A Punk Collaboration Paves Way to a New Artistic Expression

Allison Mitchell of Velvet Bethany (photo provided)

One of the very cool aspects of the Buffalo scene is the collaborative projects that often spring up seemingly out of nowhere, producing extraordinary music which then falls gift-wrapped into our collective laps from the musical heavens when we least expect it.

And one the most recent ventures to grace our ears combines Aronia M., a project started by Broken Locker drummer Jeffrey Szatkowski, with Allison Mitchell from Velvet Bethany.

At the end of 2025, Mitchell and Szatkowski gathered to team up on a few tracks for a new EP on which Mitchell is currently working. And, as a run-up to that forthcoming release, one of the songs — a sonically hypnotic single titled ‘See Softly,’ which can be heard HERE — was dropped on April 16.

Szatkowski explained the collaboration between he and Mitchell was actually born from his try out last year for Velvet Bethany. Although the band ultimately decided to go with another drummer, “at one session, Allison mentioned she wanted to try new songs,” Szatkowski said.

Jeff Szatkowski (photo by David Archibald)

“I sent her a CD of bass/drum samples. These samples were part of a larger project idea, ‘Aronia M,’" he said. "During the Coronavirus, I wrote approximately two albums worth of song ideas, calling it ‘Aronia M.’ At the time, I was in the backyard with my kids next to the aronia shrub, ‘Black Chokeberry.’ I presented all the song ideas to Allison and instinctively she selected ‘See Softly,’ the first song she heard on the sample CD.”

“I took on the lyrics and simple bass lines that Jeff had written, compiling them into song form,” said Mitchell. “Jeff had a drum beat for each set of lyrics, while I arranged each composition into a complete piece, popping the drafted lyrics right off the paper. My (Velvet Bethany) bass player, Nathan Weise, and I mixed ‘See Softly’ and (another song) ‘Opposite Ends,’ and he added some ideas at his studio, Sycamore Sounds.”

‘Aronia M.’ as noted on its Bandcamp page, “is not necessarily a band/group, but an idea.” The concept focuses more on “the genesis or creation of new material, than the business aspect of songwriting.”

Hip, wandering and dreamy, ‘See Softly’ is adorned with a sophisticated lyrical etherealness which Mitchell expertly wraps around the song’s traipsing melody.

‘See Softly

Meet me in my dreams

Won’t you stay with me 

Drifting ostensibly

A translucent opaque form

Settles into quiet warm

Doubting dusted sprinkled storm

Not quite the typical norm’

—'See Softly’

The single was recorded by Dylan Rohr at GCR Audio, mixed by Weise at Sycamore Sounds and mastered by Doug White at Watchmen Studios.

Aronia M.

 “‘See Softly,’” Szatkowski said, “is the first song I created. It started in 2009 in a basement in the Old North End in Burlington, VT. I was unable to fully complete this particular song with other artists, until now. There’s a longer story to it, but simply, ‘See Softly’ is emblematic of this ‘Aronia M.’ collaboration concept. Songwriters and artists are in multiple projects, groups and bands and may not have time to commit to an entire album, score or performance. This idea allows songwriters to focus on one particular idea that they are interested in and complete it, even if it doesn’t fit in with their other projects. In this particular case, Allison and I are generating one track at a time in the basement. And then she is deciding, after the studio rendered mix, if she wants to add it to her EP.”

“Keep your eyes peeled early this summer for this digital and physical release on Velvet Bethany Records and Aronia M,” Mitchell said of the EP.

An Aronia M./Velvet Bethany project is one we never saw coming. But without question, we’re thankful it’s happened, as Mitchell and Szatkowski add to the Buffalo scene’s long tradition of interesting and fruitful artistic collaborations.

“I’m thrilled,” said Szatkowski. “The forthcoming EP is reflective of Allison’s diverse artwork. It will have her typical, unique, signature upbeat-punk sound while showcasing her other abilities. I am grateful to work with such an honest and respectful artist.”