Gathering Stars takes stock of ‘A Day in the Life’

Gathering Stars began work on new album A Day in the Life coming off of a difficult stretch in which two band members died of illness over the course of four years.

These losses informed songs such as “Pay Attention to the Signs,” which lingers on the heavy questions that remain in that aftermath of someone you love passing away. “I guess it’s just another existential crisis,” sings keyboardist Michelle Ishida, “stemming from seeing too many friends get sick and die.”

“And also, within the community itself, if you get on social media, everyday you’re like, ‘Oh, no. Not that artist. Not that musician. Not that writer,’” Ishida said of a recent stretch that has found the city reeling from the successive deaths of drummer Mat Bisaro (Ipps, Unemployee), writer Tomás Pacheco, dancer Shannon Filmore, and pioneering cult artist Damon Zex. “When you get to a certain stage, you accept the constantly changing effects of life and illness, and you begin to understand that it’s very temporary. … But with that song, I was feeling pretty down, and I’m a very glass-half-full person, trying to put a positive spin on everything. Then a friend showed up, and she was a college friend, and now she’s this older, wiser person. And we connected and she told me all the things that were going on in her life, and I was like, okay, we’re all going through the same things. And so, you just look up at the sky, look up at the beautiful sunset, look up at the stars, and you’re like, yes, this is how life is, and this is how it’s meant to be. And the whole thing about paying attention to the signs is that things will come into your life to inform you that it’s going to be okay. That you’re on the right track.”

In spite of the album’s trying origins, A Day in the Life emerges as a deeply hopeful record, the soul-pop seven-piece conjuring a warm sonic landscape that mirrors the sensation of traipsing through a spring garden in full bloom. Indeed, even when challenges inevitably surface, there exists an acknowledgment that these hurdles are only temporary, songs such as “Moving in Place,” about feeling like you can’t find your footing, landing like speed bumps rather than derailing the journey.

Ishida attributed this to an attitude deeply engrained within the members of Gathering Stars, and one which remained front of mind as the musicians wrote and recorded the songs for the new album. 

“If you say to yourself, what can I do? Really, it’s create something positive, something hopeful, something encouraging, something that says, ‘You’re not alone,’” said Ishida, who will join bandmates Stephanie Sambroak (flute, vocals), Carole Walker (vocals), Bill Patrick (guitar), Jeff Plavcan (bass), Los Giles (drums), and Johnny Polansky (percussion) in a happy hour concert at Dick’s Den on Friday, July 3. “We’re all feeling it, and we want to be stronger together. So, yes, absolutely, that’s kind of our whole purpose, to connect, to bring joy to others, to find light when it gets dark.”

Much of the record took initial shape during every-other-month happy hour shows at Dick’s Den, which Ishida said afforded the musicians the opportunity to experiment with the songs in a comfortable setting. “A lot of us grew up going there in college, so it’s very familiar,” she said. “It’s more like a house party than a venue. … We’re just playing and our friends are right there in reach.”

This sense of intimacy carries over into songs such as “Key of Love,” a slinky, soul-kissed number that bemoans the whirlwind speed at which life can pass, and “Security,” a Technicolor celebration of the simple pleasures on which Ishida lays bare her requirements for a happy existence, including “a tiny home and a garden, designed with style and efficiency.” Other songs are more defiant, “Misery” and “Thanks No Thanks” centering on the idea of guarding oneself against those forces that might try to harsh your mellow. “I’m good the way I am,” Ishida offers on the latter.

“Those are definitely anthems about being yourself,” the keyboardist said. “Don’t listen to all the garbage or those people who want you to be miserable just because they are.”

But if the album has a statement of purpose, it arrives in the Walker-penned closer “Our Best Days,” which Ishida said arrived at the tail end of the writing process, at a point in time when the band members had fully processed the events that came before. “Life is short, nothing’s promised,” Walker sings, “so you better get living.”

“The album has all the ups and downs of life,” Ishida said. “And we wanted to end on ‘Our Best Days’ because we know there’s still more to come.”