The 2026 lineup of the Speedways, clockwise from top left: Matt Julian (lead vocals & guitar), Kris Hood (drums), Adrian Alfonso (bass guitar), Dan Spagnolo (guitar). Photo by David Andrew.
Right now, classic rock ’n’ roll is having a real moment, and one of its best modern torchbearers, The Speedways, have a new album on the way. Plenty of reason to hit up Matt Julian for a Gimme 5 feature, or so I thought. What started as that quickly snowballed into a full-band interview. Turns out they had a lot to say and it is all too good not share. Long story, short: Read the interview below, and Matt’s Gimme 5 is coming next week instead. If you want to know which five bands pushed him to start The Speedways, stay tuned!
You’ve been a band for over eight years now. What are some of the moments that still stand out when you look back?
Matt: Both US tours have to be high on the list. I felt really proud when we played our first ever show over there—a sold-out Brooklyn show with a “who’s who” of our contemporaries in the crowd. 90% of the time you ask yourself “what the fuck am I still in a band for?” and then you have moments like that. The Funtastic show in 2023 always stands out for me. Supporting Billie Joe Armstrong’s Cover-Ups last year was a great moment. I’ll always remember playing Luna Fest in Portugal in 2023 and during Kisses Are History watching the sun set over the river. It sounds corny, but singing a beautiful love song while you watch a sunset is kinda nice. I mean, there are loads more standout moments from an eight-year period—good and bad. From a personal point of view, I’ll always remember the first few days after I put Just Another Regular Summer up on Bandcamp. I’ve never had such a positive reaction to anything like that before.
Adrian: First Spanish tour. We were quite a new band and weren’t expecting such a warm reception as we got when we arrived, with people queuing up to get their LP signed immediately after our first gig. First US tour, considering the plan for the band was one album and one gig. We never quite imagined we’d get quite that far, and we had the support of our contemporaries The Whiffs taking care of us out on the road. Billie Joe Armstrong wearing our band tee in a Green Day music video. It was surreal for me because that’s a design I did—it’s got my wife’s eye on it. We both grew up getting into rock music around the time Green Day were becoming popular, so it was very surreal, then of course opening for The Cover-Ups and those guys all being really genuinely supportive.
Kris: Yes, it’s been a great ride so far. Most importantly, we all became a strong family, that’s for sure. We’ve played tours across Europe and the USA. I think generally the reaction of the fans across the world has been an amazing experience for us, seeing how so many people like our music.
[Click below to read the rest of the interview.]
What’s new in the world of The Speedways right now?
Adrian: It feels like everything is new at the moment. We’re working on a bunch of new songs, we’ve got a fantastic new guitarist, and we’re collaborating with friends from other bands we’ve met over the years.
Kris: Hmmm, many things. We’ve got a brand new guitarist (Dan, who’s an amazing chap!), a new LP in the works, videos, tours, festivals. Many things to look forward to.
Matt: Yeah, pretty much everything feels new at the minute. As the guys have said, we have Dan on board as our permanent new guitarist, plus we have a new single out next month, new videos, and a new album in the works!
How’s that new record coming along? And how does a typical Speedways song come to life?
Matt: It’s coming along really well. We’ve recorded over half of it, and we have B-sides and a couple of bonus tracks to play with too. The album’s called The Magic Comes & The Magic Goes. It might turn out to be our best yet, depending on what you want from us. I tend to write a particular way when I know it’s going to be for an album. I get quite focused and fall into a theme lyrically—this album has a “bad communication” theme. I do my rough demos and send them over to the guys. We’ve been working like that for years, so it’s a familiar process now. We all know how each other works and what each of us will bring to the song. Dan seems to have quickly slipped into that dynamic very well too.
Kris: For me, this new album is something else. It reflects more how we’ve learned to play since we started and shows that it doesn’t matter how many albums you put out, the writing can grow even stronger.
Adrian: Matt seems to be constantly writing and recording demos. He’ll send them to the rest of us and we’ll write our parts around that and collaborate on new bits and pieces. Generally, we’re shocked at how quickly we’ve been able to get songs together lately from one of Matt’s demos to us recording. We only had three rehearsals together before going into the studio and recording all the songs within three takes max.
Dan: We try to rehearse in person as often as possible to work up the songs from Matt’s demos, but due to distance, busy schedules, and other restraints, there’s been a bit of bouncing ideas around via WhatsApp. That’s all a bit new to me, but I’m finding it really fun to swap recordings and quickly demo some parts, whether it’s a guitar lead or a vocal harmony, trying out a bunch of different ideas from the comfort of my tiny flat. It means when we do get together, we can make the best use of our time to build up the song.
Your Visiting Hours 7″ (2025) and Talk of the Town LP (2022) felt like a shift from the straight-up power pop of Radio Sounds (2020) and Just Another Regular Summer (2018). What can we expect from the new LP in terms of sound and direction?
Matt: I think somewhere in between. There’s a lot of the pop and sentimentality of Regular Summer and Radio Sounds, but with perhaps the musicianship of Talk of the Town. The songs are much more simple this time though—shorter and less busy. There’s an occasional ’60s vibe and the usual ’70s power pop/rock influence. Some people might see it as a regression, but you write whatever comes out at the time and you feel how you feel. Visiting Hours will be the opening song on the album and I think it sets the tone really well. We’ll be involving a few guest musicians and friends on various songs. It’ll be a fun album, I think. Short and sweet.
