“If only my voice would carry a bit more eminence, I could offer so much. I would use it to move mountains, as all known artists should use their status to make a difference,” says Nerijus Glezekas, singer and composer from Chicago.
With his weapon of choice – a guitar, during the years of ongoing terror in Ukraine – Nerijus tirelessly created encouraging content on his social media to raise awareness among his fans.
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“I know I’m doing the morally right thing, maybe one day I’ll carry Ukrainian and US flags with me onto big stages, but for now I do what I can – create music and hope that it will thrill the hearts of the right people, inspire hope and will to fight back,” says Nerijus.
Living in Chicago – a melting pot of cultures, races and nationalities, Nerijus found it very helpful to surround himself with like-minded colleagues in order to organize fundraising concerts and get involved in rallies. Those people were mostly of European descent, which is why Nerijus thinks it is extremely important to get more Americans involved and aware of the terror that seems so distant.
“Sure, war is bad, everybody knows that, but as long as our everyday life isn’t disrupted we are okay with not knowing much of what’s going on so far away,” Nerijus explains.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 29, 2024
It’s a sad reality of living in such a diverse and large country, whose involvement is crucial to the Ukraine’s survival.
This is why Europeans living in the United States are a steady crutch to lean on in such sensitive situations as Russia’s terror on Ukraine. But Nerijus’ mission is to disrupt everyday life, to touch our hearts and souls with music and meaningful lyrics so we get emotionally involved in our physical life.
Nerijus was born in Lithuania when the country was still occupied by the Soviets.
In 2023 one of Nerijus’ songs “Seeds Will Grow” won first place in the Great American Song Contest rock category. This was the song dedicated to the Ukrainian nation, its soldiers tirelessly fighting the evil and its everyday people who crave for tranquility, peace and freedom.
“It didn’t feel like I wrote this song, it felt as if I was a tool and the universe created it through me. It just happened. All I needed to do was bring the song into existence,” Nerijus says.
“Maybe in everyday life filled with killings, hate, shelling and destruction music isn’t as fundamental or essential. But through music, through people’s emotions and feelings one can reach the deepest corners of a person’s heart – which naturally wants to do what is morally and humanly right – to help.”
The events in Ukraine parallel what Nerijus’ family experienced during World War II. His great grandfather was Lithuania’s partisan captured and exiled to Siberia’s hard labor camps along with his wife and small child – Nerijus’ grandmother. They lost everything, barely survived but lived to tell the tale.
“During the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I asked my grandmother to sew a Ukrainian flag. With tears in her eyes, she couldn’t believe that she is living yet through another invasion by the same enemy. She used a phrase – ‘same pain, different flag,’” Nerijus recalls.
Nerijus strongly believes that the more people hear about the war in Ukraine – the sad and ugly truth – the more they will help and stay aware about the issue. He wants to use his music as a tool to spread the message, raise awareness, and get people so emotionally involved that it makes a difference.
“Ukraine is an incredibly strong and powerful nation, shielding the rest of Europe from an invader,” he says. “Solidarity and patriotism are beyond belief. It’s an inspiration to the rest of the world, it’s only a matter of time until all of us will be singing victory songs.”
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