Vyacheslav Butusov (Вячеслав Бутусов) is a Russian rock singer who started during the Soviet period and has been known for many bands, among them the seminal Nautilus Pompilius (Наутилус Помпилиус), U-Piter (Ю-Питер), and his own solo work. Butusov was born in a village near Krasnoyarsk in 1961 and grew up in various cities all over […]

Skalpel (Skaльпель) is a Russian ska band hailing from Moscow. They are one of Russia’s best known bands playing old-school ska. Skalpel have made a mark on the international scene as well, playing shows with seminal bands like Bad Manners, The Beat, The Toasters, Be Nuts, Dr. Ring-Ding, Valkyrians, and others. They have released material […]

Male Factors is a Russian ska-punk band with a strong chanson influence. Their lyrics generally deal with criminality and drinking, and they were signed to Hobgoblin Records, a label notoriously owned by a former hacker and black marketer. They sang in Russian, English, Spanish, and German. They use the English name consistently. The band started […]

Zemfira (Земфира) is the stage name of Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova (Земфира Талгатовна Рамазанова), a Russian rock musician originally from Ufa, Bashkortostan. Zemfira has sold more than three million records over the course of her career, and continues to be popular in Russia and the former Soviet Republics. Zemfira was influenced from an early age by rock […]

The Night Snipers (Ночные снайперы) is a Russian alternative rock band originally formed in 1993. The band began as an acoustic duo consisting of Diana Arbenina (Диана Сергеевна Арбенина) on guitar and Svetlana Surganova (Светлана Яковлевна Сурганова) on violin. The Night Snipers’ songs are often poetic compositions, many of which feature the work of famous […]

Smyslovye Gallyutsinatsii (Смысловые галлюцинации) is a Russian alt-rock band from Yekaterinburg whose sound has evolved from straightforward punk rock to, in recent years, more experimental works that sound closer to post-punk or indie. The band’s name translates to “meaningful hallucinations.” Smyslovye Gallyutsinatsii formed in 1989, at the end of the Soviet period, but did not […]

Chaif (Чайф) is a Russian rock band originally from Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). The name is a play on the Russian words for “tea” (chai, чай) and the slang for “pleasure” (kaif, кайф). Chaif saw national fame in the early 1990s with hits like “Don’t Rush” (“Не спеши”) and “17,” and they are still well known […]

Elizium (Элизиум) is a Russian ska-punk band from Nizhny Novgorod. Elizium plays across a number of genres, including ska, reggae, and metal, from which they have derived their own genre, which they call “space-rock” (“космос-рок”). Their name is taken from an ancient Greek conception of the afterlife. Elizium has  played with a number of well-known […]

Distemper is a Russian ska-punk band known for their combination of straightforward punk rhythms with danceable ska parts. Starting out in 1989 as a hardcore punk band, Distemper transitioned to their current ska sound around 1995. They consistently use a version of their name written in Latin characters. The band was formed in 1989 in […]