Nastya Poleva is a Soviet and Russian rock singer, as well as the leader of the popular Nastya band. Anastasia's strong voice became the first female vocal that sounded on the rock scene in the early 1980s.
The performer has come a long way. Initially, she gave fans of heavy music amateur tracks. But over time, her compositions acquired a professional sound.
Childhood and youth of Anastasia Viktorovna Poleva
Anastasia Viktorovna Poleva was born on December 1, 1961. She spent her childhood in the small provincial town of Pervouralsk (Sverdlovsk region).
The singer is not too fond of sharing memories of her childhood. After graduating from school, she became a student at the Sverdlovsk Architectural Institute. By the way, it was in a higher educational institution that she became interested in rock music. Students brought tape recorders into the classroom. After a couple of speakers from the tape recorders came beautiful guitar solos.
The wave of rock so charged the youth that they created musical groups. Anastasia got into this underground musical "whirlpool" when she was a first-year student.
“Before that, I had rather superficial ideas about rock music. I didn't even have a music school diploma behind me. Rock music for me has become something sacred and at the same time absolutely new. There was even a time when I wanted to leave the institute and go to a music school ... ”, recalls Anastasia Viktorovna.
Nastya wanted to improve her vocal abilities. Soon she joined the local rock party, where she was in rehearsals for days. The amateur vocals of the girl acquired an original sound. Anastasia's voice sounded so confident that in 1980 she recorded several songs for the Trek team. Actually, from that moment the professional creative path of Nastya Poleva began.
Nastya Poleva: creation of the Nastya team
In 1984, the Trek team broke up. For Nastya, not the best period has come. She missed music. There were no offers from other rock bands, and she was beyond the power to engage in solo projects. Anastasia was forced to ask familiar musicians to write several compositions for her.
In the mid-1980s, the famous Slava Butusov (leader of the Nautilus Pompilius group) presented Nastya with several tracks. We are talking about the compositions "Snow Wolves" and "Clipso-Calypso".
Anastasia had to sit down for keyboard instruments. Soon her game was like a professional one. She took this as a sign. She has accumulated enough material to record her debut album.
In 1986, Poleva received a musical rock baptism. The girl was accepted into the Sverdlovsk rock club. Then the predictable happened - she created the Nastya rock band.
Presentation of the studio album "Tatsu"
At the time of the formation of the group, the team included session musicians. The only official member of the group was the guitarist Yegor Belkin and Anastasia Poleva as a vocalist.
In 1987, the discography of the Nastya group was replenished with the debut album Tatsu. The cover of the collection was decorated with a photograph of Anastasia Poleva. The texts for the compositions were written by Ilya Kormiltsev, the poetic guru of the Nautilus Pompilius group and other Soviet rock performers.
Almost immediately after the presentation of their debut studio album, the Nastya group performed at the II Festival of the Sverdlovsk Rock Club. In 1988, Poleva became the best vocalist at the Miss Rock festival in Kyiv. The singer was very popular. Journalists even nicknamed her "Soviet Kate Bush." The stars were compared externally - the slender brunette Kate and the taller (height 167 cm) blonde Poleva.
Nastya Poleva: the release of the second studio album "Noah Noah"
In 1989, Anastasia presented her second studio album, Noa Noa, to fans. The texts for the new compositions of the collection were written by the brother of Ilya Kormiltsev - Evgeny.
After the presentation of the studio album, the musicians went on a large-scale tour. In parallel with this, they presented several compositions for new songs.
In the same year, Anastasia also tried herself as a lyricist. The singer presented the author's song "Dance on Tiptoe". It is interesting that at the Kiev festival "Miss Rock - 1990" the presented composition was called the best.
In the early 1990s, Anastasia toured a lot with her team. It is noteworthy that the guys performed live not only for fans of the USSR, but also abroad. The musicians visited Holland and Germany.
Presentation of the last album of the Sverdlovsk period
The last collection of the Sverdlovsk period was the third album "Bride". The presentation of the disc took place in 1992. To the surprise of many fans, the album turned out to be incredibly lyrical. "Fans" especially liked the songs: "Flying Frigate", "Love and Lies", "For Happiness". The clips for the presented compositions were in rotation. And the "Flying Frigate" performed by Anastasia sounded in the film "Brother" by Alexei Balabanov (1997).
In 1993, Anastasia Poleva opened a new page in her creative biography. She moved to live in St. Petersburg. Yegor Belkin followed her to the cultural capital of Russia. The guys spent a year and a half on a sabbatical. But in 1996 they started recording a new album "Sea of Siam", which was released in 1997.
Poleva did not sit still. The performer regularly replenished the discography of the Nastya group with new albums. So, in 2001, the collection "NeNastya" was published, in 2004 - "Through the fingers" and in 2008 - "Bridges over the Neva". The albums showed fans and music critics how the singer's work is changing, her poetic language is developing, as well as the genre of music.
In one of the interviews, the artist admitted that at the beginning of her career, the content of musical compositions was more romantic.
Anastasia says that before she did not think about the generally accepted musical rules. Today he is trying to keep within the classic 4/4. The songs in her performance became more rhythmic. But Nastya will definitely not change one thing - melody.
“In my opinion, music should be, first of all, beautiful, “multi-layered”, timeless,” the singer admits. - In the early 2000s, I decided to switch to strings when writing compositions, I abandoned the keyboard instrument and forgot about it. But now I’m thinking of returning to it again ... I confess that I have not lost interest in oriental exoticism ... ”
Personal life of Anastasia Poleva
Anastasia's professional and personal life closely border on each other. In the early 1980s, Nastya married the talented Yegor Belkin. The couple has not parted for more than 40 years.
Poleva is quite modest in stories about her personal life. There are no children in the family. Director Alexei Balabanov made the film "Nastya and Yegor" (1987). In it, he tried to reveal the professional and personal relationships of a married couple. How he succeeded, to judge the fans and the audience.
In adulthood, the singer gained faith. Anastasia was baptized in the church. Poleva admitted that for a long time she could not bring herself to wear a cross around her neck, and he constantly lay in a bag. The singer found faith after the death of her brother.
“I met a very wise father, who at one time was a rocker and studied music. He performed the sacrament. I don’t do “religious fitness,” as my husband jokes, I don’t hit my forehead on the floor, the main thing is that I accumulate and remain inside. I began to visit the temple, and also observe all church holidays. My husband does not support me, but, by the way, this is his right ... ”
Nastya Poleva today
In 2008, the group's discography was replenished with the album "Bridges over the Neva". To the question of journalists about a long creative break, Anastasia Viktorovna answered this way:
“This is not a creative pause or stagnation. It's just... it's just not working! Although I admit that there is already new material. I don't think we should panic about why we don't present albums every year. Our team focuses on quality. I am absolutely calm and not worried about the fact that the last collection was released in 2008. I decided to just live my life. Do not obey the conveyor.
The singer still tours a lot. She makes interesting collaborations with other Russian rockers. For example, since 2013 she has collaborated with Svetlana Surganova, Chicherina, the Bi-2 team. In 2018, Nastya Poleva and Yegor Belkin made a tour of Siberia.
In 2019, Nastya Poleva and the Bi-2 group presented the song Dream about Snow to fans. The song was included in the album Odd Warrior 4. Part 2. Retro Edition. Odd Warrior (2005) is a musical project created to record and publish tracks by the poet and composer Mikhail Karasev (author of the Bi-2 group).
