Nanook (band)

For other uses, see Nanook (disambiguation).

Nanook are a Greenlandic pop-rock band formed by brothers Christian and Frederick Elsner in 2008.^[2] The name refers to the mythological Greenlandic bear.^[3]

Nanook
Origin	Nuuk, Greenland
Genres	Pop-rock,^[1] indie Rock
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Atlantic Music, Mermaid
Members	Christian K. Elsner Frederik K. Elsner Martin Zinck Andreas Otte Mads Røn
Past members	Kim Heilmann

Nanook's lyrics are in Greenlandic.^[3] They refused an offer from Sony as the company wanted them to switch to English.^[3][2] Their music style is soft and melodic indie rock.^[2]

Christian and Frederick are half-Inuit and half-Danish.^[3] They are from Southern Greenland but moved to Nuuk in 2001.^[3] They run the family-owned Atlantic Music, a record company and music instrument retail store.^[3]

Nanook are Greenland's most popular band.^{[2][1][3][4][5]} In 2010 they sold 5,000 albums, meaning that every tenth Greenlander bought a copy.^[1]

History

Nanook released their debut album, Seqinitta Qinngorpaatit ("Our sun is shining on you") in 2009. They won the "Best Album" prize at the Greenland Music Awards in 2010 and again in 2014.^[6][7][8]

They played at the Sámi music festival Riddu Riđđu in 2010, which was their first concert in Sápmi in northern Fennoscandia.^[9][10] They played at the festival again in 2015.^[11] They played at the Roskilde Festival in 2019.^[2]

See also

• Sumé (band), Greenlandic rock band
• Music of Greenland

References

1. Sigurðsson, Helgi Snær (31 August 2010). "Ísbjörn í Vatnsmýrinni". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
2. Rod, Ivan. "Roskilde-aktuelle Nanook: et fænomen fra Grønland". Gaffa (in Danish). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
3. Bergsson, Felix (25 April 2015). "Elsner bræður og Ísbjarnarguðinn". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
4. Moshiri, Nazanine (24 September 2010). "Rising suicide rate baffles Greenland". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
5. "Singing to end teen suicide in Greenland". BBC. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
6. "Nanook". greenlandicpopularmusic.com.
7. "Nanook". www.musikpris.com.
8. "Greenlandic Music – Nanook and Frederik Elsner". 12 March 2018.
9. "Grønlandsk rock på Riddu" [Greenlandic Rock at Riddu]. Framtid i Nord (in Norwegian Bokmål). Vol. 23, no. 39. 6 April 2010. p. 8.
10. Gaup, Berit Solveig (15 April 2010). "Mari Boine Riddu Riđđui: Afrihká musihkkariiguin" [Mari Boine at Riddu Riđđu: With African Musicians]. Ávvir (in Northern Sami). Vol. 3, no. 69. p. 16. ... ja sii [Nanook] bohtet ge Sápmái vuosttaš geardde čuojahit [... and they [Nanook] are also coming to Sápmi for the first time to play]
11. "Riddu Riđđu 2015: Iešguđetlágan artisttat" [Riddu Riđđu 2015: Various Artists]. Ávvir (in Northern Sami). Vol. 8, no. 126. 10 July 2015. p. 7. Dan maŋŋel lávke Ruonáeatnama joavku Nanook lávddi ala... [Afterwards, the Greenlandic group Nanook stepped up on stage...]