This song is the first from my band KOZEN that I had produced from start to finish, including mix and master, since 2016 or so. We had released two EPs (Swimming To The Stars parts A & B) that I self-produced from start to finish - although I was also really learning how to record music along the way. In the time in between, we had handed off mixing to other engineers in order to make sure we got the kind of quality we wanted. With this song coming out as a single, I really felt confident that I was ready to take on the responsibility of getting that professional quality final mix. And while I did take it relatively easy on the final master volume (there's no need to smash it!), I am still very happy with how this mix sounds. 

It was also a pleasure to work with Nick Young from Pillars of Autumn, an awesome local Toronto deathcore band. Super awesome guy, incredible vocalist. 

This song goes out to anyone who has ever struggled with depression or anxiety. I'm proud of you for hanging on. 

released May 7, 2021
Jericho Leal - Guitars
Jared Leal - Drums
Maxwell Kozen Aka - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keys

Guest vocals by Nick Young (Pillars of Autumn)

Mixed & Mastered by Maxwell Kozen Aka

LYRICS:
Bitterly I fixate on another wasted day
Jitter-thinking sinks me in my self-inflicted shame
Slithering like a serpent, my regret constricts my strength
I’m drowning in the wake

Reflecting on today
It seems like such a waste
I feel like I’ve done nothing, and all the things I did
Are drowning in a million better things I should have been

My scattered thoughts have once again
Left me in this unsettled state
This coil of overthought mistakes
Is binding me, I suffocate

Now I’m running out of time
At my limit, wondering why
I’m always running out of time again
(time and time again)
Now I’m barely keeping pace
Stuck, somehow, running in place
And everything I chased left me behind

Watch my most hopeful dreams
Betraying me

Oh I can’t stand to think I’d waste another chance
And watch another moment slip right through my hands

But my unwarranted regret
Becomes the pressure in my head
Am I even worth another chance to try again?
(Chance to try again)

Now I’m running out of time
At my limit, wondering why
I’m always running out of time again
(time and time again)
Now I’m barely keeping pace
Stuck, somehow, running in place
And everything I chased left me behind

Fixate (Fixate)
Mistakes
I hate (Mistakes)
This waste
Fixate (I hate)
Mistakes
I hate (This waste)
This waste

Fixated - Time wasted
I hate the way my mind is made
Fixation temptation
Send every hour to the grave
Fidgety and anxious
Suppressing agitated screams
Fixated - Time wasted
I hate my self-defeating dreams

Jitterthink

Jitterthink (featuring Nick Young from Pillars of Autumn)

At #NADYEM18 - Dan Jackson gave an impassioned speech. This speech, which has come to be known as "Hooey & Credulity", has now been remixed in a musical form. 

Full Remarks: https://vimeo.com/299127842?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR2stLzHWoj82lSbNHtkipaagruGln6AW70yxQqPXT7Iz10msB9Qhgtzq9M

Lyrics:
[please note, for the sake of rhythm and time, these lyrics do not fully represent all of the things said within the speech with 100% accuracy]

I want to make a statement that is very sensitive
I will never agree to that - HOOEY - document

I am very tired, and probably angry
At the way our division is looked at by the world.
We are not rebels, we are Seventh-day Adventists
There had better be a spirit of reconciliation on the part of all
And my good brothers, my fellow Division presidents
Be a little careful how you talk about this Division
I would challenge someone to find
Any of the Divisions more loyal than the North American Division

I am praying that God will give us the collective sense to assist us to find that document in the paper shredders

I will never agree to that document

This doesn't sound pretty, but I believe that this church
One day in the future is going to stand up 
In embarrassment and apologize for the absolute abuse of women
You can't tell people today "We love everybody ... except.."
Get that policy out of there
That nonsense, that HOOEY
In the B 60 policy that allows us
To put around the neck of woman
Is Garbage!

(audience member: Hooey!)(Jackson: It's a good word!)

I will never agree to that document

There is HOOEY in the male headship theology
It was never Seventh-day Adventist, 
It is not Seventh-day Adventist, 
And it is not going to become Seventh-day Adventist
There will be some folks who will be madder than a hornet with me
And my basic statement is, "If you're mad as a hornet, buzz off!"
We are not going to quit hiring women pastors
You're gonna kick up a fuss about it? 
Too bad!

It was never Seventh-day Adventist, 
It is not Seventh-day Adventist, 
And it is not going to become Seventh-day Adventist
HOOEY!
HOOEY!
HOOEY! HOOEY! HOOEY!
Male Headship Theology

But this Division - having said that -  is not about women's ordination. It's about evangelizing the world with the gospel of Jesus. Let us move forward in our mission, and with joy in our hearts - not anger but joy in our hearts - because the Lord Jesus who came as a baby in a manger is gonna come again, and He wants us to live with him and with each other forever.

#NADYEM18

I Will Never Agree (Hooey & Credulity) x Dan Jackson

Serge Gedeon - Lead Vocals
Damaris Morris - Lead Vocals
Narindra Rambeloson - Backing Vocals
Laia Burgos - Backing Vocals
Tim Cincala - Drums
Maxwell Kozen Aka - Guitars, Bass, Keys/Synth, Programming, Backing Vocals

Produced, Mixed, & Mastered by me. 
Song originally composed by Ariel Lantigua & Roger Lantigua (https://soundcloud.com/rolantigua)

This is an UNOFFICIAL version of the theme song for "Chosen" - the 2019 Oshkosh Pathfinder Camporee. It was commissioned to serve as the blueprint version of the song - the basis for worship leaders to listen and learn the song leading up to the camporee. But it ended up NOT being "chosen!" lol.

Unfortunately, this version of the song was ultimately rejected because of it's modern sound, which was offensive to some of the constituency for the event. I am sharing it here because I think it's pretty good version all around, and it pretty well represents where my production skills are at. Hopefully this version can be something that Pathfinders can enjoy as a way to remember the event.

Chosen (Pathfinder Song Oshkosh 2019)

Little known fact, I like to dabble in electronic music here and there, so I thought I'd drop a little remix of KOZEN's "Steel" just in time for Spooky Season. Best experienced with lots of bass!

Hear the original track:
https://kozen.bandcamp.com/track/steel

Remixed Lyrics:
STAND AND FIGHT

Formless ore to brandished blade
A transformation wrought by pain
Born of hammer, born of flame
Born again with a new name
Arms made strong to bear the sword
Are first to bear the cross
Victory the true reward
Of those who learn from loss

Oh my soul to stand and fight
STAND AND FIGHT

Light me in the forge and forge me in the light
Teach my soul to stand, my soul to stand and fight
Steel myself to test the steel that’s burning bright
Teach my soul to stand, my soul to stand and fight
Oh my soul to stand and fight

Sharpen the edge of my defense
Scars will forget the blood they’ve bled
So bleed

And all that burns away was never meant to stay

Scorched and tortured into shape
With every strike the hammer makes
A living weapon, loathe to fate
So stick me back into the blaze

Oh my soul to stand and fight

Sharpen the edge of my defense
Scars will forget the blood they’ve bled
So bleed

STAND AND FIGHT

STEEL [REFORGED]

Singer-songwriter, producer, instrumentalist, and so on across multiple genres.

Lead vocalist and guitarist @kozenmusic

Features, collabs, parodies, remixes, and a few originals featured here.