Originally published at kemptation.com on 20 August 2014. Words by Simon Gore

Globally established and respected mathcore band The Chariot decided to call it a night while on the 2013 Warped Tour. Once the collective decision had been made, and prior to any public announcement, vocalist Josh Scogin contacted his long-time friend and music producer Matt Goldman to book in some studio time for December that year. When Goldman asked what this time was for, Scogin replied simply, “honestly I have no idea, but I will have to know by then.”

Scogin was sticking with music, that much was certain. And so, unable to just sit around, twiddling his thumbs, he spent the following weeks and months letting ideas snowball in his mind. “It was when I decided that I wanted it to be a two-piece that it fell together,” he says. Having been a member of five-piece bands his whole life, this concept gave a new lease of creativity and enthusiasm to Scogin: “It was like I had a puzzle and that was the edges; other stuff fits in now. I think that just comes from wanting to completely flip the script.”

Sometime during the autumn of 2013, Scogin called on his friend Michael McClellan, a drummer who worked in the same studio that Scogin’s last band frequented. “We met about five years ago and stayed in touch,” McClellan explains. “If Josh was producing someone else and needed some drum tracks, he would call me up. He has seen me play a couple of times with different projects. We became friends, started hanging out. Once Josh wanted to do a two-piece band, he gave me a call. We met at a burrito place and sparks flew; he had me with the burrito.”

Scogin and McClellan hit the studio and started work. Hitting their own deadlines under pressure proved to be the chemistry this young project needed: “I mathematically made it something that had to be a little impulsive and spontaneous,” says Scogin. “The Chariot did our last show at the end of November and within December we were writing and recording the ’68 record”.

’68 display undisputed realism in their composition, philosophy and live performance. This comes from both Scogin and McClellan, neither of whom wanted this new project to be about simply pushing a space bar on a laptop: “As kind of an old-school thinker, it bums me out,” Scogin admits. “I get it when it’s big timers, people who are a glorified Broadway act, that’s fine. But the fact that it’s leaked into the punk rock world and the underground scene is weird to me. Convenience will win every time when you’re talking about an average or a general public, but I enjoy the human element. I enjoy a little danger.”

This mentality remained a prominent feature throughout the recording process. Wanting a live and genuinely authentic sound, Josh began experimenting with Matt’s vintage amp collection, some of which were more unreliable than others and begged the question of whether they would power up at all. But this beautiful spontaneity and experimental attitude are what give this duo such character. The guitar sound on a lot of the new record is from an old amp at its breaking point, driven harder than intended after being dragged out of retirement. This lead to inevitable casualties: “any time something is breaking or falling apart we tend to enjoy that and somehow put it on the record, because you can’t duplicate that. It’s real life. Now, some of them don’t work.” This Hendrix-esque, sacrificially artistic beauty is rarely seen in modern music.

In the live environment, equipment failure was not an option and so Scogin went to custom amp builders Paul & Mills, who constructed him an A-cab from a 1×12 combo with a 3×15/1×12 B-cab to provide the low end. This boutique gear, however, stays on American soil, as ’68 have been touring Europe with their road partners In Archives, instead using their backline and drum shells.

Touring as a duo certainly has its pros and cons. Making a collective decision on a suitable eating location takes seconds – there is more room in the van and never too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen – but what ’68 lack in members they certainly make up for in equipment. Loading means just the two of them and they use enough kit to satisfy a five-piece band.

The fresh musical direction has inevitably welcomed a new audience and touring network. The pair have been able to play with new, impressionable bands, many of whom, such as Memphis, Tennessee’s Starkiller, may not have been considered for a promoter’s support act go-to list during The Chariot days. Touring hotspots, meanwhile, remain the same, the best receptions coming from Dallas, Texas and Columbus, Ohio. Atlanta, too, though since this is the home turf of these two, exceptional crowd response is unsurprising.

The duo’s debut album, In Humour & Sadness, is out now. People will always make the connection with the past works of these musicians, but ’68 are an authentic, eclectic team in their own right. It’s good, old-fashioned, brand new rock ’n’ roll played by real human beings.

They are touring, working and collaborating with industry friends (like Daniel Davidson, who just shot their new video for R), but for Scogin and McClellan, they are simply enjoying each other’s company and look forward to whatever the future may bring.

Here’s a challenge for you:

Line up the two videos below to get a single, synchronised track from the ’68 boys. It’s like the Dark Side of Oz, only it actually works!