Bow Arrow - Aleph Null

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About

BOW ARROW was originally conceived in a remote jungle within the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, inside the day and night dreams of New Zealander MATT SCHEURICH who had previously spent the last two years prior in Melbourne, Australia. Amid strenuous hikes around the stunning and dangerous landscapes, culture shock and feeling very much like a third wheel, an unforeseen incident cut short the jungle excursion after 2½ months and he spent the next 6 weeks in 3 separate hospitals undergoing surgery and recovering physically, still dreaming of making music once again.

When finally set free from the shackles of penny-pinching public healthcare systems and mainstream media exploitations, he returned to Melbourne, Australia and eventually New Zealand to take some time out from life to emotionally recoup from the jungle incident. It was in the houses of the generous BOW ARROW composed the first album Σ OF AN AFTERMATH, giving voice, rhythm and melodies to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that follows such a traumatic event. It eventually culminated in a 7-track effort written and recorded within an intense month of productivity, which worked more like an emphatic emotional exorcism than a wholly artistic expression.

Once the first album and its initial ghosts were released, BOW ARROW then continued to utilise the expression of music as a form of therapy by channelling the emotional desires any afflicted being may wish for: a brighter future and a calmer emotional state. A period of 1½ years living, learning, reflecting upon new and old experiences and honing DIY sound-and-vision have culminated in the 9-track album ALEPH NULL — named after the mathematical term which represents the smallest infinite number.

Continuing the work laid down by the first album ALEPH NULL combines the inspiration of old and new sounds of pop synthesizers and production techniques with processed vocals to create something catchy, emotive and engaging, turning the introspective approach from the first album into a extrospective look at situations, people and experiences and how to will one’s emotive self back to love and life using the conscious beat and melody of music.

As with the first album, the second album has been released on his own D-I-Y label 67-23-54. It is available for pay-what-you-like digital download from Bandcamp, on iTunes and also available via many online streaming services such as Soundcloud, Rdio and Spotify.

LINER NOTES

Music written, performed
and produced by BOW ARROW.
Cover illustration by PENELOPE FERGUSON.
Published by 67-23-54.

GLASS and OUTSIDE INSIDE were written and recorded at Aunt Nancy and Uncle John’s in Waitakere, Auckland NZ in Sep/Oct 2011.

DREAM AHEAD, AWAKE OR... ?!?, MINOR VICTORIES, SWAMPS, SMOKE MIRRORS and MIND’S EYE were written and recorded at The Peachgrove Conservatory in Hamilton NZ in Oct/Nov 2011.

FAREWELL was written and recorded at Ghuznee St, Wellington NZ and at Blink’s in Petone, Wellington NZ around Feb/Mar 2012.

23, HOLY WATER and SEXYLISH were written and recorded in two different houses in Preston, Melbourne AU in late 2012/early 2013.

Many thanks go to my Dad, Mom and sisters Rachel, Jessica and Ruth, Aunt Nancy and Uncle John K, Anais G, Matt S, Amy B, Catherine M, Roz and Geoff D, Sam W, Andrew J, Dan L, Ryan B, Heather B, Zack W, Milo V, Matt F, Ian J, Sally M, Jono G, Penny F, Andy B, Scott F P, Matt W, Ben B, and so many more that I’m extraordinarily humbled by your love and generosity.

Text

Glass

You say these clouds
Will pass and I'll see
That big red sun
In the sky one day

Like glass in my mind
I feel I'm in a fight for me
No more medicine
I think I'll just go sit down
In the sun

I want to share
This with you
It's like a teenage
Dream to be one

Seems to me
This life ain't easy
But one thing is true
That you needn't worry

FAREWELL

You get so worked up
Just to keep things in flux
But you know, it's a time to savour
That which is best

If you're getting all flight mode
Then it's the time to reload
Take a breath and relax
Take a breath and relax

Don't say farewell yet

Explanations are vast
The vibrations don't last that long
No matter what your cares
It's easy to stare at empty walls

We're getting all flight mode
Now is the time to reload
Take a breath and relax
Take a breath and relax

Don't say farewell yet

You're thinking blind
Misreading the signs
It's all in your mind

DREAM AHEAD

Take these tears lock them in a box
I'll remember them for later
When I'm older
Glowing seams marking me
Reflected in diamond mirrors

