The band, named after a German phrase literally translated as "the art of discerning frontiers", was formed by geology students from the University of St. Petersburg, Russia in October, 1992. They started out with hard rockabilly-cum-r'n'b, turned to the blues and later to latino, jamaican and other ethnic influences.

Markscheider Kunst are a prime example of a truly multicultural band. Frontman Serafim Selenge Makangila hails from Zaire. He studied there to be a priest, then got expelled after a love affair, left for Ukraine in 1990 and found himself in St. Petersburg five years later. He is an authentic performer of Congolese soukous. His lyrics are in French, Swahili and Lingala. The band itself is also multinational: an Udmurt, a Tartar, a Russian…. The same goes for the music, which traces its roots among ska, reggae, funk, jazz and Latin rock flavoured with African influences and sprinkled with Russian folklore.

Official website

Sergei Yefremenko (Yefr) - guitar, lyrics, vocal
Vladimir Matushkin (DJ Nguba) - guitar,backvocal
Kirill Oskin - bass, backvocal
Sergei Yegorov (Yegor) - drums, backvocal
Mihail Nikolaev - timbales, kongas
Ramil Shamsutdinov - trombone
Aleksandr Plusnin - trumpet