Ic3peak at Irving Plaza

Ic3peak is a Russian electronic duo by Anastasia Kreslina and Nikolay Kostilev. The pair became popular due to their genre-bending fusion of music style, strange looks, and political lyrics. The two create songs that critique the Russian government. This led to them being targeted by government forces. In 2019, actions to censor their music were taken. Their concerts were patrolled, and many of the concertgoers were detained. They have also gained infamy with the conservative Russian media. As this was happening, their experience reached Western countries. Support poured in for them, and they gained international fame.

Kreslina and Kosteliv formed Ic3peak in 2013. They call their style "audiovisual terrorism." Their music style is characterized as a careful orchestration of music genre blends, perfecting the audiovisual parts of their songs and focusing on themes deemed taboo, like death. All of these they did by themselves. The result of their hard work is their debut EP "Substances." All of its tracks are in English.

It took a little while for them to receive attention internationally. After the release of their sophomore EP, "Vacuum," they began performing in many cities in Europe, including Bordeaux, Paris, Riga, Prague, and Helsinki. Two years after, their reach expanded to South America. They have always continued touring internationally since then. In 2015, they released their self-titled debut album.

Four years after forming, they began creating music in their native language. Their sophomore album was entirely in Russian. With this, they gained more traction in their homeland. However, this was also when they began to be targeted as they put political undertones in their music. The tension reached the point that the members and concert organizers of their show in December 2018 were detained. After hours of being held under authorities, they were released due to public pressure. The concert was pushed through days after to a different venue. At the same time, support from artists and public figures worldwide poured in. After that predicament, the duo continued to release albums in English and Russian and toured more in more countries than before.

They will reach many venues in North America this year. See them at the Irving Plaza on Sunday, July 16. Get tickets now!