The Begowatts

The Begowatts craft a distinctive blend of rock & roll, rooted in deep 70’s grooves with an ear toward modern atmospheric aesthetics. Formed in 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin, the band built buzz across the Midwest and honed their live presence through relentless touring and Pabst Blue Ribbon consumption. Along the way, the foursome’s sound evolved at a steady clip. While early Begowatts paid faithful homage to classic rock, the band has matured toward a tighter, more immediate fusion of old and new which they christen, “21st century electric rock & roll.”

Within a short time they went from packing basement parties to being the house band at Madison’s world famous Bike Shop and released their self-titled EP in 2015. The EP’s response gave the band the confidence they needed to pony up for a professionally recorded full length debut, and in June of 2016 they released the LP, Photoelectric, to glowing reviews and nominations for the Madison Area Music Awards “Alternative Album” and “Alternative Performer of the Year.”
The band was formed in 2012 by four graduate students studying Astronomy and Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin. All their accumulated hours of study had taught them one valuable universal principle...the Earth was made of Rock. For the entirety of recorded history there had been those that channeled this awesome power, and now these four Midwestern boys collectively decided it was their time continue this ancient tradition.

“Begowatt” is a self-coined unit of measurement the band made up one night at their frequent East African haunt. They were enjoying a dinner of beef-curry called “Beg Wot” and after several beers and some insanely funny Back To The Future jokes (e.g. “1.21 Beg-o-wots!”) a decision was made. Soaking up the eclectic Madison music scene was natural part of college life but it was here, full of beer and Beg Wot, that contributing their own spiked blend of fuzzy rock seemed like the next logical step.

Within a short time they went from packing basement parties to being the house band at the world famous Bike Shop and released their self-titled EP in April of 2015. The positive response from the EP gave the band the confidence they needed to pony up for a professionally recorded full length debut. Now comprised of three astronomers and an urban planner, they named their newest crop of 11 songs Photoelectric and recorded them at Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago with Greg Norman. With all their live show favorites honed to perfection, all that was needed was to hide away without any distractions to ensure this rock was preserved for eternity.

In October 2016, the band welcomed Dan Carpenter to be the new drummer and working on new material began immediately. The group honed in and put together a new album, "Grand Charade" in June 2017, once again working with Greg Norman at Electrical Audio in Chicago. The album is set for release September 2017 followed up with a multi-state tour of the Midwest.