Biography
Josh Scogin originated the project '68, which unleashes raw, minimal rock drawing deeply from metalcore and hardcore traditions. The outfit embraces an economy of means, relying solely on a guitarist and drummer to produce a dense, forceful sound that still packs considerable weight. Blues threads surface throughout their songs alongside the heavier rock drive, while the vocals channel an urgent quest for meaning in life delivered through raw intensity. Hardcore elements dominated most clearly on the 2014 debut album In Humor and Sadness; the 2017 follow-up Two Parts Viper elevated the blues touches instead, and Give One Take One from 2021 shifted focus back toward direct hard rock without easing the customary ferocity.
Alternative rock listeners first encountered Scogin as the founding vocalist of the Christian metalcore group Norma Jean. He departed a few months after their initial album Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child appeared in 2003. Before the year ended, Scogin launched The Chariot to pursue a sharper hardcore direction that also accommodated greater expression of his personal and spiritual outlook. The Chariot issued their debut, Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing, Nothing Is Dead and Nothing Is Bleeding, in 2004 and maintained steady recording and touring commitments until announcing an amicable split in August 2013.
Late in 2013, Scogin's Twitter account shared the address theyare68.com along with a countdown to a forthcoming announcement. Within days he confirmed '68 as his new endeavor, introduced through the 7" single "Three Is a Crowd" b/w "Third Time Is a Charm." Video footage established the two-piece lineup, placing Scogin on vocals, guitar, and occasional keyboards beside drummer and percussionist Michael McClellan, formerly of Becoming the Archetype. After the first pressing sold out within hours, No Sleep reissued the single in April 2014. Three months later the ten-song album In Humor and Sadness arrived via Entertainment One Music. The duo signed with Cooking Vinyl in 2017 and delivered their second studio album, Two Parts Viper. McClellan departed following that release, and Nikko Yamada assumed the drum chair by the close of 2017. Yamada made his recorded debut with the group on the four-song EP Love Is Ain't Dead, issued in September 2020, before the full-length Give One Take One returned in March 2021.
Alternative rock listeners first encountered Scogin as the founding vocalist of the Christian metalcore group Norma Jean. He departed a few months after their initial album Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child appeared in 2003. Before the year ended, Scogin launched The Chariot to pursue a sharper hardcore direction that also accommodated greater expression of his personal and spiritual outlook. The Chariot issued their debut, Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing, Nothing Is Dead and Nothing Is Bleeding, in 2004 and maintained steady recording and touring commitments until announcing an amicable split in August 2013.
Late in 2013, Scogin's Twitter account shared the address theyare68.com along with a countdown to a forthcoming announcement. Within days he confirmed '68 as his new endeavor, introduced through the 7" single "Three Is a Crowd" b/w "Third Time Is a Charm." Video footage established the two-piece lineup, placing Scogin on vocals, guitar, and occasional keyboards beside drummer and percussionist Michael McClellan, formerly of Becoming the Archetype. After the first pressing sold out within hours, No Sleep reissued the single in April 2014. Three months later the ten-song album In Humor and Sadness arrived via Entertainment One Music. The duo signed with Cooking Vinyl in 2017 and delivered their second studio album, Two Parts Viper. McClellan departed following that release, and Nikko Yamada assumed the drum chair by the close of 2017. Yamada made his recorded debut with the group on the four-song EP Love Is Ain't Dead, issued in September 2020, before the full-length Give One Take One returned in March 2021.
Albums
Singles
