an adrenaline shot or just like your music ‘high energy’ then this is the perfect album for you! –Corban Skipwith

Track list:
1. Fast Lane Livin'
2. Doomsday Devices
3. White Knuckle Fever
4. Baptized in Gasoline
5. Full Throttle
6. Stroke
7. Up the Ante
8. Iron Bar Hotel - ASPHYXIUM ZINE

With the first two openers done and everything running smoothly, Beat Kitchen began to fill up to the brim, as the traditional gap between stage and audience decreased due to volumetric constraints. Repentance and Speedfreak, filling out the middle of the bill, provided the energetic middle act of the fest—though they don't share a ton of similarities (Repentance is a mix of thrash and groove, while Speedfreak is speedy rock 'n' roll), what they do have in common is an uncanny ability to whip up a crowd. Literally—they were the only bands to get mosh pits going.

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"Roll that fuckin' intro like a god damn Dokken concert," Repentance guitarist Shaun Glass declared as their set started. Repentance's members boast a ton of collective experience: most notably, founding member Glass is also a founding member of Soil and ex-bassist for Broken Hope. Looking excited to finally be hitting stages again, Glass effortlessly dashed off ten to fifteen classic riffs throughout soundcheck and proceeded to lay down heaps of his own throughout the show, hopping up on the monitors and having a blast. Genre labels seem sort of ineffectual here, and maybe it's better to simplify: Repentance are a modernized expression of heavy metal's infectious energy—and a ton of fun.

Speedfreak has been a Chicago institution for over a decade now, but one of those institutions that plays far more shows than they record music, which is actually kind of a rarity. Since 2018, they've had local legend Dave Hornyak (owner of Live Wire Lounge, ex-drummer for Cathedral, and much more) on drums, whose madcap playing only served to escalate the band's insane live energy even further. Hornyak finally found a way to answer the audience's inevitable demands for "more cowbell"—with two cowbells, plus a handheld one for vocalist Tommy Kooch to pick up at one point. It's been years since I've seen Speedfreak, unfortunately, but I was surprised at how many songs I recognized anyway. Heavy rock 'n' roll isn't really that hard to find here, but the good stuff sticks with you. - Invisible Oranges.com

PRESS RELEASE:

Release Date: April 15, 2022

FFO: COC, Pantera, Motorhead

Location: Chicago, USA



Chicago Trash Metal™️ quartet SPEEDFREAK is an institution in the city’s hard rock and metal scene. With a sound that ranges from combative thrash riffs to boozy and bluesy sludge grooves, Speedfreak promises to be the cause of your next hangover. Lauded by Dee Snider as “having great songs” and “fucking fearless”, the Chicago four-piece has a resume to match their intensity, having played at top notch venues such as Metro, Double Door, Reggies, Chop Shop and The Forge and opened for acts like Helmet, Texas Hippie Coalition, Raven, Kill Devil Hill, and Shadows Fall. In late 2021, their soon to be released music video for “Doomsday Devices” won the award for Best Metal Music Video at the Audio Shoot International Musician Video & Film Festival in Wexford, Ireland as well as being selected at over a dozen other fests including an official nomination at Cannes Shorts. Their debut high-proof, high-octane record, Fast Lane Livin', engineered and co-produced by Andy Lagis (Mudvayne, Hellyeah, Anthrax), just dropped in summer 2022 and is available on all streaming platforms!

Fun facts: Speedfreak was formed in 2006 by Lead vocalist Tom Kucharski and guitarist Kevin Kelly, while still in high school! Joined shortly after by bassist Steve Serpe.

Drummer Dave Hornyak was at one time the drummer for UK doom metal legends Cathedral, and now owns Live Wire Lounge in Chicago. - MUSIC EXTREME 666