’68
[Photo by: Joe Calixto]

’68 to record third album with Foo Fighters, Halestorm producer

Josh Scogin and Nikko Yamada—known by discerning rock fans and hearing specialists as ’68—are heading to Nashville near the end of June to record with producer/engineer/adviser Nick Raskulinecz at his Rock Eagle Studio for the follow-up to their amazing second album, 2017’s Two Parts Viper.

Raskulinecz is an acclaimed producer whose resume includes sessions with Foo Fighters, Halestorm, Stone Sour, Deftones, Korn, Alice In Chains, Ghost, Mastodon and Rise Against. He also worked closely alongside Caleb Shomo on Beartooth’s last album, 2018’s Disease. He discovered ’68 during the duo’s touring stint with Stone Sour and became a fan.

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He must’ve really liked it because afterward he insisted on recording our next album,” Scogin shares. “Having thought he was just ‘being nice,’ I never even brought it up to my manager. But fast forward a few weeks later and [Raskulinecz’s people] had got in touch with our management and set everything in motion.” When asked what the producer liked about ’68, Scogin was typically humble. “Well, I reckon you would have to ask him that question,” he says. “But if I were to take a guess, I think he enjoyed the looseness and free-floating nature of our live performance. In a world of pitch-perfect, sterile computers performing a lot of the music you hear at— what is supposed to be live shows these days—perhaps he enjoyed our old-school ‘humans performing the music’s approach.’”

Scogin says he’s written more than 20 new songs for possible recording/releasing sometime in fall or winter on the Cooking Vinyl imprint. He’s hoping Raskulinecz “will have a wonderful outside opinion on our songs. Sometimes it is easy to get a little narrow-minded on where a song can go or what a song can do, since you have had such a singular vision of a particular song from its very conception. Having a third party such as Nick can really help shed new light. He is also hilariously energetic when he talks about music he loves or when he was hearing our demos for the first time. I really think he is going to bring that energy to the table, which I expect will pair nicely with the energy that already rests within us.” When asked how long they’d be in the studio, Scogin replies, “I think he just starts recording and doesn’t end until it is finished.”

Until then, Scogin and Yamada are just now starting their trek with Avatar with the hope of getting their Game Of Thrones vibe on. “We are only three days into this tour, so I am quite limited on stories, but ask me this again in a month,” he says. “I will say, however, I have every intention on stealing their crown and melting their throne at some point while on this tour.”

You can check out a list of dates below and pick up tickets here.

Dates:

05/21 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls
05/23 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
05/24 – Sauget, IL @ Pop’s Concert Venue
05/26 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
05/28 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue & 7th Street Entry
06/04 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
06/07 – Reno, NV @ Cargo Concert Hall
06/08 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
06/09 – Grand Junction, CO @ Mesa Theater
06/10 – Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
06/11 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
06/14 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre

What do you think of ’68’s collaboration with Nick Raskulinecz? Let us know in the comments below. 

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