The unrelenting razor attack of Atlanta's the Chariot is again evident on their new record One Wing, out today (August 28) on Good Fight Music, but this time around the band decided to embrace the even weirder aspects of their songwriting, according to vocalist Josh Scogin.
"For every record we ever do, we do whatever we can to explore other avenues and cross boundaries that we haven't crossed before," Scogin tells Exclaim! "But with this record more than the other ones, we are getting more comfortable with what that actually means. We've never held back, but maybe our brains weren't as opened as they are now."
The band's fifth record is an exercise in experimentation, with the group pushing themselves to the limits, and the result is an album that's a lot more varied than its 2010 punk/noise/metal predecessor, Long Live.
"We just write and whatever comes, comes," says Scogin. "I'd like to think that as we grow as musicians, and grow in our tastes in music, and as our minds are opened more and more, that every record will be a bit more extraordinary than the last."
A One Wing teaser was posted in late June on YouTube (see the video below), and it showed the band recording a live-to-video version of "Speak," a song on the album that features only Scogin and a piano, and is probably the most harrowing thing the band have ever done.
"It started out as a challenge, the idea of, 'Hmm, I wonder if we could write a song that's just piano and vocals,'" explains Scogin. "A lot of our weirder ideas we would just throw away, but this was an experiment and we'd never played it before, and no one knew if was going to sound good, or if we'd like it. When we listened back on it everyone got a little teary-eyed."
The song is like a the Chariot-ified version of Scogin's solo material, which he records under the name A Rose, By Any Other Name. According to Scogin, he has written about half of what will be his second solo record and he hopes to release it in 2013.
"It's the true definition of a side-project because the Chariot's very busy and I wouldn't want it any other way. I enjoy the process of recording solo stuff a lot because it's a challenge and it's something that strays from the norm for me, and I will probably have that around for the rest of my life."
Meanwhile, the Chariot are planning supporting tours for One Wing with metalcore band For Today in October and greasy hardcore rockers Every Time I Die in November and December. As well, Scogin is working with videographer and music video director Kevin Custer (who runs Toaster in the Tub Productions) to create a short film including the music from One Wing.
"The album inspired the film, but they are both paying homage to each other," reveals Scogin.
The creative duo is hoping the 20- to 25-minute film will be released in October or November and can make a run at the film festival circuit.
In the meantime, One Wing is out now, and you can see all upcoming Chariot dates here, which find the band touring throughout the U.S.
"For every record we ever do, we do whatever we can to explore other avenues and cross boundaries that we haven't crossed before," Scogin tells Exclaim! "But with this record more than the other ones, we are getting more comfortable with what that actually means. We've never held back, but maybe our brains weren't as opened as they are now."
The band's fifth record is an exercise in experimentation, with the group pushing themselves to the limits, and the result is an album that's a lot more varied than its 2010 punk/noise/metal predecessor, Long Live.
"We just write and whatever comes, comes," says Scogin. "I'd like to think that as we grow as musicians, and grow in our tastes in music, and as our minds are opened more and more, that every record will be a bit more extraordinary than the last."
A One Wing teaser was posted in late June on YouTube (see the video below), and it showed the band recording a live-to-video version of "Speak," a song on the album that features only Scogin and a piano, and is probably the most harrowing thing the band have ever done.
"It started out as a challenge, the idea of, 'Hmm, I wonder if we could write a song that's just piano and vocals,'" explains Scogin. "A lot of our weirder ideas we would just throw away, but this was an experiment and we'd never played it before, and no one knew if was going to sound good, or if we'd like it. When we listened back on it everyone got a little teary-eyed."
The song is like a the Chariot-ified version of Scogin's solo material, which he records under the name A Rose, By Any Other Name. According to Scogin, he has written about half of what will be his second solo record and he hopes to release it in 2013.
"It's the true definition of a side-project because the Chariot's very busy and I wouldn't want it any other way. I enjoy the process of recording solo stuff a lot because it's a challenge and it's something that strays from the norm for me, and I will probably have that around for the rest of my life."
Meanwhile, the Chariot are planning supporting tours for One Wing with metalcore band For Today in October and greasy hardcore rockers Every Time I Die in November and December. As well, Scogin is working with videographer and music video director Kevin Custer (who runs Toaster in the Tub Productions) to create a short film including the music from One Wing.
"The album inspired the film, but they are both paying homage to each other," reveals Scogin.
The creative duo is hoping the 20- to 25-minute film will be released in October or November and can make a run at the film festival circuit.
In the meantime, One Wing is out now, and you can see all upcoming Chariot dates here, which find the band touring throughout the U.S.
