Nive Nielsen

Inuk singer Nive Nielsen fronted the eclectic musical act Nive and the Deer Children while also making occasional appearances in films and television, most notably the American horror anthology series "The Terror" (AMC, 2018). Born in Nuuk, Greenland, Nielsen was raised by her mother and spent her childhood years delving deeply into novels and historical non-fiction while nurturing an interest in a diverse array of musicians, from alternative folk singer Michael Hurley to jazz singer Betty Lavette. In her teens and early twenties, she traversed the world for her education, attending Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway before obtaining a bachelor's degree in politics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, which was soon followed by a master's degree in visual anthropology from Goldsmiths College in the United Kingdom. Between these efforts, Nielsen returned to Greenland to work for the country's national television station, producing and hosting original content, as well as enjoying a minor role in Terrence Malick's "The New World" (2005), with Colin Farrell and Christopher Plummer. But she also continued to hone her musical interests, and at the urging of a friend, her future bandmate Jan de Vroede, Nielsen soon began writing songs, which led to the formation of a band, the Deer Children. With Nielsen as singer - often accompanying herself on a trademark red ukulele - the group issued its first album, Nive Sings! In 2009. The LP achieved gold status in her native Greenland, and the band soon crisscrossed the globe, performing for audiences as varied as the Queen of Denmark to music cognoscenti at the South by Southwest Festival in the United States. A record contract with Glitterhouse Records led to the band's second record, Feet First (2015), and tours throughout North America, Europe and Asia. In 2016, Nielsen returned to acting, playing a mysterious Inuit woman in the Ridley Scott-produced television series "The Terror," based on the supernatural novel of the same name by Dan Simmons.