This is what makes Nova Twins’ success in 2022 so impactful. They haven’t just released a fantastic record and enjoyed an enviable run of touring to bigger and bigger venues, they also represent more than any other new(ish) band a sense of doing things differently, of affecting change. All around, rock is becoming more open, more inclusive, as a new wave of bands and fans come in. Most visible of all in 2022, it’s been them.
A tangible example: two years ago, they got in touch with Kanya King, the founder of the MOBO Awards, suggesting that there needed to be a rock and alternative category. They wrote back, “which was cool, for them to acknowledge that rock came from black origin,” Amy says. And they got chatting. On November 11, an announcement came: there would be such a section at this year’s event. Nova Twins did that.
“It’s so cool,” enthuses Amy. “Kanya King, she’s incredible. It was amazing to meet her and to hear her story, and her struggles in that industry to keep the MOBOs afloat and everything. And she’s such a strong, passionate woman. It was amazing to be able to sit there and chat to her, and exchange stories and ideas. And it’s amazing that it’s going to actually happen.”
This is constructive and cool, far removed from the all-too-common thing of negative anger pinballing around with no point. In the only time during our interview where she speaks with anything approaching anger, Amy posits that their determination and subsequent wins are a ‘fuck you’ to “people who didn’t quite get or understand what we were doing, or where we were coming from, or were making assumptions about us because of the way we looked, instead of listening to [the music].” Even here, she laughs in disbelief.
“I remember this fucking article where this band reviewed one of our songs and went, ‘Good band and everything, but what’s with all the synths and this fancy, big-budget video?’” she says. “I just thought, ‘We painted our own video fucking set! And there’s no synths on it!’ It doesn’t matter if there were synths, but there wasn’t. People always like to assume things about us, and think we’re going to be like a hip-hop band or something. And when we do something different, they’re a bit confused. So there was a lot of that sort of stuff that we had to contend with at the beginning. But in the past few years, we’ve been getting questioned a lot less, especially because alt. music and rock music has had a bit of a revival in newer bands, and it’s diversified a lot. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I still see people just being keyboard warriors and shit, even on our friends’ bands, just because they don’t like to see women in heavy music. It’s strange.”
Thankfully, though, this sort of stupidity is getting exponentially less and less. As they prepare to round out the year in Australia, and begin 2023 several thousand miles away from freezing London performing on the ShipRocked Cruise in the Bahamas alongside Parkway Drive, Motionless In White and WARGASM, it’s just another high-watermark of just how much things are blowing up for Nova Twins right now.
All that remains, then, is to ask one final question: Amy, Georgia, you’re officially the Band Of The Year. Thoughts?
“We were so shocked when we found out,” smiles Georgia. “It’s such a big thing. It’s crazy to us.”
“I guess you can get impostor syndrome sometimes,” admits Amy. “So many bands have been doing incredible, and it’s nice to be called something like that. We love Kerrang!, and it was one of the first publications to pick us up, and there was Alex Baker and Sophie K supporting us on Kerrang! Radio as well. So it will always mean a lot to us. We’re just honoured and really thankful.”
And if you thought this year was supernova, Nova Twins have barely gotten started…