IC3PEAK (Ispik) is a relatively young musical group, which consists of two musicians: Anastasia Kreslina and Nikolai Kostylev. Looking at this duet, one thing becomes clear - they are very outrageous and are not afraid of experiments.
Moreover, these experiments concern not only music, but also the appearance of the guys. The performances of the musical group are exciting performances with piercing vocals, an original plot and a crazy video sequence.
Ispik's video clips are gaining millions of views. The guys are known not only in Russia's native country, but also in the United States, Asia and Europe.
History of creation and composition of Ispik
The new musical group was first heard at the end of autumn 2013. Nastya and Nikolai met while studying at a higher educational institution. The young guys were united by an attraction to music and non-standard views on creativity.
It is interesting that Nastya and Nikolai grew up on quite "cultural music". Kolya's father was a conductor, and Nastya's mother was an opera singer. Despite having musical roots, neither Anastasia nor Nikolai had a musical education.
As a teenager, Anastasia had attempts to rein in the cello. But the girl got into the group where the kids were trained, and it was this fact that pushed her away. Nastya herself admits that she often arranged home performances in front of a mirror. She dreamed of becoming a singer.
As for Nikolai, he also had attempts to go to a music school. The young man was enough for exactly a year. He dropped out of music school. According to him, "he didn't work hard, so he didn't learn anything." In addition, the young man was depressed by the fact that the teacher dictated how and what to play. Nikolai taught himself to play the guitar.
After receiving a diploma of secondary education, young people enter the RSUH to learn the specialty of a translator from English and Swedish. They met within the walls of the university. After talking, the guys realized that they have common musical tastes. In addition, each of them has long dreamed of creating a group.
At the time of meeting Anastasia, Nikolai already had his own project, which was called Oceania. The soloists of the musical group performed lyrical songs. Nikolai invites Nastya to join his group, and they record a couple of albums in collaboration with the Japanese label Seven Records.
The guys created a powerful tandem. They had good taste, so they constantly improved their music. In search of a fresh and unusual sound, performers begin to experiment. They add guitar riffs and computer voice processing. As a result, they listened to a couple of compositions that now sounded in a new way, and considered that they had a masterpiece that should be presented to the public.
The guys release the debut track Quartz, and launch it on the Internet. The piece of music received mixed reviews. However, most of the comments were still positive. This fact made the musicians want to move on.
Nikolai understands that it is time to rename the team, giving the name brightness. They trusted chance, deciding to take the first name that came across. They became Icepeak - the name of the Finnish brand, written on the cover of Nastya's laptop. But, in order to avoid problems with the manufacturer of equipment, the name had to be somewhat modified.
Productive period in the work of the IC3PEAK group
By that time, Anastasia and Nikolai realized that their team stood out from the rest. There are no more like them. This motivates young artists to release 4 new albums at once - Substances of 5 tracks, Vacuum of 7, Ellipse of 4 and I̕ ll Bee Found Remixes of 5.
The young musical group held its first performances on the territory of St. Petersburg. This was followed by a concert in Moscow. The youth of the capital accepted Ispik's songs with more enthusiasm than the Petersburg youth. The Ispik soloists realized that they needed to steer abroad. The musical group held concerts in the clubs of Paris and Bordeaux. For the guys it was an invaluable experience.
In Paris, music lovers received Russian performers more than warmly. Anastasia recalls that at one of her concerts, a guy in only underwear and a tie ran onto the stage and started dancing to their track. It was only later that Ispik's soloists were told that it was Lady Gaga's designer himself.
The subsequent 2015 turned out to be no less productive for Ispik. The previous works of the soloists of the musical group were dance (dance) in nature. The new record Fallal ("Trash") is definitely not suitable for dancing. It contains tracks that are best listened to in complete solitude and silence. The composition of this album included 11 tracks, and the musicians collected money for recording through crowdfunding.
The musicians release fresh musical compositions "BBU" and "Kawaii Warrior", and fans note that now Nastya and Nikolai have begun to sound somewhat softer.
Philosophy of the IC3PEAK Group
The texts of Ispik's soloists became more meaningful, they had a deep philosophical meaning. But even after that, the songs did not become clear to ordinary listeners. The tracks of the guys require awareness and clues.
Band performance in Brazil
At the end of 2015, Ispik will go to Brazil with their concert. Most of the audience are Russian-speaking immigrants.
The soloists of the musical group were struck by how well they are familiar with the work of Ispik in the country.
In 2017, the guys released another disc - "Sweet Life", as well as the collection "So Safe (Remixes)", the guest of which was the rapper Boulevard Depo.
On some tracks, the guys filmed a little strange and frightening video clips. The older generation was indignant, but teenagers and young people push Ispik's clips to the top with their views and likes.
A year later, young performers went with a concert in the United States and Latin America. It is interesting that in Russia the songs of the musical group are listened to by people under 20 years old, but in the USA music lovers 50+ come to their concerts.
On the territory of the Russian Federation, musicians face a number of problems and misunderstandings. They were repeatedly accused of distributing prohibited information among children.
In some of the musicians' songs, political overtones are clearly heard.
Ispik's performances on the territory of Russia were repeatedly disrupted. In 2018, the guys had to cancel their performances in Voronezh, Kazan and Izhevsk. The soloists of the group look at it philosophically. However, they express their indignation through songs and videos.
Music Icepic
Admirers of Ispik's work say that the guys are "audiovisual terrorists." The soloists of the musical group create in several directions at once - grime, ambient and industrial. The guys are not afraid of criticism, which helps them to carry out bold musical experiments.
The soloists of the group admit that most of the listeners, who “study” their work for the first time, are rejected. But, it's worth listening to a couple of tracks, and the music lover is imbued with the guys' idea and accepts it.
Live performances by IC3PEAK
Ispik's concerts deserve special attention. This is a real show worthy of respect. IC3PEAK carefully selects and edits the video sequence for each song, which is a significant part of the wow-effect of their performances.
Nastya and Nikolai carefully work on their images. Starting from the make-up, ending with the selection of outfits. Their concerts are a good show, worthy of the announced ticket prices. On stage, Anastasia is responsible for the text and vocal part, while Nikolai is responsible for the musical part.
Interestingly, they also work together on the creation of video clips. The guys work through the plots from and to. And the talented Konstantin Mordvinov helps young performers shoot videos.
IC3PEAK now
In 2018, the guys will officially present the new album "Fairy Tale". The songs This World is Sick, "Fairy Tale" and "Death No More" were released as separate singles. Just like the previous works, this record is becoming a top one.
On March 10, 2019, they performed at the rally "Against the isolation of the Russian segment of the Internet", performing the song "There is no more death." It is known that Anastasia and Nikolai live together.
They rent a country house near Moscow. The guys have an instagram where you can see the latest and most relevant news about the work of the Ispik group.
Goodbye - Ic3peak's new album
On April 24, 2020, the Ic3peak team presented the album "Goodbye" to fans. Russian rapper Husky and foreign rappers Ghostemane and ZillaKami from City Morgue took part in the recording of the collection.
The album includes 12 tracks, which last a little over 30 minutes. The musicians described the collection: "Explosive beats, horror songs and fit Husky."
In the release, the duet of Nastya Kreslina and Nikolai Kostylev “mixed” a dark atmosphere with sharply social texts. In these manifestos about Russian realities, the team partially returns to the English language.
At the beginning of February 2022, the premiere of the new single "Worm" took place. In addition, IC3PEAK announced a tour of the cities of Russia, Ukraine and Europe, which will begin in April this year.
