Korol i Shut

Korol’ i Shut
Band's leaders, Andrey Knyazev and Mikhail Gorshenyov
Background information
Origin	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Genres	Horror punk, Folk punk, shock rock, Art punk
Years active	1988–2014
Labels	Мистерия Звука Мелодия Records MANCHESTER Records Никитин
Website	www.korol-i-shut.ru
Past members	Mikhail Gorsheniov Andrei Kniazev Alexandr Balunov Shurik Vasiliev Dmitrii Riabchenko Dmitrii Kandaurov Grigorii Kuzmin Alexey Gorshenev Maria Nefiodova Dmitri Rishko Yakov Tsvirkunov Alexander Shchigoliev Pavel Sazhinov Alexandr Leontiev Sergey Zaharov
Notable instruments
Violin

Korol' i Shut (King and Jester, Russian: Король и Шут) were a Russian horror punk band from Saint Petersburg that took inspiration and costumes from tales and fables. In Russia this band has an iconic status.

The band was formed in 1988 by school friends in Saint Petersburg around founder members Mikhail Gorshok Gorshenev (Михаил Горшок Горшенёв), Alexandr Balu Balunov (Александр Балу Балунов) and Alexandr Lieutenant Shchigoliev (Александр Поручик Щиголев). Singer Andrei Kniaz Kniazev (Андрей Князь Князев) joined the band in 1990 and guitarist Yakov Tsvirkunov (Яков Цвиркунов) in 1997. The band's name, which means The King and the Jester, was adopted in 1992, its previous name was Bureau (Контора).

Korol' i Shut's lyrics are written by Kniazev and feature horror stories and folk tales about pirates, trolls, ghosts and vampires, as well as Slavic mythology. Many of their songs, despite their intimidating appearance and style, are actually humorous, sarcastic or ironic (dark humor). The band members wear Misfits-inspired horror make-up onstage.

The band recorded for the first time in 1991 in a semi-professional studio. It was programmed on the radio soon after and began to tour around Saint Petersburg's clubs. They began rehearsing in the club in which started performing Chimera and Tequilajazzz. From 1993, it started touring also in Moscow.