Rising stars Nova Twins on representing POC, role models, supporting Bring Me The Horizon and their own tour coming to The Wedgewood Rooms | Interview

Amid a riot of punk, grime and electronic anthems they won new supporters with each release and every time they played live.

When they put out their debut album Who Are The Girls? in February 2020, there were big plans for the rest of the year.

Of course, what happened next is a by-now familiar story. But the pair, Amy Love (lead vocals, guitar) and Georgia South (bass, backing vocals), refused to be beaten by the pandemic.

They won Best Video Award for their track Taxi at the 2021 Heavy Music Awards, have graced the covers of NME and Premier Guitar and won acclaim across the board.

Just this week they were also nominated for a brace of NME Awards – Best Band in the World and Best UK Band.

And they have also been outspoken on issues of race around music and the Black Lives Matters movement.

Their progress is demonstrated by their appearance in Portsmouth next week. Originally booked to play The Edge of The Wedge back in April 2020 they were rescheduled to play the much larger main room of The Wedge.

Amy recalls those early days of lockdown: ‘At first, like a lot of us, we went in to a bit of a meltdown-panic, thinking, what are we going to do? And then after we settled into it, we used the time productively and found new ways to interact with our fans.

‘We were online a little bit more, doing fun challenges and things like that – it was just a different way to work and we kept going. Obviously it was difficult, but other good things came out of it as well.

‘It was definitely frustrating not being able to tour the album, but we made the most of the time we had indoors, for sure.’

When they were finally able to play live again last summer, it was in at the deep end with their first ever appearances at Reading and Leeds Festivals.

‘My god, it was a long time coming,’ says Georgia. ‘We'd never played before, and it was intense. But the reception was amazing, and to actually see people there we'd chatted to online, it was so nice to see people again.’

From there they supported metal stars Bring Me The Horizon on their massive arena tour.

‘It was just a sink or swim moment where we had to chuck ourselves into it and do it,’ says Georgia with a laugh.’

During the headliner’s set Nova Twins would come out each night and perform on 1x1, a track the two bands collaborated on during lockdown.

Amy adds: ‘It was overwhelming, but we were definitely living our best lives on that tour. Even though there was a lot of pressure because it was the biggest shows we've ever done, at the same time it was so amazing to watch Bring Me do their show and see how it all worked as a headliner, and to be on that as part of the bill and then to also come out during their set to see the arena at full capacity...

‘It was such an amazing experience, and they're a really lovely band. It was just a great crew and something we'll always remember.’

As women of colour Amy and Georgia are still something of a rarity in alternative-rock/metal circles. And they have been using their platform to address this.

Georgia say: ‘We definitely feel like we're championing this movement of POC-alternative art and it's nice to see the community growing.

‘We always say when people bring their children to our shows, who are of colour or are mixed, or female, you really feel like you need to do the best show you can for them.

‘When we were growing up we didn't casually see people looking like us at our local venues, so we do make an extreme effort to make people feel seen and feel like they're being represented.’

Did they have any role models when they were growing up?

Amy says: ‘There were people like Poly Styrene in X-Ray Spex or Skin from Skunk Anansie, but I'm sure there are people who never got picked up or recognised, or just got discouraged early on in their careers – and that's why we make an effort.

‘But also at the same time, regardless, just as people, I think we'd always want to be inclusive, whether it's because of your skin colour, your sexuality or where you're from, we're just for people, because that's the best thing about life – interacting, getting to chat with people.

‘If you can't get along then what's the point? That's what we're trying to do out here.’

Both Georgia’s parents are musicians and were supportive of their daughter’s aspirations.

She says: ‘When I was growing up my mum and dad made a conscious effort to take me to shows where I could kind of see myself.

‘I went to see Esperanza Spalding, who's an amazing mixed-race bass player, then I saw Beyonce and her all-female band with her bass player Divinity Roxx slaying it – that was very much a pinpoint for me.

‘These women were killing it, they had massive afros and dreads, and they were owning this whole stadium – it was a lightbulb moment: “We can do this!’​​​​​​”’

A key part of the Nova Twins is maintaining control of their striking image – from their videos to their whole aesthetic.

‘It's very DIY,’ says Amy. ‘We make our clothes and do our make-up and let our hair do it's thing.

‘We have our own thing going on – we like the clothes we make, and it's important to us.

‘That’s not to say we wouldn't collaborate with the right designer to fit in with our aesthetic... but we've come so far, and we didn't have people throwing clothes at us, so we just made our own!

‘At first, we'd be like: “I wish we could have this”, or: “Oh, I wish we could afford that”, but now, even if we've got the option, we're like, let's just make it ourselves! Then we get out our vision and make the outfit for the video or the next gig.’

The duo’s close friendship also lies at the core of the band. Friends for more than a decade, they met through Georgia’s older brother, who was at college at with Amy.

‘It's been a long journey of sisterhood,’ says Georgia, ‘so even when we're going on tour, it just feels like...’

‘We're just going out!’ Amy finishes with a wicked laugh. ‘Before the music was the friendship. We've been on this whole journey together.’

But before Nova Twins, they were in numerous separate projects, part of a scene booking all-age shows and regular pub gigs where Georgia was still too young to play and had to sneak in.

Amy recalls: ‘All our friends would come down to these cool nights we'd put on, so we had a scene of doing our own thing.

‘But then I'd go back to Georgia at the end of the day and we'd all just hang out as normal like a family.’

They’d contribute to each other’s projects occasionally, but not as an ongoing band.

‘I think we were bored one day and all of the other projects had fizzled out, so what should we do? We wrote a song together and the synergy was instantly there because we always had that connection.

‘When we actually decided to sit down and write a song together, it was: “Bang!” It was there.

‘At the time it was just Georgia's bassline and my vocal and that was it, but that was the foundation of our sound.’

Late last year, they released a new single, the fiery Antagonist. When asked about what's next, they are suddenly coy.

‘We've got a body of work coming,’ says Amy. ‘We can say that!’

Nova Twins are at The Wedgewoood Rooms, Southsea on Thursday, February 3. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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