C.S. Lewis described a feeling he called “the northernness” as “a vision of huge, clear spaces hanging above the Atlantic in the endless twilight of northern summer; remoteness, severity…” It was a longing for something so unattainable that the desire, sadly, became an end in itself. Later in life, Lewis came to believe that this “northernness” he had experienced was a taste of something so perfect and complete that it would never be fully realized in this lifetime.
After graduating from art school at Florida State University in 2003, Ben Hofer moved home to Gainesville, Florida. Scrapping all his old paintings and songs, and now armed with a four-track cassette recorder, two guitars and two cheap microphones, he began writing songs with a focus and intensity he had never known before. Inevitably the songs began to call for other musicians, and soon the band was formed out of a crew of friends and family members. The band has gone through many changes, with members including Greg Willson of the Orlando-based band the OaKs, but the current lineup is Ben Hofer, founding member and drummer Danny Garcia, guitarist Andy Garcia (member of the band for two years), and founding member and bass player Joel Parker.
Their hope is that, like Lewis’s “northernness,” these songs are not the end in themselves, but signposts on the way to something greater.
Current News: |On December 3, 2008, Ben announced that he would be releasing a new four-track sketched song every Monday on their official website, www.thenorthernness.com, starting Monday, December 8. |
