Messer Chups is a
surf rock
Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...
band from
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Russia.
The group was formed in 1998 by composer and guitarist Oleg Fomchenkov.
History
The band was founded by Oleg Fomchenkov (also known as Oleg Gitarkin) who had previously performed with Oleg Kostrov as . Messer Chups is often considered a "spin-off" band of Messer für Frau Müller. In the group's name, "Messer" is taken from the German word for "knife" and "Chups" from
Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups () is a Spanish brand of confectionery found in over 150 countries. The brand was founded in 1958 by Enric Bernat, and is currently owned by the Italian- Dutch company Perfetti Van Melle. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish ...
lollipops.
The band was originally a duo of Gitarkin on bass guitar and Annette Schneider on synthesizer. During 2000–2002 Messer Chups consisted of Gitarkin and on synths.
In 2003, Oleg Tarasov, the producer of Messer Chups and head of their home label Solnze Records, invited the world famous
theremin
The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...
player
Lydia Kavina
Lydia Evgenevna Kavina (; born 8 September 1967) is a British-Russian theremin player, based in Oxfordshire, UK.
The granddaughter of Léon Theremin's first cousin, Soviet anthropologist and primatologist Mikhail Nesturkh, Kavina was born in ...
to join them. Together they have released several albums and reworked their previous releases. In 2005, Messer Chups became a duo consisting of Gitarkin and Svetlana "Zombierella" Nagaeva on bass. In 2007, they became a trio, with drummer from the band
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
. In 2008, they changed their drummer to Alexander Belkok, and Alexander Skvortzov became their vocalist.
The group's music was used for the soundtrack for the
dating sim
Dating sims, also known as dating simulation games, are a video game subgenre of simulation games with romantic elements. While resembling the visual novel genre in presentation, true dating sims utilize an additional statistical and time manage ...
''
Monster Prom''.
Musical style
Messer Chups combines surf rock and traditional Russian music, as well as using samples from historical recordings,
lounge music
Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The ra ...
, and vintage film soundtracks.
Their live shows feature projections of
old horror and sci-fi movies.
Gitarkin has cited
Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. His 1958 Instrumental rock, instrumental single "Rumble (instrumental), Rumble", reached the ...
and
The Ventures
The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...
as influences.
Members
As of 2019, the group's line-up consisted of:
*Oleg "Guitaracula" Fomchenkov (aka Oleg Gitarkin) – guitar
*Svetlana "Zombierella" Nagaeva – bass, vocals
*Evgeny Lomakin (aka "Rocking Eugene") – drums
Discography
Albums:
*''Чудовище и Чудовище'' (Monster & Monster) (1999) MC, CD
e-released as Miss Libido 2000, Monster & Monster Upgrade Version*''Невеста Атома (''Bride Of The Atom) (2000) MC, CD
*''Vamp Babes'' (2000) MC, CD
e-released as Vamp Babes Upgrade Version*''Black Black Magic'' (2002) CD
*''Crazy Price'' (2003) CD/LP
*''Hyena Safari'' (2005) CD/LP
*''Zombie Shopping'' (2007) CD
*''Heretic Channel'' (2009) CD/LP
*''Bermuda 66'' (2010) CD/LP
*''Surf Riders from The Swamp Lagoon'' (2011) CD/LP
*''Church of Reverb'' (2013) CD/LP
*''The Incredible Crocotiger'' (2015) CD/LP
*''Spooky Hook'' (2015) CD/LP
*''Taste the Blood of Guitaracula'' (2017) CD/LP
*''Mondo Harp'' (2019) CD/LP
*''Don't Say Cheese'' (2020) CD/LP
*''Visiting the Skeleton in the Closet'' (2021) CD/LP
*''Dark Side of Paradise'' (2024) LP/CD
EP's:
* ''Twin Peaks Twist'' (2019) 7"
* ''Jokermobile'' (2019) 7"
* ''The Curse of Catzilla'' (2020) 7"
* ''New Wave or Surf Wave'' (2020) LP
* ''Night Stripper'' (2023) 7"
* ''Blood and Black Lace'' (2023) 7"
* ''Don't Worry, Be Creepy!'' (2024) Digital
Compilations:
* ''The Best Of Messer Chups: Cocktail Draculina Vol. 1'' (2002) CD
* ''Messer Story In Videos 1992-2006'' (2006) DVD
* ''Best Of The Best'' (2008) LP/CD
* ''Messer Chups Video'' (2008) DVD
* ''Best Of'' (2015) CD
* ''The Voice of Zombierella'' (2016) LP
* ''The Best Of Messer Chups: Cocktail Draculina Vol. 2'' (2017) Digital/LP
* ''My Favorite Tracks'' (2018)
* ''The Adventures of Zombierella & Guitaracula'' (2019) CD/LP
pgrade Version Re-release in 2022* ''Spook-O-Rama... The Best Of'' (2019) CD/LP
* ''Lost Tracks'' (2020) Digital/LP
Messer für Frau Müller:
* ''Merry Bormans'' (1991) unreleased
* ''Happy End Dead'' (1992) MC, CD released in 2000
* ''Little Joys'' (1992) MC, CD released in 2000
* ''Senjors Crakovjac'' (1993) MC, LP 1994, CD 2000
* ''Icicle-Murders'' (1995) MC
* ''Nechelovek-Vidimka'' (1996) MC
* ''„Hello, Superman!“'' (1998) MC, CD
* ''Second Hand Dreams'' (2000) MC, CD
* ''Allo, Superman!'' (2000) CD incl. 3 bonus tracks
* ''Hyper Utesov Presents'' (2001) CD
* ''Second Hand Dreams'' (2001) CD incl. 3 bonus tracks
* ''Treugol'nik, Chert I Tochka'' (2003) CD
* ''Remixodelica'' (2005) CD
* ''Triangle, Dot & Devil'' (2006) CD
* ''Danger Retrobolik'' (2006) CD
* ''Messer Chups & Messer für Frau Müller'' video DVD 2006
* ''Wake Up The Dead'' (2008) CD / (2009) LP
References
External links
Messer Chups official website (archived)*
*
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Saint Petersburg
Russian electronic music groups
Surf rock music groups