separate object that has a common gradient

hey! I have an object that has a gradient. I can ungroup the pieces in the object, but when I want to "remove front" (another object) the gradient goes to each individual piece of the first object. Is there a way to correct this that I'm missing? I want the first object to retain the gradient but I need the top object to be removed from pieces of the first object. I didn't think it should be this difficult! yikes!

*if my explaination is confusing, the attached photo shows... I want to remove the word voices from the soundwave object behind. thanks!