Adrian: We are influenced by a lot of different genres. Obviously, the change in lineup affects direction. I think there was a more serious side to Talk of the Town. We spent a great deal of last year playing with Conor Lumsden, and it brought a lot more fun back into the band for the three of us. We would be driving on tour and listening to ’50s and ’60s pop and randomly decide we would try to cover one of the songs at soundcheck, and if it was somewhat passable, we would just throw it into the set that night. I think getting into the details of some of those songs has definitely influenced the direction of the next album a little. Also, for me personally, playing with Music City and the residency at the Elephant’s Head, having to do two hours of music featuring covers from every era of rock ’n’ roll, has really pushed my skill set.
Dan: As someone who is coming into the band just in time for the final batch of songs on this LP and who has appreciated the first three records as a fan, I can give a relatively unbiased opinion that there are loads of great songs to enjoy on this one. I don’t quite want to characterize it as a “back to basics” record, but I do think in a way it’s solidifying the identity of the band, touching on a lot of influences that have been around from the beginning and blending them in the Speedways fashion. I personally feel there’s quite a varied mix of songs, but in a really coherent way. I don’t think you’ll listen to the record and describe it as any one thing. Really the common thread between the songs are the hooks, the lyrical themes, and that hopefully they stick around in your head and leave you wanting more! A bit vague of an answer, but don’t want to give away too much.
Kris: The new album is more of a classic 1979 power pop/’60s (even ’50s) sound. It’s much bigger than previous albums.
It feels like classic rock ’n’ roll and power pop are in a strong place right now with bands like Daniel Romano’s Outfit, Sheer Mag, Uni Boys, The Lemon Twigs, The Prize, Music City, Josephine Network, Sharp Pins, The Whiffs, The Reflectors etcetera. How do you see the current state of the scene and your own place in it?
Kris: Totally. I think 2026 is an amazing time for power pop, as so many of these great bands are releasing new albums.
Adrian: It does feel like we are at a fairly defining era where this kind of music is having a moment. From either playing alongside or just meeting each other at shows, I think there’s quite a network amongst all these bands. It does feel like we are all looking out for each other, cheering each other on and helping wherever we can. I think we all recognize we bring our own individual spins on the genre, with an overarching similarity but no two bands sounding exactly the same.
Matt: Yeah, we’ve played with and are mates with pretty much all of those guys, so we’re just glad to be part of it. They’re all great bands. I think it’s currently the strongest genre on the scene. There’s also Fast Kids, Number Ones, Alvilda, Softjaw to name just a few more doing the power pop thing. We all have our own part to play and do it our own way. It’d be shit if we all sounded the same. I think it’s cool that we’re the only English representatives, even though only half the band are English, but you get my point. I think you can definitely hear that, especially in my Nottinghamshire dulcet tones and my songs about the weather.
Dan: Yeah, I’d agree that things are definitely trending towards guitar-based music again whether it’s powerpop or rock’n’roll, or jangle pop (which is also having a moment). It’s great to be spoiled for choice when you’re a fan of this type of music. I’m not sure I’m equipped to summarize the whole scene, but I will say there’s not really a better time to catch an up-and-coming band at a club gig near you. In London, I can probably catch a life-changing set any night of the week for around £20, and that’s not something to take for granted!
Let’s finish with some quick hits…Best power pop song ever written?
Adrian: Diabolical question—there’s no objective best. That being said, Walking Out on Love by Paul Collins.
Kris: Baby It’s You by Phil Seymour.
Matt: Hmm… Starry Eyes by The Records.
Dan: The answer to that question would probably change monthly, if not daily. One of the fun things about being a music fanatic is trading songs with your friends and going down the different rabbit holes of various (sub-)genres. That said, a pretty consistent answer for me might be Another Girl, Another Planet by The Only Ones, seeing as my spouse and I chose to play that song after we got hitched and it reminds me of that day. A more “of the moment” choice – one of my friends has really been proselytizing the Boys (Lincoln, Nebraska) recently, so their song You Make Me Shake is also on the top of my mind.
Favorite contemporary power pop band?
Matt: Tough one… The Whiffs.
Adrian: Too many to pick, but I’ll say Softjaw because they’re incredibly underrated in my opinion.
Dan: Well, I would probably say the Whiffs (phenomenal songwriters and nice guys to boot!) but since you’ve already mentioned them and quite a few other heavy hitters in the previous question, I’ll say I’ve really been enjoying Angel Face (a bit more pop than Teengenerate, a bit more punk than Firestarter). Smarthearts also put out a great EP last year. Private Lives are another one to watch!
Kris: It has to be Uni Boys!
One goal you still want to tick off as a band?
Kris: Play at Wembley Arena!
Adrian: Play Japan or Australia. Why not both?
Dan: I’ll echo Adrian’s answer here, touring Japan would be a personal lifelong dream achieved! Really any opportunity to play in a new place, or play with a band whose work I admire feels like a huge win in my book.
Matt: A number one record.
And that’s a wrap. Stay find for next week’s Gimme 5 feature with Matt. Buy the band’s music on Bandcamp, Discogs or stream at your preferred streaming service.
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