A song that has been hidden for decades, must finally be heard.
It is Siissisoq’s very first issue. A song that was never released, but is now given new life in a new documentary film about the band.
The man behind the film is called Jens Thorin.
Siissisoq was formed in the early 1990s in Uummannaq by two young boys.
– I am one of the two boys, says Jens Thorin.
Together with Karl-Enok Mathiassen, he helped start the band that was to help turn the music scene upside down.
Siissisoq came with a sound and an expression that stood out significantly.
The lyrics were, among other things, inspired by science fiction films such as Dawn of the Dead from 1978.
In songs such as ‘Inuttuumasoq’ – the cannibal – and ‘Puuluki’ – the pig – subjects were sung that were not exactly commonplace in the world of music.
Go their separate ways
Jens Thorin and Karl-Enok Mathiassen knew each other long before Siissisoq. They had been best friends since they were little, and followed each other through primary school in Uummannaq.
– We grew up side by side, went to school together and shared an interest in music, says Jens Thorin.
But while the music was taking shape, their childhood was also coming to an end.
After elementary school, they went their separate ways. Education, upbringing and new interests led them in different directions. What had bound them together as children slowly began to change.
– We really just grew apart, says Jens Thorin.
It was also the end of his time in Siissisoq.
He did not manage to become part of the band which would later become known far beyond Uummannaq. While Siissisoq found his sound, his expression and his audience, Jens Thorin continued on his own path.
Today, the contact between the old friends is back. And now they sit together again on Siissisoq, this time to tell the story of the band they helped create as young boys.
When a chain was broken
But it wasn’t just the guitars that made Siissisoq different.
They took a form of music that had roots far from Greenland and made it their own. Heavy metal was played in Greenlandic, and the lyrics moved into a universe of cannibals, animals, zombies and other dark and surreal figures.
They did not follow a recipe for how Greenlandic music should sound.
They made their own. And that also applied to their appearance and manner of being on stage.
– They consciously thought about what impression they wanted to leave on the audience. How should they look, how should they behave and what personality should they show, says Jens Thorin.
It was no longer just the song that was part of the story. It was also the band itself.
– They became a turning point in Greenlandic music and lyric writing. It’s as if a chain is being broken, says Jens Thorin.
When the debut album ‘Aammarpassuillu’ was released in 1998, it resonated throughout the country and was followed by tours along the coast and abroad.
Siissisoq showed that Greenlandic music did not have to fit into a specific form.
There also had to be room for the heavy, the strange, the humorous and the border-crossing.
The period did not hold
Siissisoq has otherwise said goodbye several times. The band has played what was referred to as the last concert. They have recorded what was supposed to be the last CD. The story could have had its full stop. But the period did not last. Because Siissisoq always returns.
Again there were concerts. Most recently, they played at this year’s Akisuanerit Festival in Nuuk.
Again there were new songs. And each time it turned out that a band that had said goodbye still had more to give.
Perhaps this is precisely one of the things that makes the story of Siissisoq difficult to finish.
Because how do you make a film about a band whose story continues all the time?
Now Jens Thorin is back at the beginning. Not as a member of the band, but as a filmmaker.
He is in the process of making a documentary film about Siissisoq – a project where he is both outside and at the same time part of the story. It makes work personal.
Because when he interviews the former band members, looks for old recordings and collects the stories, he is simultaneously working with a part of his own youth.
And the film should not only be about the music.
– The viewers must also meet the people behind Siissisoq and be allowed to see sides of the band members that they may not have seen before, he says.
Because behind the heavy metal music, the stage show and the rebellious attitude, there are also people with their own stories.
From Uummannaq to the screen
At the same time, the documentary becomes something bigger than the story of a rock band.
The film will be a kind of docudrama, mixing real interviews with dramatic reconstructions to bring the band’s history to life.
This makes the project more than a story about Siissisoq. It will also be an attempt to preserve part of recent music history on film.
– The plans for now are for the film to be released next year and we are very much looking forward to it, says Jens Thorin.
Too many of the stories that go into the band’s beginnings don’t necessarily exist in archives or in writing. They are found in the people who were there.
And some of them are now sitting in front of Jens Thorin’s camera. And then there’s the song.
The first song that Jens Thorin and Karl-Enok Mathiassen made together as young boys in Uummannaq. It has been hidden for decades. No plate. No official release. No space in Siissisoq’s catalog.
Until now.
Because in the documentary the song is finally allowed to be heard.
In this way, the story of Siissisoq begins almost where the film itself begins: with two young boys in Uummannaq and a song that no one knew at the time would become part of a larger story.
Jens Thorin was there when Siissisoq was born.
Now he helps to tell what happened afterwards.
And perhaps the old song is a very appropriate place to begin again.
