Northern Room

Northern Room is a Milwaukee band making waves among the lesser-known "city on the lake." They broke thru not too long ago in a contest and was awarded the opening spot for Bon Jovi. Last year, the released their full length album Last Embrace (Deluxe Edition).


I recall vividly the first time I heard the single "We're On Fire" in my car. It was a Saturday night in late December, and I have quite a drive to church. From my time spent living in the area, I fell in love with a relatively unknown radio station in Milwaukee called 88.9 Radio Milwaukee. On my drive that Saturday night, that song came on and grabbed my attention instantly. Not trusting my memory, I wrote it down and downloaded their music off iTunes when I returned home.

Their music has an uplifting intensity to it. The mixture of the drums, bass and guitar loops are very hypnotic and Andrew's vocals are calming, yet powerful. I signed up at their website to learn more about them and started receiving emails about their residency. (A band will play at the same location for consecutive weeks)
The Hi-Hat/Garage in Milwaukee housed the band for their four-week Wednesday night stay. I had the pleasure of attending their "acoustic" show where they performed their set in a more low key version and even had their drummer, Michael singing some tracks to open the show.


mash- up
1. a song or composition created from the combination of the music from one song with the a cappella from another.
2. a song created out of pieces of two or more songs
3. are incredible fun and a fascinating way to reexperience some of your favorite tunes

The last week of their residency closed with a mash up teaming with the local hip hop group the Figureheads. Milwaukee isn't well known for having a deep music scene, so the chance to see two local groups be able to collaborate and perform in Milwaukee was exciting.
The band started the night performing their songs and then inviting the Figureheads, a hip hop duo accompanied by their dj. Each song took a different turn, but the infusion of the Figurehead's lyrics into the Northern Room songs had the same incredible results.

After the show, I met members of each group and my friend Mark was told that they only rehearsed on two different occasions, although it felt like these groups have been playing together for years. I still find it hard to believe that possibly one of the best concerts I have ever attended was for free, on a Wednesday night, and by two great, but unknown groups in Milwaukee.