As the saying goes, you have your entire life to write your debut album, but once it is released, the clock is ticking for the follow up. For Georgia South and her partner Amy Love in the hard-rocking duo Nova Twins, their deadline for their sophomore album Supernova [2022] was pressure-free due in part to the pandemic. But when the London-based outfit returned from a successful two year stretch of touring the world, they faced a four-month window to compose and complete their third album. After seemingly avoiding the sophomore stress, they were now facing high stakes.

Despite South and Love’s popularity being on the rise, their albums streaming at a high level, their shows being moved to larger and larger venues, and receiving praise from artists such as Elton John and Rage Against the Machine deeming them as the next big thing in rock, South found herself in a dark place with the ticking clock imposing. She channeled that angst and took it out on her bass and vast pedalboard, which quickly took the form of the songs which would become the pair’s upcoming album Parasites & Butterflies. 

The album finds South at the forefront, commanding what she refers to as “lead bass.” with her effect-laden lines conveyed through her now doubled-in-size pedalboard and trusty Westone bass. But don’t expect to cop her sound completely, as she goes to great lengths in keeping her effect collection a secret, taping each individual pedal to cover their logo and staying quiet on her stompboxes of choice. Enlisting producer Rich Costley ]Deftones, Foo Fighters, Muse] and traveling to his studio in Vermont to record the album, South brought her entire live rig to the sessions to make sure to capture her live sound as impeccably as possibly. A feat that she achieved, as her tone is thunderous in the mix and changes texturally for each track.

On the cusp of releasing the album, South and Love are preparing for another long stretch of touring ahead filled with festival stops and new regions they have yet to perform in. Now that the gloom has lifted from the pressure of the album, South’s relief has turned into excitement in bringing the new sound of the Nova Twins to the world.

How does it feel to be on the cusp of releasing your new album Parasites & Butterflies?

We actually wrote it in the winter of 2023, so it’s been quite a long time coming. Now we’re getting the live show ready for our headline tour that begins in September, so we’re going to put ten songs from the album in the set. We’re just itching to play them live because when you’re in the studio or writing at home you’re just imagining what it’ll be like through a fat PA with a crowd.

What was your inspiration going into writing this?

We came home after two years on the road in the depths of UK winter and had four months to have the entire album written. Mentally we were not in a good place. We never pre-plan what an album is going to be like, it just floods through us. When we started writing we realized that the album sounded quite dark. We couldn’t help it. After six songs we knew we needed a little bit of light on the album, so we changed gears when we wrote the rest of them. In the end we were very proud of how the album helped us heal through this crazy time.

How much of this was written collaboratively and how much was ideas you wrote on your own?

This album we wrote quite separately because we didn’t have a lot of time, so it turned into kind of a conveyor belt of ideas. It actaully worked well, like a song factory. I would start on an idea and then I’d send it to Amy and she’d finish it off, and she’d do the same and that would knock out two songs at once. That’s how we got the album done so quickly. We work really well as a team and always let each other be as crazy and inventive as possible. We don’t put boundaries up on weirdness. We like to be as mental as we can.

How do you go about writing on bass?

Sometimes I will be driving in the car and I’ll randomly get a riff in my head and I’ll hum it into my phone. I also really like to make drumbeats on Logic and play to the beats. I feel like an inspiring drumbeat is super important to me for writing. Really, it’s whatever way the song or the riff comes out. I always have my bass close by when I’m writing.

How would you say your sound is different and evolved from Supernova (2022)?

It’s different because we allowed ourselves to be more vulnerable on this album. Supernova was about having super strength and feeling empowered, and we had to be superheroes in that time because it felt like the world was ending with the pandemic. With this album we were in a different kind of headspace that felt dark and cloudy so it just naturally went in that direction.

What was it like working with producer Rich Costley?

It was so much fun, but I was a bit nervous at first because we had never worked with an American producer or recorded in the States. We had only met him on Zoom once or twice before we went out there. But we had the best ice breaker because he invited us to an eclipse party at his studio. We were watching this phenomenon happening together and it felt like the universe was telling us that this was just right. He amazing at recording things in a very raw way and finding amazing tones. He worked me so hard! He pushed me to get the best takes and it was great.

How did he capture your bass?

We developed a lot of our live sound to be exactly what we want, so I went in with my full rig and my pedalboard just like I would for a show. Before we recorded we had a pre-production session to hear what everything sounded like in a live setting. He took that setup and recorded it through his amazing sound cards and deluxe studio gear. I brought the amp head I tour with and all of my specific pedals and he added the polish. We ran the whole rig through his amp at one point and that was a crazy thing.

Your tone varies a lot throughout the course of the album. Did you write these songs with effects or add them later?

I always write with my pedals, which is difficult because I have a massive pedalboard that takes up my whole room. I like to envision the songs as a producer would when I write them, so the sound of the bass is important to what I’m writing. Even if I hum an idea in my head, I know which pedals I want to use for that idea. I like to approach writing on my bass with the mentality of a producer making electronic music, where the upswings and builds before choruses are there from pedals and all of the different sounds are incorporated from the start. The fun of it is trying to do all of that live and tapdancing and doing the tightrope walk on my pedalboard. It’s all so regimented and it feels like the shows are all on a thin piece of thread, but that’s the rush of it. I have to use my pedals the same exact way for each song every night.

Your pedalboard has doubled in size since last time we spoke. Are you constantly adding to your effects collection?

