Messer Chups

The band was founded by Oleg Fomchenkov 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.citation needed 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.citation needed 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.