NOVA TWINS…INTERVIEW! Amy Love and Georgia South… Calling.

NOVA TWINS are the zeitgeist-capturing polymath pioneers that our times have been waiting for. Whether pushing the MOBO Awards to create a category for POC alt. acts, to teaming up with No Music On A Dead Planet and Oxfam to play for environmental change, working with Dr. Martens to raise money for The Black Curriculum or aiming to inspire a new wave of young, diverse talent, Amy Love and Georgia South are much more than one of the UK’s most exciting bands – they are changemakers.

Formed in London in 2014, the two childhood friends came together to create something that destroyed boundaries and defied expectations. A clash of ideas from the worlds of punk, rap, pop, hard rock and beyond, their sound is one that smashes genres but showcases the many facets of the duo and where they’re from.

They have battled through the old guard of rock’s narrow-minded expectations. Their debut album ‘Who Are The Girls?’ planted their flag as outliers on a mission, when it dropped in 2020 to much critical acclaim. Name another act that could support Bring Me The Horizon and Wolf Alice but also Enter Shikari and Sleaford Mods? One of the UK’s premiere live bands and fiercest festival acts reach a very broad church, without diluting what they’re all about.

NOVA TWINS is the new bright duo in the UK. They are the new explosive presences in the international music scene … they are something else, something big in the sound and the lyrics.

NOVA  TWINS the duo from London in their tour … have an amazing show at THE FREQUENCY FESTIVAL- 19.08.2022 in Austria, take place in St.Polten, Green park!      

CHATTING WITH … AMY LOVE & GEORGIA SOUTH.

Athenscalling.gr: At first… All the best for Amy and Georgia, the rock duo from London and welcome in Athenscalling.gr webzine of culture!

AMY LOVE & GEORGIA SOUTH (NOVA TWINS): Thank you for having us!

Athenscalling.gr: NOVA TWINS from 2014, many years career and I will ask you … What was the most beautiful moment in your career until now?  

GEORGIA: It’s so hard to pinpoint one moment, we’ve been a band for such a long time, there’s been small wins, big wins, but in the grand scheme all those things pile up to where we are now. But there’s definitely some big highlights that have happened, like when we played HellFest for the first time in France, that was our biggest audience to date, even now, something like 22k people, and we had never seen or played to that many people before, it was just a massive shock. And also, when we won a Heavy Music Award during the pandemic, it was a massive moment, as we weren’t gigging or doing much, so winning that made it feel like our audience still supported us, and the industry is still there.

AMY: Also, what’s been really amazing at our shows lately is that when we first started in our careers, it was predominantly white men at our shows, who were amazing and supportive and they bought the music, but one thing we did know is we wanted to see was a more diverse crowd, more women coming to our shows, and non-binary people, so these people could feel like they belong in a rock show too. And it’s great looking back to then and thinking that now it’s a mix of everybody, from the men to the women to the LGBTQ+ community, to the people of color in the audience, and I think it’s amazing to see at a rock show. That’s something we set out to do, something we’re going to keep pushing going forward.

Athenscalling.gr: And the worst?

AMY: Basically, we’ve always been a band and the audience has always been there but for a long time, we just couldn’t find the right support. We were always going to go on regardless, but there’s a certain extent where you need some help, whether it’s a label, a distributor and things like that and we just always felt that people didn’t always get us because of the way we look, and the mix of genres, and it was a bit confusing for people before. It’s now trendy to do this kind of music but it wasn’t a few years ago, so we used to get quite frustrated having to explain and defend ourselves and we what we were doing. So that was one of the things that used to get us a bit down .But then we’d always say “fuck you” and write our come back song and say “we’re still doing it”, so it propelled us really.   

Athenscalling.gr: Many years ago… I think 6 years ago, I was fan and I am until today with your song … ΄΄ Bassline B*tch ΄΄. Tell us the story of the song lyrics… How did you get inspired this song? On what occasion did you write it ?

AMY: “Bassline Bitch” was in Wales, screaming in a field!

GEORGIA: “Bassline Bitch” was in Wales, the first single that we put out and it was just fun. We were in a field, screaming at sheep while we were writing it! And then the video, we were in the studio recording it and my mother just had her phone, and we just thought “let’s get footage around the area”. We went to a tire garage and we asked if we could borrow the garage, and just shoot clips in there, so we just had fun a random day out, when we didn’t even know we were shooting a video before actually doing it! And to compare it with a new song, “KMB”, that one was during the pandemic, in our rooms, totally isolated, and then the video was so fun because we had all our friends acting in it, in this crazy house that this woman decorated herself in Hastings. Both great processes, but very different.

Athenscalling.gr: ΄΄ Who Are the Girls΄΄ is your debut album. Tell us about it.

AMY: “Who Are The Girls” was us coming off the back of our experiences, from our entry to the industry and people commenting and being like “who are they? They’re showing up at these big festivals but no one really knows who they are”, and we’d take out our guitars and people were quite shocked by it all. So “Who Are The Girls” was shining a light on the people who maybe felt invisible but were doing their own thing in their creative space and in their own right. Moving forward, “Supernova” is like the next evolution, you get to know us, we’re giving you a body of work that’s relevant to where we were and where we want to go.

Athenscalling.gr: Studio or Live, which of the 2 do you prefer? And how do you fell… in Studio and in your live show?

GEORGIA: Playing live! You actually get to play to people…

AMY: And go different places!

GEORGIA:… and have fun with an audience. It’s like you’re sharing different energies, and traveling.

Athenscalling.gr: Living in the past … do you remember the first album that it was in your bug?

AMY: I think I bought like a Craig David album or something. I don’t know, I don’t remember! Or maybe Jennifer Lopez or someone. It was a pop album I think, when I was a kid I was listening to pop music a lot. No idea what my first album was.

Athenscalling.gr: Today… do you have any idol in the music scene all around of the world… I mean, your best singer or band?

GEORGIA: I’ve always loved Pharrell.

AMY: There’s loads of bands, acts that we appreciate and love for different things. I don’t think I’ve ever had this one idol… Maybe Beyonce. Because through childhood, she was there. Destiny’s Child was telling us that we are beautiful, black women, we are strong. She always comes through!

Athenscalling.gr: Another song of your amazing due and I love it is the great song, ΄΄Cleopatra΄΄. Would you really like to have a drink today, with Cleopatra of Ancient Egypt?

AMY: Amy yeah, why not!

GEORGIA: that would be sick, she’d give us some good makeup tips!

AMY: I wonder if she’d like us ,…. ha ha ha ha!

Athenscalling.gr: Let’s talk now about your tour and special for your show at the FREQUENCY FESTIVAL in AUSTRIA 19/08 of JUNE. What exactly will you present to us?

AMY: we love festivals! We love club shows, because you get that tight PA system, that tight room, especially if it’s a good one and the sound’s brilliant, but at festivals everybody’s there to have a good time, to see loads of bands, to discover bands and there’s just a different spirit from a club show.

GEORGIA: A club show is like your audience, and like you’re seeing friends again, but a festival is like making new friends!

Athenscalling.gr: Thank you for the interview NOVA TWIST and all the best for your duo. I believe…that you are THE NEW MUSIC LIGHT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM… Thank you and we will wait your show in Greece! 

AMY LOVE & GEORGIA SOUTH (NOVA TWINS): Thank you so much for the interview! Looking forward to coming to Greece eventually, we would love it!