Nastia Poleva

One of a handful of Soviet women rockers, Nastia Poleva is best known for early work, performing the poetry of Ilya Kormiltsev over her own unembellished new wave compositions. She found fame early as a singer for hire, providing vocals for some of the biggest names in the Sverdlovsk rock scene. With a little help from husband and collaborator Egor Belkin, she went on to autonomously compose lyrics and music for her group, Nastia. Poleva surfaced in 1980 as a vocalist for the Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) new wave group, Trek. The northern town located in the Ural mountains, was one of the few hubs of Soviet rock, outside of Leningrad and Moscow. Poleva quickly made a name for herself through her no-nonsense tomboy image. In 1984 the members of Trek went their separate ways, leaving Poleva free to pursue other projects, including a brief stint performing backup vocals for Nautilus Pompilius. By 1986, Poleva took some initiative, still performing lyrics of collaborator Kormiltsev of Urfin Juice and Nautilus Pompilius, but this time accompanied by her own sleek new wave music. The result was a unified program of love songs and delicate melodies, destitute but for Poleva's sinuous voice. The same year she made the acquaintance of Egor Belkin (Urfin Juice) who helped her in the conception of her solo project, and an album. The partnership was made to last: marriage ensued, as did the union of their artistic forces for the group project also called Nastia, first drawing audiences in 1987 at the Second Festival of the Sverdlovsk Rock Club. Their debut, Tatzu, recorded with a battery of Ural rockers, first elicited parallels between Poleva and Western artists like Kate Bush and Laurie Anderson. In 1989 Nastia delivered a second album, Noa Noa, whose text was the handiwork of...