SciFiSky
Song: Circumventing
Album: Arduous Journey

Written and recorded at home by Evan Witkowski (guitar, drums) and Jonathan Carey (bass).
Mixed by Josh Kelly. 

Photography by Heather Witkowski. 

SciFiSky 2021

Circumventing

https://youtu.be/HtFWzSbTHu0?si=hnIDB8WkeKQODYrt

SciFiSky
Song: Hive Mind (Mellow Version)
Album: The Archive

Written and recorded at home by Evan Witkowski (guitar, drums, keys).

Album art by SciFiSky.

SciFiSky 2021

Hive Mind (Mellow Version)

SciFiSky
Song: Game Changer
Album: Arduous Journey

Written and recorded at home by Jonathan Carey (guitar, bass, keys) and Evan Witkowski (drums). 

Photography by Evan Witkowski. 

SciFiSky 2021

Game Changer

Watch the video here: 
https://youtu.be/mORJ_xvne7c

SciFiSky
Song: Water in the Desert
Album: Arduous Journey

Written and recorded at home by Jonathan Carey (guitar, bass) and Evan Witkowski (drums). 

Photography by Evan Witkowski. 

SciFiSky 2021

Water in the Desert

Watch the video here:
https://youtu.be/yBrA3nkzaUg?si=Vk4CMcZ7DhB1DXcN

SciFiSky
Song: Strata Sphere
Album: Arduous Journey

Written and recorded by Jonathan Carey (guitar, bass) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys). Mixed by Josh Kelly.

Photography by Evan Witkowski.

SciFiSky 2021

Strata Sphere

SciFiSky
Song: Cut the Umbilical
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 1st Session- September 2016

This was the third track we ever recorded, the very first time we assembled to jam. We had two hours total to see what we could come up with, including setup. We spontaneously hit "record" and just started playing, and what resulted was about 40 solid minutes of decent material; the building blocks we'd end up layering upon over the years to come.

Recorded in a terrible duplex bedroom by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums) with a cheap room microphone.

Album Art by SciFiSky. 

SciFiSky 2016

03 Location: Off (First Iteration) (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Song: Aerodynamics of Intelligence
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 4th Session - October 2017

This is the first track from our fourth jam session. We had recently acquired and began experimenting with new and improved recording gear.

Recorded in a converted garage by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys).

Album Art by SciFiSky. 

SciFiSky 2017

Stray From the Hive

29 Aerodynamics of Intelligence (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 2nd Session - October 2016

This is our second jam, about a month after our first. While still raw and minimal, this session was more ambient than the first and included a few longer tracks that seamlessly blended into each other, in addition to some new sonic direction. 

Recorded live in a terrible duplex bedroom by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys) with a single cheap room microphone.

Album Art by SciFiSky. 

SciFiSky 2016

Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 2nd Assembly - October 2016

9 Perihelion (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Song: "Eternal Optimist"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 3rd Session - February 2016

This track is from our third session together. During this jam, we re-attempted a few of the songs we had spontaneously captured during our first and second sessions with the hope of capturing some of the same energy (we were very pleased!). We also allowed a few new improvisations to flow out onto the silence.

Recorded live in an acoustically horrendous  duplex bedroom by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys, percussion) with a single, inexpensive room microphone.

Album Art by SciFiSky. 

SciFiSky 2016

18 Eternal Optimist (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Song: "The Hive Mind"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 3rd Session - November 2016

This was our third session together. During this jam, we re-attempted a few of the songs we had spontaneously captured during our first and second sessions with the hope of capturing some of the same energy (we were very pleased!). We also allowed a few new improvisations to flow out onto the silence.

Recorded live in an acoustically horrendous duplex bedroom by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys, percussion) with a single, inexpensive room microphone.

Album Art by SciFiSky. 

SciFiSky 2016

Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 3rd Assembly - November 2016

26 The Hive Mind (Live Re-Attempt from 2nd Session)

SciFiSky
Song: "Location: Off"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 3rd Session - November 2016

This was our third session together. During this jam, we re-attempted a few of the songs we had spontaneously captured during our first and second sessions with the hope of capturing some of the same energy (we were very pleased!). We also allowed a few new improvisations to flow out onto the silence.

