MESSERSCHMITT MOSQUITO

East meets West in Saint Petersburg. Therefore it is perhaps no coincidence that the Russian city is home base to one of the most cosmopolitan and genre-defying musical duos of our time: MESSERSCHMITT MOSQUITO.

The band consists of Swiss native Patric Geissbühler, an art student at St. Petersburg State University, and Dutchman Peter Schong, mechanical engineer and former member of punk outfit The Black Kennedys and Nashi-activist, who came to Russia through a Russian girlfriend he had met on the hippy trail to Goa. Patric and Peter first met in a train en route to Lake Ladoga, and as mutual music fanatics they naturally struck up a conversation. When the train pulled into its destination station, the two had become friends and MESSERSCHMITT MOSQUITO was founded. Patric and Peter rented a remote holiday cabin on the shores of Lake Ladoga near Priozersk, where in no time they wrote their first badge of songs and crafted their unique sonic style.

The MESSERSCHMITT MOSQUITO sound is an eclectic mix of punk rock, new wave, Russian electronic distorted noise, soul, funk, jazz, hip-hop, drum & bass and every other genre that pleases Patric’s and Peter’s ears. They grew up listening to a vast variety of music, and the two cite The Clash, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Neu!, Bauhaus, Leibach, Depeche Mode, Giorgio Moroder and Steve Reich as main influences, as well as Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Little Feat, The Band, Sonny Boy Williamson, Miles Davis, Eugene McDaniels, Teddy Pendergrass, Barry White, Marvin Gaye, Gil Scott-Heron and Betty Davis. And of course Russian bands like 7 Rasa and Amatoru. Even the works of Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky and Edgard Varèse were absorded.

On returning to St. Petersburg, Patric and Peter began jamming in the underground clubs and perfecting their peculiar but bewitching style. MESSERSCHMITT MOSQUITO quickly made a name for itself in the local clubbing scene and became St. Petersburg’s finest. If you’re in the area, make sure you catch them, because this globetrotting entity may relocate to Rio de Janeiro in the near future. Patric and Peter have developed an interest in Brazilian music, and they’re known for following their ears and hearts!