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Gather, Together

by Jack Broza

/
1.
We called him crazy If not out loud then with sideways glances He who stepped out from beneath the bus stop, put his head back and hollowed to the heavens. Then he sat to wait some more, half bashful, half relieved. we called him crazy but how many times in the last month have i heard “I feel like screaming” “I don’t know what to do with all my feelings” Things we bottled have fermented by now “I’m drunk on fear” ** So gather up your things to go Gather Memories and moments Gather the forgotten crops Gather those neglected thoughts, things you pretend you don’t know We'll take time A month of sundays We'll be fine If we Gather, Together
2.
I wake and piece myself together Seems like I slept through class and the past two years, whatever I’ll pack my things fat lady sing, I’ll be gone Hit the road with some boxes of stuff With my box of things I can piece myself wherever But I can't hold to everything, what am I meant to keep? We had to piece her back together Rummaging through old photographs and letters Gather artifacts from days before She walked with a cane, and memories waned Eulogies can pick and choose the better Will I remember everything? What am I meant to keep? We’re made from fragments of each other Patchwork people stitched from friends and lovers Stop looking for the real you, as if you knew how to recognize yourself The whole is just the sum of the parts If you lose someone does that part of your get smothered? Will I hold on to all of you? Who am I meant to keep? Will I hold on to all of you? Who's gonna keep me? Will I remember everything? What am I meant to keep?
3.
Yo sabia, lo que tenia que hacer aunque las voces seguían gritando, "recoja su vida" y me fui, dejé los gritos, en un viaje, buscando, juntando y poco a poco, hubo una nueva voz que, lentamente, reconocí como propio Contigo, Contigo, Contigo Contigo Contigo en la Distancia Yo vine para coger de cada uno, y lo meti en un saco me diste lo que viene del ADN, de la sangre me dijiste - “estoy impartiendo la vida mía, cosas espirituales" y cuando me fui, lleve conmigo su sonido, la música de la familia Contigo, Contigo, Contigo Contigo Contigo en la Distancia Voy caminando por calles, mirando, el entorno que nos rodea caras de personas, rejas de las casa, los raíces que levantan y rompen el suelo miro esto como si fuera una obra de arte y con esos recuerdos me siento a escribir Contigo, Contigo, Contigo Contigo Contigo en la distancia
4.
Make Anew 04:39
Me too I make do I anoint What cannot be fixed
5.
My grandma had a hoarder for a subleter he raked in stuffs, a real dragnetter he filled her barn with suburban driftwood when he left it took her two months to sift through We called him crazy, and mad But if it were bottle caps and stamps he'd be a collector Tie on some price tags and its a hip spot for thrifting If its antique enough you're a past-resurrector Get famous and your stuff becomes an archival treasure Whose to say what stuffs are rare We all hold things for our own self care. My grandma had a hoarder for a sublet he hung himself in that one-man love-nest today his body is long gone but if you hunt and hoard your stuffs live on
6.
I wake in the morning and feel like I'm gonna Break Wake in the morning and feel like I'm gonna break down Break down leave town and break free And I feel so afraid And I feel so small, so small I wanna to break free Later that morning I feel like I caught a break Later that morning I feel like I caught a big break Later that morning I feel like I caught a break Later that morning I feel like I caught a big break So big I'm gonna be free The wind is in my sails And I feel so tall, that I really feel free Nothing ever stays in one place Nothing ever seems to take hold Every time I fall on my face I stand up again Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna break Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna break through Break through this mess in my mind And I feel so much But I feel no fear That I'm gonna break through
7.
When you wake, are you every happy? I don't think I can spend this much time with myself Maybe some day, I’ll be a Marty They’ll show me on their little slide shows New Mantra: All the things I’m feeling deep down, If I feel them they won’t break me When you wake, are you every happy?
8.
We called him crazy, he's mad If not out loud then with sideways glances He stepped out from beneath the stop, put back his head And he hollered to the heavens. Then he sat to wait some more, half bashful but more he was half relieved He hollered to the heavens He yelled up towards the sky Half bashful, but at least he could breathe We called him crazy But how many times have I heard “I feel like screaming” and “I don’t know what to do with all my feelings” So we have to wait some more Things we bottled have fermented and congealed “I’m drunk on fear” so we’ve got to wait some more We’ve got to wait some more, I need release, release And all these things I’ve got deep down, If I feel them they won’t break me We'll take some time We'll talk of Sunday We'll be fine But its hard to imagine So gather up your things to go, I’m leaving here Gather Memories and moments, pick the ones to stow So gather the forgotten crops, the last to grow Gather those neglected thoughts, ones you pretend you don’t know If I feel them they won’t break me We'll take time A month of Sundays We'll be fine If we Gather, Together

about

Gather, Together - I'm not sure when or why this pair of words took root in my head, but since then it has grown from a simple phrase to a way of seeing the world. Over the past year, as I wrote and record this material, I found myself assessing things around me for their gather content. From paint collecting on a canvas to friends assembling in a basement, everywhere you look, there are parts gathering into a whole. This notion became central to not only the themes of my work but the process as well. The sights and sounds in Gather, Together are scavenged materials. Audio samples come from voice-memos of my lessons and conversations, lyrics are borrowed from fragments I’ve read or written in anything from poetry journals to text messages, and the videos that accompany the album draw images from my family members’ art scattered around my home. The piece puts on display the process of its own creation.

Gather, Together is about collectivity and is, at its core, the product of relationships. In addition to the collaborators featured on the record, Gather contains the voices (both literally and figuratively) of my friends and family everywhere.

credits

released July 20, 2018

Featuring:
Ashtan Towles - Vocals
Alden Walters - Spoken Word, tracks 1 & 3
Camila Guiza-Chavez - Vocals
Colum O'Connor - Drums and Percussion, track 3
Elliot Connors – Trumpet
Fernando Rojas – Spoken Word, track 5
Griffin Brown – Drums, track 2
Hans Bilger - Bass solo, track 4
Jack Broza – Guitars, Tres, Banjo, Mando, Vocals, Percussion, Electronics
Justin Park – Cello
Max Vinetz – Bass, tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
Steve Tarshis - Electric Guitar solo, track 6
Nora York - Vocal samples, track 6

Additional Voices on Tracks 1 & 5:
Alden, Carmen, Charlotte, Danielle, Isaac, Jamie, Leonard, Malik, Margot, Nick, Nina, Oliver, Patrick, Steph

All music and text by Jack Broza Lawrence, except:

In the Morning, by Nora York
Text from Make Anew, by Hélène Cixous

Text from New Mantra, croudsourced from an anonymous
online questionnaire
Text from "there's a lot I’d like to keep about this train" by Alden Walters

Mixed by Jack Broza Lawrence, mastered by Jamie Lawrence

Album artwork by Leonard Galmon, featuring a photograph by Rocky Bostick and additional design by Adam Turkel

To Mom and Dad, Oliver and Carm, Elliot, Hayden, Alden Walters, Leonard Galmon, Rocky Bostick, Adam Turkel,
Konrad Kaczmarek, Miles Walter, Thomas Hagen, Isaac Kirk-Davidoff, the anonymous responders to the google forum, the band, and all my friends –
Thank you for the support and inspiration.

-Jack

In Loving Memory of Amy, Nora York, and Steve Tarshis

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Jack Broza New York, New York

BK // guitarist/producer/
songwriter

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