Recorded live in an acoustically horrendous duplex bedroom by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys, percussion) with a single, inexpensive room microphone.

Album Art by SciFiSky. 

SciFiSky 2016

21 Location: Off (Live Re-Attempt from 1st Session)

SciFiSky
Song: "Careful What You Wish For"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 6th Session - May 2018

At long last, we have finally uploaded our sixth and most recent jam session. This is the most dynamically diverse and highest quality of our spontaneous albums thus far. Ranging from distorted electric guitars alongside synths and pounding drums, to hypnotic ambient washes with pulsating brushed drums atop synth pads, to stripped-down, raw acoustic tracks consisting merely of two guitars, this session consists of both improvised jams and re-attempts at a few tracks that we previously devised during past sessions.

Recorded live at home in a converted garage by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys, drum machine, percussion).

Photography / Album Art by SciFiSky

SciFiSky 2018

Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 6th Assembly - May 2018

72 Careful What You Wish For (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Song: "Entropy"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 6th Session - May 2018

"Entropy" is probably our favorite live recording. Considering its spontaneity, the quality, layers, the different sounds, and the shifts really impressed us upon listening back. We have since re-recorded it into an official song (which is still under construction), and intend to include it on a future album. 

At long last, we have finally uploaded our sixth and most recent jam session. This is the most dynamically diverse and highest quality of our spontaneous albums thus far. Ranging from distorted electric guitars alongside synths and pounding drums, to hypnotic ambient washes with pulsating brushed drums atop synth pads, to stripped-down, raw acoustic tracks consisting merely of two guitars, this session consists of both improvised jams and re-attempts at a few tracks that we previously devised during past sessions.

Recorded live at home in a converted garage by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, keys, drum machine, percussion).

Photography / Album Art by SciFiSky

SciFiSky 2018

66 Entropy (Earliest Iteration) (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Song: "Dreamweaver"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 6th Session - May 2018

At long last, we have finally uploaded our sixth and most recent jam session. This is the most dynamically diverse and highest quality of our spontaneous albums thus far. Ranging from distorted electric guitars alongside synths and pounding drums, to hypnotic ambient washes with pulsating brushed drums atop synth pads, to stripped-down, raw acoustic tracks consisting merely of two guitars, this session consists of both improvised jams and re-attempts at a few tracks that we previously devised during past sessions.

Recorded live at home in a converted garage by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (keys).

Photography / Album Art by SciFiSky

SciFiSky 2018

67 Dreamweaver (Live Spontaneous Jam)

SciFiSky
Song: "It Blinds Us to Remind Us (Alternate Version)"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 6th Session - May 2018

At long last, we have finally uploaded our sixth and most recent jam session. This is the most dynamically diverse and highest quality of our spontaneous albums thus far. Ranging from distorted electric guitars alongside synths and pounding drums, to hypnotic ambient washes with pulsating brushed drums atop synth pads, to stripped-down, raw acoustic tracks consisting merely of two guitars, this session consists of both improvised jams and re-attempts at a few tracks that we previously devised during past sessions.

Written by Evan Witkowski. Recorded live at home in a converted garage by Jonathan Carey (electric guitar) and Evan Witkowski (acoustic guitar).

Photography / Album Art by SciFiSky

SciFiSky 2018

64 It Blinds Us to Remind Us (Alternate Version) (Live)

SciFiSky
Song: "Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk) (Alternate Version)"
Album: Spontaneity / Live Recordings: 6th Session - May 2018

At long last, we have finally uploaded our sixth and most recent jam session. This is the most dynamically diverse and highest quality of our spontaneous albums thus far. Ranging from distorted electric guitars alongside synths and pounding drums, to hypnotic ambient washes with pulsating brushed drums atop synth pads, to stripped-down, raw acoustic tracks consisting merely of two guitars, this session consists of both improvised jams and re-attempts at a few tracks that we previously devised during past sessions.

Written by Evan Witkowski. Recorded live at home in a converted garage by Jonathan Carey (electric guitar) and Evan Witkowski (acoustic guitar).