Like summer coming over
Shining strong, keeping me warm
When in the winter
Rain freezes over
Dream ahead for the summer days

I'm rolling over, out and about
Wondering what's been seen
I take these tears from my pocket
Gifts to share without a care

Like summer coming over
Shining strong, keeping me warm
When in the winter
Rain freezes over
Dream ahead for the summer days

23

How the days
Seemlingly
Come back to
A consistent rhythm
From your smile

I'm counting the fractures
Upon my face
Lines of laughter
The depth of your embrace

You can never imagine
The images I see
When spelling the words
Spoken from the rapture

I'm counting 23

OUTSIDE INSIDE

Outside there's a world waiting
Watching and hoping
Inside I'm deflated
Searching for something

When I speak
I can't even say your name
When I think of
All the shit that I've portrayed

Oh, this low down feeling
Permeating
Thoughts that riddle this
Concern me of bliss

Come one come all
I'll give you nothing at all

You hurt like a lover
I love like I'm hurt

HOLY WATER

Young at heart, soul's free
Young at heart, soul's free

Next time Could be your last
Is there a next time
Or is this your last?

Last chance for
Last chance for
Last chance for
Last chance to make a mind

You've been drinking
You've been sipping
The tears from the wandering eyes

I've been drinking
I've been drinking
I've been drinking
The holy water

I've been tasting
I've been tasting
I've been tasting
The holy spirit

MINOR VICTORIES

Lazy days
Left me in a haze
Rainbow vision's
Collision of superstition

I'm back to the front
My front's at the back
I regulate my lips
Words trail like dirt
On my finger tips

Confusion's spreading
Nerves are ending
Can you fit all this
Inside something that big?

Back to the front
My front's at the back
I regulate my lips
Words trail like dirt
On my finger tips

Can you believe it?

Like the strange rhythm of silence
Life's mocking me softly
Nevermind the buzzkills
Think about the minor victories

SWAMPS

I'm calling in with a coma
But still wide awake
I'm consulting the wisdom
Of magazines and tv screens

My eyes glossed over
With fatigue
A medical condition
With no symptoms

I can't relate exactly how I feel
I can't figure out when to kneel
There's a board in my chest
Which gives me a rest
From a normal life

Got a chip on my shoulder
That won't leave me alone
A pocket full of emptiness
To keep me at home

Can't even see the trees
From my disease
I’m lying out in a field
And there's no breeze
There's no breeze

I can't relate exactly how I feel
I can't figure out when to kneel
There's a board in my chest
Which gives me a rest
From a normal life

Call me home
Don't leave me alone

MIND’S EYE

You came into the room like
A tear in my mind's eye
Ripping at the fabric of time and space
I don't know where I am

In this realm of flesh and bone
We know, we know we aren't alone
And I can never forget
The way you affect

Considering the scene
We aren't unseen
Singing our separate harmonies
Reacting to stimulus
Something connects us
It's an illusion

And I can never forget
The way you affect
Coming through my
Mind's fractal eyes
Patterns reacting, synthesized
Synthesized
Synthesized

It's all we ever knew
It's all that we ever grew
It's nothing for show
Just something to know

And we know

AWAKE OR... ?!?

I think you've got enough
Of that good good stuff
You're like a dried up husk
Whose just had too much

By the time the telephone rings
Screen it screen it, don't commit to it
You never know if
There's someone to listen to
And listening ain't what you do

I see you talking like a machine man
Do you even really understand?
Are you awake or just dreaming?
Or is it me here with this feeling?

Ignorance is bliss
So seal it with a kiss
From me to you
And from you to me

When a partner is in trouble, trouble
Don't get up on the double, double
Make sure that it's time to act
Only when it's after the fact

SMOKE MIRRORS

A mask to make you happy
I don't wish for you to empathise
With these
Obscene memories

A fragile stage
With actors played
Don't be part of the audience
It's a tragedy

The voices cry otherwise
Abusing the sense of things
Voices of death and of scandal
Singing lies for money

You see me as I am
As the front that I portray
No faulting your perception
When smoke and mirrors are played