It just escalated, to be honest. I remember when I got my first big pedalboard when I was a teenager and I got the package in the mail and I was so embarrassed that it was so big. But now it’s double that size and I’m proud of it. I need everything on that board, to be honest. The way our sound has evolved and how wide we want our sound to be, they’re all essential. We’re a trio live, so I have to cover a lot of ground on bass.

I’ve also heard that you’re private about what is on your pedalboard. Is this true? Did you pick that up from Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine? 

I keep them very secret. I had been doing that for a while even before I was on the tour with Rage. It started early on when I’d have my board onstage and all of these unruly boys would run up and take pictures of it and post it online. One day I decided to get loads of duct tape and cover all of my pedals so you can’t tell what they are. Even now it’s fun to keep it secret because people guess what it is. When people do bass covers of our songs they do amazing covers, but because they don’t know what the pedals are they do them in their own way, which is so cool. They end up having their whole on take on the song. I love that the audience can find their own voice through playing our songs.

It’s hard to classify your music because it pulls from rock, metal, rap, R&B, and so much more. How would you describe it?

When I first started learning bass I never learned covers, I just did my own thing. I was really into hip-hop and hearing how producers like Timbaland would side chain his synths and how groups like Prodigy or N.E.R.D. were engineering their bass. Heavier bands like Deftones and Slipknot inspired my sound as well. I took all of the bands and music that interested me and incorporated it into my playing. It’s all a culmination of those different things. Bass can be a lead instrument, and it has so many frequencies and scope, so it’s how you decide to use it. 

What do you love about writing as a duo and performing as a trio?

I love the space it gives me. Bass is my voice in the band and I feel lucky to have the space to be that crazy involved in the tones and stepping out front with riffs. If there were more instruments there would be a shortage of what I could do and what my sound would have to be. I’m very thankful to be in this format. Amy and I are so in sync in everything we do and we love being a duo. We’re very like-minded and we’ll know what the song needs and when a song is finished. We’re very intuitive and we allow each other to have the space to grow and explore. I love the way her guitar and my bass fit together on our music and it all happens very naturally.

You’ve played Westone Thunder basses your whole career but recently got a Prohaszka bass custom made. Tell us how you designed that.

A friend connected the dots between us and Balazs Prohaszka, and he wanted to make us instruments. It was mind blowing to us. He asked us to draw up our dream bass and guitar, so we did and sent him a sketches, and he took every little detail and put it in the instruments. For my neck I actually measured the Westone neck and he built it to those exact measurments. It’s made out of the same wood and feels exactly the same. He even put Westone and Thunderbird pickups in there. I love it so much. It’s a super bass. This bass has crept into the set a lot more because it’s so nice to play and it’s stunning. But I’m still so loyal to my Westone bass because it’s the first bass I ever had. It has such a heavy tone.

How would you say you’ve evolved as a player since the beginning of Nova Twins?

I think it’s the range of what I can capture onstage now with the bass. The evolution of starting out playing through a tiny combo and hitting the road with Prophets of Rage and Tim Commerford being like, You’re playing through this? I’ve been able to grow and have bigger amps and more sounds at my disposal. Our sound engineer is kind of our secret member because he’s helped us to be able to do things and split things in a way where people might assume we have backing tracks, but we don’t. Everything you’re hearing during our show is coming through our instruments and our amps. My dad and I built my first pedalboard together and looking back now, it’s amazing how much we’ve evolved and how far we’ve come.

What is it like getting praise from stars like Elton John, who calls your music “phenomenal”?

It’s truly surreal that these icons even take the time to lift up the new bands coming through. It’s so inspiring to us when they take us on tour and give us advice. Even though we’ve been a band for a very long time and they tell us to keep going and that we’re on the right path.

You’ve been playing massive stages and touring with big artists. How different are your shows now from even two years ago?

It’s definitely fun playing through a huge PA as a bassist; when you can feel the subs rattling through you it’s amazing. Playing massive festivals with oceans of people is remarkable, but I also love playing small venues. It’s so chaotic with everyone piled together and there’s sweat dripping off the ceiling; it’s wild. It feels almost feral. There’s something to be said about both and I love them both equally.

What is a Nova Twins concert like from your perspective? What’s going through your head?

There’s a lot going on in my head at that time. I’m trying to balance turning into a feral beast onstage, which happens when you play heavy, crazy music. It becomes you and it’s amazing. On the other hand I have to keep my shit together because I have to navigate so many pedals and if I dial in one wrong thing then it’ll sound off or fall out of sequence. We never drink before we go onstage. I could not do what I do if I did.

What advice would you give about taking the sounds in your head when you’re writing to the stage or the studio?

I personally, have spent so much time working on sounds and experimenting for hours so that before I get on tour or in the studio, I’m fully ready and I know my set up inside and out. Never be underprepared. Be the one who is staying late working everything out and feeling comfortable with your set up. Preparation is key, but you also have to allow yourself to have fun with it. Sometimes the glitches are the best part. When a pedal spirals out and goes crazy it can still sound cool sometimes. Keep an open mind to endless possibilities—especially for bass. We are not limited to playing clean root notes and sticking to that role. It should all be fun.

Hear Her On: Parasites & Butterflies, Nova Twins [2025]

Gear

Bass Westone Thunder 1, Prohaszka Guitars Custom Bass, Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird, Fender American Ultra II Meteora Bass

Rig Ampeg SVT450H with an Ampeg 610HLF cab, Marshall Valvestate VS100H with a 1960BX cab

Effects “I keep my pedalboard secrets close to my chest, but I love boutique and analog pedals! I always find they have their own unique flavor to them.”

Strings: Rotosound and Ernie Ball Medium Gauge

For more on the Nova Twin: Click Here