A soothing melody drifts into your ear, like a river flowing into a lake, touching you at the core of your soul as veiled emotions seep out dancing in step with the song, creating a unique connection. As you listen intently to the lyrics and tune you realize that someone in this chaotic world understands you; someone knows exactly how you are feeling. There is somebody out there giving you something you can relate to.

New York City’s self-started local alternative rock band, The Northern, inspires and gives meaning to everyday situations through their passionate and soulful music. The Northern, made up of lead singer David Chalk, lead guitarist Jimmy Chalk, bassist Jonathan Seale, and drummer Aaron Craig, strive to bring a sense of truth and fine art into their music. Their sole reason for starting the band was and still remains to simply show the undeviating connection between religion, art, and intellect. This is their sole drive to creativity, along with their love for music.

“It was some desire to figure out how to treat Jesus Christ in the context of the madness of the world we live in,” said David Chalk. “Art, being at heart visceral, is at odds with so much of what we hold as true, yet still there’s this uncanny appeal it has. As an artist, I hate intellect. As an intellectual, I hate art. It’s the tension that brings the creativity.”

The Northern not only sends out a meaningful message towards the masses but also composes their very own original music and lyrics, which holds them distinctively apart from other bands. The songs that they create in their quartet are based on their own personal lives, as well as those that they have touched, hoping to inspire the lives of many through their music. Through the process of creating they learn things about themselves that they never saw before.

“As the one who’s written the bulk of our material thus far, I learn a lot of diabolical things about myself after singing a song where I’m the protagonist over and over again,” David Chalk said.
Though The Northern remains an unsigned band that plays locally at small venues, they have had several accomplishments, such as playing at a Barack Obama rally in front of approximately 15,000 people.

“Probably the most interesting concert was opening up for Barack Obama for a rally he held in NYC,” said drummer Aaron Craig. “David and the guys were playing guitar in Washington Square Park late one night and some guy walked up to them and asked for more information on the band. It turns out that he was the guy organizing the Barack event the next day and they forgot to hire a band,” Aaron Craig said.

“So, next thing you know, David, Jimmy, and PJ, the old electric guitarist, are playing in front of a crowd of 15,000 and hanging out with Obama backstage. That was their first in NYC. They were off to a pretty good start to say the least. I joined the band the next day,” Aaron Craig added.

Currently the band is working on an EP, If I Could Meet the Architect, which is said to be their debut release on April 22 with a total of five songs.

The EP will be available for $5 on CD as well as digitally on media outlets such as iTunes, Amazon, and Rhapsody. Catch them live on April 22 at Sullivan Hall in New York City, grab a copy of the EP and a shirt, and have the music tug at the
most inner part of you – your soul.