Photography / Album Art by SciFiSky

SciFiSky 2018

63 Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk) (Alternate Version) (Live)

https://youtu.be/-ENBnxuG4Ow?si=6JpyV_abQ1P8Rcdb

SciFiSky
Song: "It Blinds Us to Remind Us"
Album: Arduous Journey

Written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar, drums, and composition by Evan Witkowski;
Bass by Jonathan Carey

Photography by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

Arduous Journey

It Blinds Us to Remind Us

SciFiSky
Song: "Water in the Desert (Early Demo)"
Album: The Archive

Written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar, keys, and composition by Jonathan Carey.

Photography by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

The Archive

Water in the Desert (Early Demo)

SciFiSky
Song: "Water in the Desert (No Drums)"
Album: The Archive

Written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar, bass, keys, and composition by Jonathan Carey.

Photography by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

Water in the Desert (No Drums)

SciFiSky
Song: "The Greener Grass (Earliest Iteration) (Circa 2004 Recording)"
Album: The Greener Grass

Trying to flesh this idea out while the mic was hot. Caught all the flubs, but the skeleton was there.

Written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar, drums, and 1980's garage sale keyboard by Evan Witkowski.

Artwork by Evan Witkowski.

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

The Greener Grass (Earliest Iteration) (Circa 2004 Recording)

SciFiSky
Song: "Elphas Imperator"
Album: The Archive

Work in progress written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar and bass by Jonathan Carey;
Drums by Evan Witkowski

Photography by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

Elphas Imperator

https://youtu.be/fkRs8qdxr1o?si=FltzczJZjOUXXfZJ

SciFiSky
Song: "Days Go By"
Album: The Archive

Work in progress written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar by Jonathan Carey;
Drums by Evan Witkowski

Artwork by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

Days Go By

https://youtu.be/7owXeLmNCHQ?si=9IZUgnkhlh94LIN0

SciFiSky
Song: "Brain Fog/The Cave/Event Horizon"
Album: The Archive

Guitar, drums, and photography by Evan Witkowski

"I'm excited to finally post this track, as I'm proud of how it turned out, given the circumstances! This is essentially just me toying around with a new guitar in a lower tuning. However, as you listen, keep in mind that this is a single guitar, totally improvisational, captured in a single take using a single microphone. No line-ins, no edits, no additional takes (you can even hear a few clicks of a Line 6 loop pedal, as well as the sound of the pick swiping the strings in a few areas). Now, this isn't to pat myself on the back, but rather to express befuddlement in relation to exactly why I don't think I could replicate this if I tried, given the dynamics, the sometimes-avant-garde structure, and the spontaneity of this recording. In other words, this unexpectedly fell out of my fingertips onto the fretboard, and I cannot exactly recount how.

As for the drums: I was adamant about getting the drums as close to perfect as possible within a single take as well; no punch-ins, no layering, no metronome, but it was an extremely difficult feat for me...it took probably thirty attempts. I had even gotten through about 10 minutes of the 12-minute run time with near-perfection in one of the takes...until I looked out the window to see a police officer approaching my house due to a noise complaint (at 4pm on a Saturday!), and it totally threw a wrench into the take. Consequently, this take is the closest I've been able to get it to perfection, although there is one glaring tempo mistake that I hear every time, and I'm sure you will too...but it stays for now.

The concept: a marrying of Plato's "The Cave" allegory with the concept of the "event horizon," or the point in which an observer can no longer escape (most commonly in reference to the gravitational pull of a black hole), combined with the apathy/passivity that tends to permeate the human condition especially of late. As this track is coincidentally divided into three distinct sections, I felt it fitting to afford each its own unique conceptual imagery, while simultaneously adhering them with a common thread: Is our will to know the Truth enough to escape our contentment with what the shadows on the wall convey to us?

All that is to say: this is one of my proudest recordings! Thank you for listening to it! Really: THANK YOU."

