Nova Twins on staying DIY, and building a better scene

Amy Love and Georgia South – known as Nova Twins – crouch over a laptop to talk to me between tour stops. Nova Twins are currently wrapping up their North American tour, which they say has been amazing all the way through. The London-based pair span nu-metal, R'n'B, punk, and more in their music, and the crowds at their gigs reflect it. The pair stress that their music offers something beyond the usual punk-rock fare. 

This month, Love and South embark as headliners on their own European tour, which will see Nova Twins play St Luke's in Glasgow on 10 November before moving on to Manchester and London, which Love says will be their biggest headline gig so far. "It's nice to see how the project continuously grows, and our audience gets more diverse, more beautiful in that respect," South says. "We've got mosh- and twerk-offs happening in our pits, and that's what we want. It's not just for one type of person. The music's for anyone who wants to listen to it."

From the start, Nova Twins have been determined to do things their way. They call themselves DIY. There are usually just three instruments – guitar (Love), bass (South), and drums – accompanying their vocals. Love says that they enjoy keeping up with their fans on Discord. They even make their own clothes. Their work looks backwards at trends in Black music and culture, but it also looks forward to a more equal space. More than anything, Nova Twins offer a space to be many things at once; they create an environment where joy can merely exist. 

Nova Twins. Photo: Federica Burelli

There's something about Nova Twins, especially live, that is uniquely electric. Their most recent album, Supernova, is ecstatically high-energy. The subject matter ranges from radical self-love to killing (ex-) boyfriends – it's the ideal soundtrack for stomping to work through the rain. The album foregrounds Nova Twins' signature blend of rap, metal, and punk. Coupled with lean instrumentals, the pair have a clear, powerful, and instantly recognisable sound. Love and South, who have been playing together as a band since 2014, are both formidable musicians. Footage from their North American tour looks euphoric. They are captivating as they weave in and out of the audience, commanding enormous, roiling crowds. Even through earbuds, Supernova unlocks something deeply powerful. It feels like a primal scream in leather pants and a chrome corset. 

South says that she wants fans to leave their shows feeling "like they've released everything, and like they feel seen in the room." The cathartic nature of Nova Twins' music may be partially behind the pair's meteoric rise over the past year. We are in a stressful time, to say the least. The rise of punk and heavy rock movements is a logical follow-on from the fucked-over feeling we've all been having these days. Prior to the rise of Nova Twins and a handful of other groups, it was difficult for a lot of people to feel welcome in the punk scene.

"It was known that women didn't get into the mosh pit," Love says. "We'd stay way at the back at a rock show, because [otherwise] you'd get fully pushed over, or a black eye." It's not that women can't mosh – sometimes you just want to feel something – but, especially for anyone in a marginalised body, the pit can be notoriously risky. Love assures me that this isn't the case at their shows. She says: "We also have women with big afros in the mosh pit, taking up the same space and feeling safe in it…This is a safe space for everyone, and everyone's gonna be respectful in it, and everyone should have a good time. You shouldn't feel like you could leave there with a black eye." 

Love and South are serious about representing their communities in the punk scene. To them, visibility is a key part of opening the door for other Black punk acts. Supernova was shortlisted for the 2022 Mercury Prize this year. South says: "It was such a big thing for us, because people are saying that we're the first Black, female, heavy rock band to do it. So it just feels nice. It's like a win for a wider space." 

Love and South recount feeling alienated from the scene when they were starting out. Punk aesthetics are simultaneously out-of-the-box and startlingly strict. Though the movement is often linked with anti-racism and leftist political dissent, the pervasive image of the 'rocker' is pretty specific (and pretty white, cis, and male). "People didn't know where to put you on the playlist," Love says, "or people wouldn't have you play here because you didn't 'look rock'." It's an experience that Love and South found they had in common with other non-white rock musicians. 

It was this deficit, alongside the BLM movement, that led Nova Twins to start their Voices for the Unheard Instagram series and Spotify playlist. The series of live videos features Connie Constance, Sophie K, Shingai, Loathe, Death Tour, and many others. In it, the band interview other artists about liberation, anti-racism, personal style, and DIY punk – the list goes on. Through each interview, there is an underlying current of mutual reverence. The band fosters a community for its own sake. The series unapologetically rejects the gaze of a white, male-dominated industry. 

In Episode 2, South points out that the deficit of Black voices in contemporary punk begets originality. Nova Twins weave influences into their sound seamlessly – but, as South says, there wasn't always a lot of Black punk out there to be influenced by. The result is a creative, one-of-a-kind sound. It goes beyond innovation and speaks directly to survival, especially on the fringes of normativity. 

The project culminated in a vinyl compilation and a live show on Dr. Martens' Instagram. The artwork for the show features the motto: 'When they don't give us a stage, we build our own!' Love and South carry this quintessentially punk spirit into everything they do. Voices for the Unheard acts as a living manifesto highlighting the incredible range of talent among Black and POC rockers. 

It feels like there's no end to Nova Twins' creativity. They make everything they wear, from music video to festival stage. Their clothing line, Bad Stitches, isn't available to buy (yet). South says that the name was apt when they first got started, but now they've gotten quite good. "We've always been so interested in fashion," South says. "We loved talking about clothes when we were younger. We used to put safety pins on our clothes, or a little patch here and there. When the band started, we just thought, we want to wear [clothes that look] how we feel when we write music and play onstage. So we went super DIY with it."

Nova Twins really encapsulate DIY punk – born partly out of necessity, partly out of unbridled artistry. They have a hand – often the only hands – in creating every detail of their work. Nova Twins seem to be at the epicentre of a rising aesthetic movement. Love says that punk is "having its heyday again." Nova Twins remind us that punk is all encompassing – it's the way they dress themselves, the way they interact with their fans, and the way they liberate themselves through the music that, I think, will define them as one of the most influential bands of this particular era. 

Love and South have a touching amount of love and respect for their fans. For them, playing live is a collaborative experience with the audience. As Love says, "It's just a really good vibe." Talking over – and with – each other, Nova Twins weave together a few words on how they want their audiences to feel when they leave the show: "Empowered," they say. "Like a boss bitch."

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Nova Twins play St Luke's, Glasgow, 10 Nov