Interview

On Thursday 8th August I met Nova Twins in the underground room of a bar right next to the Olympia a few hours before their show there, opening for Prophets of Rage.

Today you’re opening for Prophets of Rage, it’s the second time, as you already toured with them in 2017. How does it feel to be ‘the best band you’ve never heard of’ for Tom Morello?

It’s great, it’s definitely an honor cause he’s one of the greatest guitarists ever. It’s crazy!

Do you think you’re gonna tour with them a third time after that?

Well, it would be great, hopefully! Never say never.

You performed on the Main Stage at the Hellfest. How did it go?

It was mental! It’s the biggest show we’ve done today, 22.000 people, moreover quite early, it was like 11.30 in the morning, everyone was going like, rings of death, everybody was running around, it was crazy.

Did you have the occasion to see other bands performing?

We really wanted to see some bands, like The Fever 333… Skindred was on, Kiss was on… We didn’t get to see anyone, we had to fly somewhere else the next day.

And this time do you have the opportunity to have more time here, to visit a bit Paris, or do you have to leave right after the show?

We already went to many shops, before the interview. We took the time to look around, which was nice. But we have to leave again… * sighs *

Where are you going just after?

To a festival called Boomtown in the UK. So after the show we’re driving to London. And then driving somewhere else. A lot of driving! * laughs *

Would you say your musical style is influenced by your life in London?

Yeah, there are loads of different music in South East London, but I also listen to American hip hop as well, like Kanye West, Eminem, Timbaland, Missy Elliott… Destiny’s Child… It’s not a mix of London’s music, it’s more like my personal sound. Also Princess Nokia, The Raconteurs, Jack White… But I also had a phase where I was more into Deep Purple, MC5… I would discover on a daily basis like I’d resonate with a big amount of what was listed like pop music, with Katy Perry, with Rihanna. I love Rihanna! It’s very mixed, it can be heavy, like we discover recently Alien Weaponry, and it was so sick. Billy Eilish, we really dig it at the moment. It’s a mix really, if you’re good you’re good. * laughs *

Of course, the label is not very important, if you feel something when you listen to the music, it’s what matters.

Exactly!

Do you have role models in general, inspirations, apart from music?

I would personally say the women in our families, because they’re really kind of strong, fiery women. On my side it was strong Iranian women. My nan was like the chief of the family, and also our moms, on your side your nan who is Jamaican. They were really strong, like ‘Don’t let anyone mess you around’, ‘Be strong, be fierce’, that’s what they’re like! So that influences us a lot, we don’t take any bullshit from anyone. They are role models for sure.

How do you compose your songs, write the melodies and lyrics, who does what?

We write together. One’s mainly lyrics, one’s mainly music, and we bring our results together.

Who would you choose to open for your own tour, which band would you like to make us discover?

People we like at the moment are quite underground like us, like Strange Bones… To open, that’s a tricky one… Maybe more like a coheadline, it could be with Fuck U Pay Us, it could be quite fun, they’re an American band, they’re really cool. They’re sick, they’ll become famous soon, we hope so!

You also have your clothes brand, Bad Stitches. How much time does it take you compared to music?

Not a lot, it depends on what we’re making actually. When we hand stitch things, on trousers for example it can take longer. We make our stage clothes, and it can be really quick, half an hour, spraying, painting, designing something… Bad Stitches is a little custom brand, we made a few jackets, we like to make people feel a part of, I don’t know, our style. Thinking oh it would be nice if people could have it as well, we used to do it as a hobby. It’s small, but we have more stuff coming. We do it when we got spare time, because music always comes first, studio comes first, so if we have an additional minute…

Your fans can buy your official merchandising and clothes designed by you, that’s cool. Do you have even more artistic projects, together or apart?

Sets, like in every video we do, we’d build the set, like painting a flat, painting the walls together… In the next video we painted something else, which is crazy, we can’t say at the moment, but you’ll see! I think music takes a lot of our time, it’s like a full-time thing, I guess when you’re in a band you spend time together mostly, so we’d do everything together.

There’s a great part of do it yourself in your music, as well as in your fashion style. Do you think music industry is too artificial and normative?

Sometimes the industry just wants a copy cut of what exists, of another band, you know, would force you to resemble someone else. We don’t like doing that, so we just do what feels right to us. I think that sometimes in music industry you can meet some people who are really really cool, who are working for bands, but the problem is that sometimes people at the top, who take the decisions, are not very brave. I think people’s scared, because there’s not as much money in the industry now, so if something works once, they think ‘It’s gonna work again, so let’s do the same thing again’, and we’re kind of against that, that’s not creating a newer artist, that’s creating an overnight sensation and gone tomorrow. We want to keep original, and it’s a long-haul game we’ve got to do, that’s fine for both of us, as long as we stay true to ourselves, that’s all that matters.

Do you feel you convey a feminist message, and an empowering image for girls and young women?

Yeah ! And not only women, but non-binary people, anyone really, anyone who feels he doesn’t fit because, you know, seeing people who look all the same, with the Kardashian look… The blondie look. We say be yourself, and don’t try to fit with the models, the skinny race, get implants… Just be you! Do what makes you feel good about yourself, it’s fine, but don’t do it because of the pressure. A lot of women, and people, especially young people, feel so much pressure, because of what is presented to them, about their appearance, in the medias and things… It’s not realistic goals because a lot of these people have been airbrushed, changed to look a certain way, and it’s so damaging. I think being ourselves can make people feel they can be themselves. It depends, we’re not judging people who want to do it, but not because of the pressure, when we go on Instagram and see so many pictures of women with big lips that are photoshopped, who get injections… They’re like 15 years old! Because of Kylie Jenner, who is so young, younger girls are doing it, because they think ‘Oh she’s done it’. It’s sad…

Do the Kardashian have such an influence in England? I don’t feel so many people try to copy them in France so I don’t realize.

Yeah, especially in Essex! Plastic surgery is common for young girls, at 17, 16… At 17 they start doing stuff and it’s a bit scary, they don’t have even grown yet!

What would you like to add, something you wish you were asked more, maybe?

Not much really, we’re just super happy to be on the Prophets of Rage tour, super excited, and it’s a great experience for a new band like us, we’re not new as we’ve been around, but more like, coming up, you know. So we’d just encourage people not to give up, be careful of what advice you take as well, some people will try to tell you ‘You should change your sound, you should change this, you should change that’, but don’t listen to that lie. Keep people you trust around you, as family, friends, they give good advice generally. And then just keep moving forward, and have that self-belief, cause that’s how we’ve been doing, even against the odds of people saying ‘You’re too heavy, you should be more pop’, we keep going forward and every time we just listen to our own intuition, we get further, and we become even more comfortable within ourselves. So we would just say to people just fuckin’ do yourself, no, not do yourself… * laughs * Do that too !