Nova Twins’ Amy Love on recording Supernova, a synth-sounding riot of guitar, bass and drums

Expectations are high for Nova Twins’ second album, Supernova. The London duo of Amy Love (guitar, vocals) and Georgia South (bass) have landed on many metal fans’ radar thanks to collaborating with Bring Me The Horizon on 1x1 and Tom Morello calling them “an incredible band who deserve to be huge.” 

New single KMB (Kill My Boyfriend) continues genre-bending sound with elements of metal, grime, punk, and hip-hop. 

Amy tells Total Guitar that despite the filthy, synth-like sounds, it’s all done live: “Some of the instruments sound electronic but all the sounds were solely done on guitar, bass and drums. There’s a few bits of drum programming but there’s no synths.”

There are, however, some pedals. “The bassist’s ’board is so massive,” she says. “We can’t even fly with it. My ’board’s relatively big as well. On stage we do it all live, just hopscotching around.”

They’re tight-lipped about exactly what’s on those ’boards after an experience at an early gig: “This band actually came on the stage, snapped Georgia’s pedalboard on their phone and ran away! Since that day we were like, ‘No-one needs to know’. You can’t give away that secret sauce.” 

Guitar and amp-wise, things are more straightforward: Amy recorded most of her guitars for Supernova on a P-90-equipped Fender Mustang into a Fender Hot Rod. 

She explains KMB’s genesis: “Georgia came up with a lot of the music. We wrote it in lockdown, so we didn’t actually write it together. When it came to record it, we kept a lot of the drum programming. “Even some of the basslines, guitar and vocals we did in our bedrooms.” 

The final cut, recorded with producer Jim Abbiss [Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian], has live drums and some experimental percussion. “At points I was using a fire extinguisher!” Amy laughs.

Supernova is released in June, and as Amy says: “We’re really excited about it. It’s a rollercoaster ride!”

• Supernova is available to preorder now.