- Evan

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

Brain Fog/The Cave/Event Horizon

SciFiSky
Song: "Makeshift"
Album: The Archive

Work in progress written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar by Jonathan Carey;
Drums by Evan Witkowski

Photography by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

Makeshift (Demo)

SciFiSky
Song: "That's the Spirit"
Album: Arduous Journey

Work in progress written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar, bass, and keys by Jonathan Carey;
Drums, keys, and percussion by Evan Witkowski

Photography by Evan Witkowski

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

That's the Spirit

SciFiSky
Song: "Let That Sink In"
Album: The Archive

Wrote and recorded this during a simpler time.

Guitar and drums by Evan Witkowski.

Photography by Evan Witkowski.

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

Let That Sink In (Circa 2007 Demo)

SciFiSky
Song: "Blurring the Line"
Album: The Archive

Playing around with dub delay plugins on guitar and this fell onto the fretboard incidentally. Slapped some drums on top. Work in progress written and recorded by SciFiSky.

Guitar and drums by Evan Witkowski.

Artwork by Evan Witkowski.

SciFiSky 2024

Stray From the Hive

Blurring the Line

SciFiSky
Song: Dark
Album: Arduous Journey

Come now
The Light of the World
before we find ourselves so far removed
again

I know
you wrote it all down for us
but would you change your mind
this time

Please don't change your mind
about us

Written and recorded by Jonathan Carey (guitar) and Evan Witkowski (drums, bass).

SciFiSky 2024

Dark

ScifiSky
Song: Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk) (Earliest Version)
Album: The Archive

"I originally wrote/recorded this song around 2008, and it's been through a few badly recorded iterations to get to the most recent recording from last Saturday (04.13.24). For quite some time, I've wanted to do this song justice with regard to recording quality and overall production, but it is difficult to improve the quality without losing the authenticity of the "nostalgic/memory" feel. I did my best to make this work: first thing was to record the acoustic guitar with an old tape recorder, then capture the playback of the tape recording with a condenser microphone and use this "warbled" recording as the backbone upon which to layer acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and drums. Had the house to myself for a few hours last Saturday, which is very rare, so this is what became of my day. More improvements to be made..."

- Evan

Written and recorded by Evan Witkowski (guitar, drums).

SciFiSky 2024

Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk) (Earliest Version)

ScifiSky
Song: Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk) (Earlier Version)
Album: The Archive

"I originally wrote/recorded this song around 2008, and it's been through a few badly recorded iterations to get to the most recent recording. For quite some time, I've wanted to keep an authentic feel to the recording quality and overall production of this track, but it is difficult to improve the quality without losing the authenticity of the "nostalgic/memory" feel. For this iteration, I recorded the acoustic guitar with an old tape recorder and a condenser mic simultaneously, then captured the playback of the tape recording with the condenser microphone and used this "warbled" recording as the backbone upon which to layer electric guitar and drums. More improvements to come..."

- Evan

Written and recorded by Evan Witkowski (guitar, drums).

SciFiSky 2024

Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk) (Earlier Version)

https://youtu.be/AmsNbAvjfso?si=n2j_AP4X5G0wo-Ac

ScifiSky
Song: Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk)
Album: The Archive

"I originally wrote/recorded this song around 2008, and it's been through a few badly recorded iterations to get to the most recent recording from last Saturday (04.13.24). For quite some time, I've wanted to do this song justice with regard to recording quality and overall production, but it is difficult to improve the quality without losing the authenticity of the "nostalgic/memory" feel. I did my best to make this work: first thing was to record the acoustic guitar with an old tape recorder, then capture the playback of the tape recording with a condenser microphone and use this "warbled" recording as the backbone upon which to layer acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and drums. Had the house to myself for a few hours last Saturday, which is very rare, so this is what became of my day. More improvements to be made..."

- Evan

Written and recorded by Evan Witkowski (guitar, drums).

SciFiSky 2024

Bedridden (Old Photo on a Rolltop Desk)

https://youtube.com/@strayfromthehive

Indie Rock, Art Rock, Alternative, Instrumental, Ambient, Jam Band

New upload every Friday! (Except last Friday...and the Friday before...)

"Converted Garage Band" formed in 2016 in a small New Mexico desert town. All works currently in progress.

Jonathan Carey - Guitar, Bass, Keys, Drum Machine
Evan Witkowski - Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keys, Percussion

Stray From the Hive

Popular tracks by SciFiSky