Nautilus Pompilius (band)

Soviet, and later Russian, rock band

Nautilus Pompilius (Наутилус Помпилиус), sometimes nicknamed Nau (Нау), was an influential Soviet, and later Russian, rock band founded in Sverdlovsk in 1982 by Vyacheslav Butusov and Dmitry Umetsky. Butusov disbanded the group in 1997, after multiple albums and several different line ups of the band.

The band was originally named "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ("Али Баба и сорок разбойников"). In 1983, at the suggestion of the band's sound director, Andrei Makarov, the band's name was changed to Nautilus. In 1985, under the initiative of Ilya Kormiltsev, the name was lengthened to Nautilus Pompilius to avoid confusion with other Russian rock bands that were also named Nautilus at the time, such as the Moscow group led by Evgeny Margulis. The band later elaborated on the name, saying "The band is named after the nudibranch mollusc, which is naturally beautiful and charming." Nautilus pompilius is the scientific name of a species of cephalopod (mistakenly called a nudibranch by the band) commonly known as the Chambered Nautilus.

Vyacheslav Butusov and Dmitry Umetsky took the first steps towards forming Nautilus in the late 70s. At first, the band performed at small events, covering songs by foreign performers and famous native performers like Mashina Vremeni and Voskreseniye. The band was formed by Butusov and Umetsky. In 1982, the group made its first attempts to record its own songs. The band's first album, Pereyezd (Russian: Переезд), was released in 1983. The album was strongly influenced by Led Zeppelin.

The band was active in various incarnations from 1983 to 1997. Since the group disbanded, Vyacheslav Butusov has launched a solo career.