What is your name and role within the band?
Amy: Singer/Guitarist
Georgia: Hey! I’m the bassist in Nova Twins.
How did you start?
Georgia: We’ve been family friends for years and always used to gig at same events but in different projects and bands, until one day we decided to write a song together as we always could relate to each other musically and got on like sisters so we thought it would be fun! And since that day we didn’t look back!
Amy: Yea, I just showed up one day and never left!
Where are you based?
Amy: I’m from Essex but we write and rehearse at G’s.
Georgia: Lewisham, South East London.
Please give an example of your music writing process?
Georgia: I like to record and tap out a drum beat in Logic that I can play bass to, then I’ll just fiddle on the bass and mess around with my pedals until I find new sounds that I like which after a while or sometimes no time at all results in a cool bassline that I like (I’m quite fussy with lines that I write haha). Then I’ll show Amy and she’ll write some sick lyrics to it and put her spin on it!
Amy: It usually starts with the bass, then i take away the idea and write to it. Once I’ve written the top line, we then record a rough demo of it to fine tune, so that we can take it straight to rehearsals and gig them shortly after.
What are you working on right now?
Amy: New songs, recordings, making things for our custom clothing range Instagram.com/badStitchesOfficial This year has been amazing so far!
Georgia: We’ve just filmed our latest video our song Thelma and Louise, it has an awesome powerful girl gang in it, the energy between all of us was great when filming! We cant wait for it to be released later this month (June 2017).
What is your gear setup?
Georgia: We’re a 3 piece when we perform live (Bass, guitar and drums), people sometimes say that we sound like more than 3 people because we have a tonne of pedals to beef up the sound. I can’t go into detail about what’s on my pedal board as it’s the Nova secret haha. 😉 But I do go through a Gallien Krueger MB212 bass amp combo which is the most underrated bass amp ever! Its beefy, light and I love it! If I can’t bring my amp with me, it’s the 8×10 ampeg bass stack that always saves the day. Mega beefcake.
Amy: I have a few pedals, no where near as big as G’s, haha but i love everything thats on there. I use a Fender Deluxe Hotrod amp, which is great… people expect us to have huge stacks but you know what they say, It’s not all about size, It’s about what you do with it… Or maybe i just made that up…
What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?
Amy: We are pretty full on with music, so in our spare time we’re either writing, catching up with friends and family or making stage clothes. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else that would distract me from the music.
Georgia: I love designing and customizing clothes when I’m not gigging. Its something we have always done together in our spare time just for fun! We’ve recently started our own clothing range of bespoke demin jackets that we have customized and hand sewn ourselves, under the name Instagram.com/badStitchesOfficial. Check it out!!
How would you describe your music genre?
Georgia: Its hard to describe our music genre as I feel like we’re forever mutating.. Now I just like to call it the “Nova Sound”. I more like hearing other people describe our music as they always say different things and have their own take on it which is interesting.
Amy: If there was a box, we would tick “Other”
Do you know any music theory?
Amy: Nope, Georgia’s dad taught me a few power chords, then i locked myself in my bedroom for a while and took it from there. I just enjoy being creative. My voice and guitar is what i chose to express myself on.
Georgia: No… I don’t like the idea of playing other people’s music as a way of learning how to play an instrument. I personally think that you’ll just end up picking up their habits and style and never find your own.. I’d rather create my own music and find my own way. I have respect for those that do know how to read music though because it looks hard haha and it is an art.
What are your plans for the future?
Georgia: Tour more of the world! We just came back from playing a few festivals in South Africa and Reunion and I was blown away by the beauty of the countries and just being on a whole new adventure and being immersed in different cultures was insane I loved it! I’d love to gig in Japan one day..
Amy: Just to keep going as far as we can. Traveling the world with our music use to seem like a far fetched dream, we worked hard with hope but the realisation that we are actually doing it now blows my mind and feels kind of surreal. It goes to show, if you believe in something enough and have perseverance, it will eventually pay off!
How did you get into music?
Amy: I have always wanted to sing and perform since i can remember. My aunt Bev encouraged me to do what i loved and my mum has always supported me doing the things that made me happy. On my journey i eventually met Georgia’s family, who fully got behind us and still are helping us as we are not managed. They keep us in check!
Georgia: My whole family is musical so I was probably grooving out to some jazz and listening all sorts of music while I was still in the womb.. When I came out, my dad taught me how to play the piano and I loved doing that when I was really young (Maybe 7- 12 years old). Till one day when I was around 12 I picked up the bass and I still remember now feeling a strange feeling when I was playing it that this was my true calling instrument haha. And I’ve been playing bass ever since.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Georgia: Ermmmm most played on my phone right at this second is…The Internet, H.E.R, Etta Bond, Kid Kapichi, Jazmine Sullivan and ho99o9.
Amy: All the above artists are super cool. Really like this band called Toybloid and Calva Louise, Ive got my go to play list that i always rinse, my recent finds.. there is so many! I recently received a beautiful Vinyl of Betty Davis, I will be spinning that on repeat for sure!
Who are your top 5 influences and icons?
Amy: Hard question, I guess, Jack White, Betty Davis, Kate Bush, Mick Jagger, Toni Braxton… They are not all obvious and not necessarily about the music. It could even be one song, or one vocal line or even one performance that resonated with me.
Georgia: Erm I don’t really have anyone I properly looked up to musically as I was always in my own little bubble. But top people I remember listening to when I was really young were Stevie Wonder, N.E.R.D, Beyonce/Destinys Child, and Timberland/Missy Elliot. In some way or form they must of shaped the music I write today.
When are you playing next?
Georgia: We’re supporting this sick band called Ho99o9 in London at The Underworld on June 21st. We played a TV Show with them in Paris not too long ago, so its gonna be fun to do a London show with them too 🙂
Amy: We also have a lot of festivals coming up including Afropunk Paris and a few pop up gigs with Dr Martens and Selfridges, keep your eyes peeled 🙂 xoxo.
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