Biography
“What makes these songs so fascinating though is how seamlessly they veer sideways into unexpected territory.”
–James MacKinnon, Folkradio.co.uk
Nive and the Deer Children are an Inuit Indie band hailing from Nuuk, Greenland. Led by Nive Nielsen and multi-instrumentalist Jan de Vroede with a shifting cast of musicians, Nive and the Deer Children are Greenland’s only internationally acclaimed indie outfit. You have definitely never experienced anything quite like these Greenlandic song weavers.
If you assembled a team of the greatest children’s book writers in the world together, they couldn’t invent Inuk folk-pop singer Nive Nielsen. Nive’s first performance ever was for the Queen of Denmark on national television, and she has since performed around the globe winning awards from the Independent Music Awards and Denmark’s biggest music prize – the Danish Crown Prince Stardust Award. To top it off, both of Nive and the Deer Children’s records have reached Gold status in Greenland. Favourites at home and charming audiences where ever they may roam, Nive and the Deer Children are putting twinkles in eyes and tenderness in hearts.
Nive’s interesting backstory and life in a unique and northern region inform gorgeous stories woven into song through her striking voice. Hovering somewhere between soft murmurs and sweet warbling, Nive’s vocals evoke a profound feeling of winsome longing. The songs themselves are straight out of a storybook that never was. Timeless, classic, and archetypal, yet creative and inventive with a modern flair, Nive and her dynamic cohort of musicians span the ages, times, and places with what they create. They are hummable folk tunes on indie steroids with her international, diverse group of musicians providing rich accompaniment to stunning vocals. Moving fluidly across genres and exploring uncharted musical territories makes Nive such a beguiling fore that she’s attracted acclaimed musicians such as Giant Sand magus Howe Gelb, Ralph Carney (Tom Waits’s brass man of choice), and multi-instrumentalist John Parish to play and record with her.
Nive and the Deer Children will travel nearly 4000 KM (but not even one whole degree of latitude!) from one land of the midnight sun to another to grace DCMF’s stages. Be sure to give a warm northern welcome to our friends from another part of the 64th parallel.