The sweet and sour world of Nova Twins

The duo’s decade-long career boasts industry highlights like this – from being nominated for the Mercury Prize for their second album, Supernova, to touring with Little Simz and Foo Fighters. With their new album Parasites & Butterflies out in the world, BEST FIT sat down with Amy Love and Georgia South to discuss their roots and activism in the music industry.

Confessing their original band name was actually Braat, the duo notes that the name change to Nova Twins was prompted by the desire to have a sobriquet that “represented the music,” with Nova symbolising a dying star, “but it’s also very colourful and impactful, which represents the music,” Love adds. Admitting they’re in sync with a lot of things – even having their own facial language – their friendship and closeness made the addition of “Twins” an obvious choice.

Where the two differ, however, is in how their upbringing shaped and cultivated the direction in sound they’d eventually end up taking. South grew up in the community-based Lewisham, where local grassroots venues allowed her to perform from a young age. “You’re a sponge when you’re in your early teens, just taking it all in, taking in that atmosphere and feeling the sweat dripping off the wall,” she says. “There are so many different genres, too, from reggae nights to punk and grime,” she adds, noting the amalgamation of cultures and influences that find themselves immersed at the core of South-East London.

Just over 40 miles up the A12, Love was struggling with the lack of culture in Essex, with garage and hip-hop presenting as the only avenues. “It wasn’t until I left for London at 16 that I got to do rock music. [There] I listened to London artists like Skepta, and when I was growing up, my parents listened to Stevie Wonder. Me and Amy both absolutely love Beyoncé, Missy Elliot, and Timbaland with their old school production,” South says, before adding that she still had an adoration for UK Garage and now Jungle too. “It’s a part of the story and the makeup of our musical taste, which for us is everything.

Contributing to the conversation on sonic influences, Love confesses the diversity in the music she listens to: “I really love vocalists like Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, and even Marina and the Diamonds. Then, Garage rock artists such as KISS, MC5, and New York Dolls – Bette Davis is a massive one too. We both love the Prodigy and Rage Against the Machine, with growing up on the punk scene, so that played a part in a way with our attitude towards music.”

The blender of genres that led to the formation of their unique sound is what makes Nova Twins stand out, with Love offering the following three-word description of their music: “Pick and Mix. It’s all the different sweets – some are sweet, some are sour, and some are more like milk bottles, but all the different sweets go into one bag and create this delicious little pouch out of love.” icl

From touring with the likes of Yungblud and Foo Fighters (adding that they’d love to add Billie Eilish and Beyoncé to their repertoire), their career trajectory over the past few years has been exponential, though they note that they’ve always had more attention from other musicians rather than the “industry”. South confesses, “They always picked us up, like, way before anyone else, and we toured with Prophets of Rage in France, around seven years ago. I feel like bands always kind of drag us up and support us, which is what we want to do; we always bring support with us and want to show them to our audience and for our audience to love them too. It’s important, you know, keep passing on the baton, you can’t just keep it to yourself.”

Arising from a conversation regarding their Mercury Prize nomination and recognition from their peers, Love says: “When we were younger, two young girls, with the dream, wanting to start a band, we manifested a lot of things then. In a really naive and innocent way. We had no idea that we were gonna one day be on the Mobo awards.” She adds that their attitude towards their craft, and themselves as artists, didn’t change after this, but that it was encouragement, confirmation to believe in themselves. “There are gatekeepers, people who don’t want you necessarily because you don’t tick a box, and we’ve learned a lot in our experience as a band. Not everyone’s gonna appreciate or value what you do, so I think it starts at home and then the rest is just the bonus."

The duo's Glastonbury performance came just two months before the release of their third studio album, Parasites & Butterflies. Narratively, the record explores darker tones, with Love attributing this to the writing process beginning in winter months. “It was a slightly darker and chaotic head space off the back of Supernova – touring extensively, not sleeping and not seeing anyone. We came back, and there were all these deadlines, and suddenly we had to be creative; it was a whirlwind, and we didn’t really have a chance to catch up with ourselves. So then the music naturally was coming out a little darker. We were really excited about what we were writing, but we definitely wanted to bring light to the album because we needed somewhere to go. We couldn’t just stay in the depths of winter and darkness; we needed to be lifted out of this funk. The next step was fun songs, like ‘Drip’ and ‘Soprano’, and they were really important. We explore that there are both sides of the coin with this album.”

On the thematic difference between the superhuman, we-can-take-it-all-on attitude of their previous album, Supernova, and this more calamitous third offering, South notes that this was because they wanted to show their emotions, show their human side to their fans. “We all feel a whole heap of emotions that are so confusing to us and we’re all just trying to do our best. We wanted to show our audience that we can feel dark times too and we have to get through them like everyone else, and that’s okay. We’re building such an amazing community, and you’ll see that in our Discord, and they come to our shows and make friends. We’re so proud that this is our community, and they give us so much light and joy,” she says. Reflecting on the release of the record, South adds, “It’s been a long time coming. It takes so long to write, record, and master an album, so when it’s finally out into the world, it feels crazy ‘cause you’re like, ‘oh my God, people are actually going to hear it’ – we’re super proud of it.”

Rounding off the interview, the conversation turns to politics and current growing environmental concerns, prompted by South’s “No Music On A Dead Planet” t-shirt. She explains what the cause means to her: “The environment is the most important thing, because if that all goes down, we’ve got nothing left. I think sometimes people forget that, and if they forget about the environment, it impacts everything. It’s the hottest summer we’ve ever had over here, and we’re celebrating having a really hot summer, but it’s not normal. We can see floods happening in Italy and Spain, and it’s scary. I think people should just be aware of what’s going on so they feel ready for what’s to come and listen to the scientists.”

Love says that she believes no one should feel pressured to use their platform to promote causes, as that’s not “everyone’s style”, as some donate quietly or advocate at home: “There are different ways to support causes, and with everything happening at the moment, it feels very overwhelming. We’re living in an upside-down world, and with the movie Don’t Look Up, it feels like that’s what’s happening now. It’s so unbelievable – are we living in reality right now? There are billionaires and corporations, and it feels like those big kinds of giants are literally destroying our planet, destroying our communities, destroying our values, and disturbing the people. It’s really hard, and we’re so kind of embedded in it all, whether it’s who you bank with, whether you shop on Amazon, and it’s like this endless loop that sometimes you think, ‘God, where do we start?’”

The answers may not be easy, but, three albums deep into their blazing career, Nova Twins are proof that you really can do anything you set your mind to.