Nanook (band)

Nanook is a Greenlandic pop-rock band formed by brothers Christian and Frederick Elsner in 2008. The band's name comes from a mythological Greenlandic bear. They are well-known for creating music that speaks to many people in Greenland.

The lyrics of Nanook's songs are in Greenlandic, and they chose not to change their language even when a big company, Sony, asked them to switch to English. Their style of music is soft and melodic, often described as indie rock.

Christian and Frederick Elsner are half-Inuit and half-Danish. They grew up in Southern Greenland but moved to Nuuk, the capital city, in 2001. Today, they manage a family-owned business called Atlantic Music, which sells music and musical instruments.

Nanook has become Greenland's most popular band. In 2010, they sold 5,000 albums, which means that about one in ten people in Greenland owned a copy of their music.

History

Nanook, a band from Greenland, started in 2008 and released their first album, Seqinitta Qinngorpaatit ("Our sun is shining on you"), in 2009. They were recognized for their work, winning the "Best Album" prize at the Greenland Music Awards in both 2010 and 2014.

The band performed at several famous music events. In 2010, they played at the Sámi music festival Riddu Riđđu in Sápmi, which is in northern Fennoscandia. They returned to this festival in 2015 and also performed at the Roskilde Festival in 2019.