Messer Chups

Surf rock band from Saint Petersburg, Russia

Messer Chups is a surf rock band from Saint Petersburg, Russia. The group was formed in 1998 by composer and guitarist Oleg Fomchenkov.

The band was founded by Oleg Fomchenkov (also known as Oleg Gitarkin) who had previously performed with Oleg Kostrov as Messer für Frau Müller [ru]. 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 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 Igor Vdovin [ru] on synths. In 2003, Oleg Tarasov, the producer of Messer Chups and head of their home label Solnze Records, invited the world famous theremin player Lydia Kavina 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 Denis Kuptsov [es] from the band Leningrad. 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 Monster Prom.

Messer Chups combines surf rock and traditional Russian music, as well as using samples from historical recordings, lounge music, and vintage film soundtracks. Their live shows feature projections of old horror and sci fi movies. Gitarkin has cited Link Wray and The Ventures as influences.