JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Greenland is at a crossroads. The island is caught between Denmark, which controls Greenland's foreign policy and defense, and the U.S., which has expressed renewed interest in controlling Greenland. On a recent reporting trip to Greenland, we met two members of one of Greenland's biggest bands, Nanook. We asked brothers, Christian and Frederick Elsner, to reflect on Greenland's moment in the international spotlight. Here's Frederick.
FREDERICK ELSNER: I'm not that political, but I can see that people are a little bit worried. We are not used to have all that focus on Greenland - when you get this focus from another place, another man, who has so many eyes on you.
CHRISTIAN ELSNER: I've never been afraid like this because I think when Trump wants something, he won't hold back (laughter). But the tensions between Denmark and Greenland are not good either so, yeah. It's hard to say what will happen. And that's because we don't know that makes us feel uncomfortable, yeah.
SUMMERS: We met the Elsners at the record store and label that they own in Greenland's capital, Nuuk. The record store has been in their family for years. We talked about the focus on the island, its culture and what it's like creating music in their native language. Here they are in their own words, beginning with a moment almost 20 years ago when Frederick was living in Denmark and a Christmas gift launched their creative partnership.
F ELSNER: My name is Frederick. I'm in the band, Nanook. I'm the front singer and plays the guitar. It just came to me because I had this dream that I will do something about our culture at home. It has been the same music style in 20 and 30 years. So I wrote one song and gave my brother Christian for a Christmas gift.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KISIMIINNEQ")
NANOOK: (Singing in Greenlandic).
C ELSNER: He came every year to Greenland to visit us, and then he brought the CD. He doesn't say anything. He just said, this is for you. Merry Christmas.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KISIMIINNEQ")
NANOOK: (Singing in Greenlandic).
C ELSNER: My name is Christian Elsner. I was raised down in South Greenland in a little village called Nanortalik, which means the place with polar bears. I think that the meaning of that song is not to surrender. It's like another way of saying I'm not going to give up just because I'm longing home.
F ELSNER: In that time, this song is about dreaming coming home. That song, named "Kisimiinneq," means being alone. You know, when you hear the radio - the Greenlandic radio - you listen to lots of Greenlandic music. And it has been, you know, the same for many years. I was supposed to do something else.
(SOUNDBITE OF NANOOK SONG, "KISIMIINNEQ")
C ELSNER: We've been asked a lot of times - can we change it to English so we can understand you? But yeah, we are determined to just stay in Greenlandic. It feels real when we sing in Greenlandic. If we sing in English, it just feels not real for us (laughter). It has to come from the heart.
F ELSNER: You know, it's only 57,000 people that lives in Greenland. That's nothing. I think it's only 20,000 that can speak Greenlandic. That's why, from us - like, a band - it's very important to always sing in Greenlandic and trying to do the music with it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KISIMIINNEQ")
NANOOK: (Singing in Greenlandic).
C ELSNER: All our songs are about pretty much ourselves - what we've been through, what we hear, what we've experienced through life. So it's all good and bad sides. And the contact with fans up here is very close. I mean, you speak with them all after the show. So I remember one girl crying - and she was only like 15 or 16 years old - came to us and said we saved her life through our music because when she has a bad day, she listens to our lyrics. And that just motivates us a lot.
F ELSNER: It's not what we expected, actually, because the lyrics is very personal, and there's hope, a little bit of love.
C ELSNER: We don't really call ourselves rock stars. We're just people making music. And I think that's a healthy thing too.
(SOUNDBITE OF NANOOK SONG, "KISIMIINNEQ")
SUMMERS: That was Christian Elsner and his brother Frederick Elsner. They are members of the Greenlandic band, Nanook.
(SOUNDBITE OF NANOOK SONG, "KISIMIINNEQ") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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