| Benjamin Speed | |
| Alias: | Mister Speed |
| Birth Name: | Benjamin Peter Speed |
| Birth Date: | 1979 6, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Instrument: | Guitar, bass, vocals |
| Genre: | film music, Indie pop, hip hop, electronica, alternative, experimental |
| Occupation: | Film composer, songwriter, record producer |
| Years Active: | 2000–present |
| Label: | Creative Vibes, Groovescooter, ABC |
| Associated Acts: | The New Pollutants, Metropolis Rescore |
Benjamin Peter Speed is an Australian musician who composes scores for film and television. He previously performed and recorded as Mister Speed or Mr Speed, and was vocalist and songwriter in the Australian alternative, electronic, and hip hop band The New Pollutants.
Benjamin Peter Speed says that he was "named by [his] brother and sister after Beatrix Potter's books The Tale of Benjamin Bunny and The Tale of Peter Rabbit.[1] [2]
He studied music at university.[3]
Speed says that his dreams have often inspired his music as well as guiding his life choices.[1]
Speed formed The New Pollutants in 2001 with Australian musician Tyson Hopprich (DJ Tr!p).[4] [5]
They released a full-length album, Hygene Atoms, a 12" EP Urban Professional Nightmares and a 7" single Sid-Hop.[6] The New Pollutants sound traversed through a number of different genres, including lo-fi, trip hop, electro, Commodore 64 music, 1950s and 1960s pop, comedy, alternative hip hop and electronica.[7]
The New Pollutants played at Australian music festivals such as the Falls Festival and Big Day Out, and were headliners of the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival opening concert.[7] [8]
In 2007, Speed released his debut solo album The Dreamer. The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed the album, describing it thus:"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".[9]
In 2005 The New Pollutants composed and produced Metropolis Rescore, a new soundtrack to the silent film Metropolis, which they premiered live at the 2005 Adelaide Film Festival[10] and other music and film festivals,[11] [12] including the 2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival. ACMI described the soundtrack as "an infectious and unique approach ranging from Germanic trip hop and lo-fi electronica to unforgettable classical and breathtaking cinematica".[13]
In 2011, a newly updated score was composed to the 2010 restoration version, which has an extra 30 minutes of footage originally thought lost.[14]
In 2005, Speed began composing film scores and collaborated with The People's Republic of Animation. He received the Best Original Score award at the 2006 St Kilda Film Festival for the animated short Carnivore Reflux.[15]
In 2009, he composed the music for The Cat Piano, narrated by Nick Cave, which was shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Awards[16] and features Nick Cave as narrator.[17] In 2010 he won an APRA/AGSC Award for his work on the series Itty Bitty Ditties.[18]
Speed has also worked with Closer Productions on their films and television series. In 2013 he composed the music for Sundance and Berlin Film Festival award-winning film 52 Tuesdays which was directed by Sophie Hyde. He also composed for their TV series The Hunting, and Aftertaste, for which he was nominated for best score at the 12th AACTA Awards.[19]
Speed composed for the feature documentaries The Snowman in 2010, which won the Australian Documentary Prize[20] and was nominated for an AFI Award.[21] and Embrace, directed by 2023 Australian of the Year, Taryn Brumfitt.
In 2023, Speed composed the score for the film The Portable Door starring Christoph Waltz and Sam Neill. It won Feature Film Score of the Year at the 2023 Screen Music Awards,[22] in which his "Monos Lithos" from Monolith was also nominated, for Best Original Song Composed for the Screen.[23] [24]
Speed is married to Spanish film producer Blanca Lista, whom he met in 2011 when he was living in Sydney but on holiday in Los Angeles . After she visited Sydney in 2012, romance blossomed and a few days later he flew to LA and they decided to get married. They were married a week later by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas, with Speed returning soon afterwards for work in Sydney. Later that year they both flew to Spain to spend Christmas with Lista's family. Speed was granted visa to live in the US in August 2014, and they reside in LA with their son, with Speed flying back to Australia regularly for work.[25]
The APRA Music Awards are sets of annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters and publishers who have achieved outstanding success in sales and airplay performance. They are presented by APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society), which commenced in 1982.[26] The related annual Screen Music Awards were first presented in 2002 by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC).[27]
! |-| 2009 | The Cat Piano (Benjamin Speed)| Best Music for a Short Film | | [28]
[29] |-| rowspan="2"| 2010| Itty Bitty Ditties (Thomas Bettany, Speed)| Best Music for Children's Television| |rowspan="2"| [30]
[31] |-| The Snowman (Speed)| Best Music for a Documentary| |-| 2014| Time Tremors – Series 1| Best Music for Children's Television| | [32]
[33] |-| rowspan="2"| 2023| The Portable Door (Speed)| Feature Film Score of the Year| | rowspan="2"| [34]
[35] |-| "Monos Lithos" from Monolith| Best Original Song Composed for the Screen| |-|}