Artists Recommend: Nova
Artists Recommend: Nova
The Texas songwriter on the pivot from solo project to band and folk inspirations behind latest LP, "NovApocalypse," from The Magnetic Fields to Joanna Newsom.
You could argue that there hasn’t been a cultural period where past music archives have been a) easier to reference and b) referenced in larger amounts. And yet, it’s always an astonishing moment when playlists that span decades shuffle to something that doesn’t strike you as part of this era at all. Until you check the release date and it reads “May 17, 2024.”
This is the case with Nova, whose sophomore LP NovApocalypse sports folky tunes crafted with a studious lens that lets the influence of genre greats shine through, while still anchoring its material to a youthful present. Whether it’s soaring in gothic melodies or chirping with the grace of retro French pop, NovApocalypse explores its universe of loneliness gone catastrophic with aptitude and deliberation, through its titular allegory. I spoke with lead singer and songwriter Nova to find out more about the intricacies of that conceptual metaphor, their pivot from solo project to band, and the music that inspired their latest album’s entrancing folk leanings.
This interview has been lightly edited for context, clarity, and uniformity.
Evi: Please give us a basic introduction of yourself!
Nova: Hi, my name is Nova — that is my birth name. I also sing in a band named Nova. I’m turning 23 this month, which I haven’t thought too hard about. Twenty three seems like a good birthday, in the way that it isn’t a big number, it’s just another year — I find that to be comforting. I am from the US. I was born in Minnesota and moved to Texas when I was three. I currently live and go to school in Denton, Texas — I just moved from Austin, Texas. Austin, out of everything, is what feels like home to me. It’s where my band and many of my friendships were born. I’ll miss it very much while I’m gone, but I know I’ll be back.
Evi: How would you describe your sound?
Nova: I always find this question to be challenging. I would say that our last album, NovApocalypse, has mostly a folk sound with some country, pop, and indie influences. The sound differs largely from my previous album Novaville. When I put out Novaville, Nova was not a band, it was a solo project. That album had influences of pop, electronic, and indie music. I am in the process of writing a third album, which is influenced [by] music from the ’20s-’30s, jazz, and pop. So, really, it’s all over the place, but it does have somewhat of a cohesive sound I think.
Evi: How did you get into making and releasing music?
Nova: I started making music pretty young as a kid. Ages six-seven I was put in piano lessons. I stopped after seven, but had my own keyboard, so I would teach myself stuff and even taught piano lessons to a couple of other kids around age 10. I did percussion in middle school as well, but I stopped in high school. (I definitely wish I would have continued.) I did choir all through elementary to college — pretty much my entire academic career.
I have had a love/hate relationship with choir. In high school and some of college, I dreaded choir. I liked to sing the music I wanted to sing, which was mostly folk, rock, and pop music. I also hated being told that I was singing the wrong way, that I had to sing in an entirely different way — with tall vowels and in my head voice and all of that. I think my mindset has shifted somewhat since, though. I actually do enjoy a lot of the music I get to do in choir and some has even had an influence on my own work. For example, we did some medieval chants in choir last semester and I loved doing those, I thought they sounded so cool. I think it’s fine to sing different ways in different settings.
Evi: Is there a message you’d like to transmit to listeners through your music? Any goals that accompany your process?
Nova: There is no specific message I would like to transfer to my audience. Instead, I would like them to make their own interpretations. I like to hear what other people feel the song is about.
Evi: Share a little bit about your latest project!
Nova: Our most recent project is called NovApocalypse! It is an 11-track album. For this album, I wrote all of the demos (lyrics, vocals, guitar/keyboard) and showed them to the band. From there, everyone pretty much wrote their own part based on their instruments with crossover of us giving each other ideas. The original demos came from a very dark time in my life. A time where I was dealing with quite a bit of turmoil from my mental illness and substance abuse. Writing music was a big outlet for me during this time. I was influenced a lot, during this time, by apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic imagery. I was specifically really influenced by the game and TV show The Last of Us. To me, the apocalypse is not cyborgs or AI or natural disasters, although it very much might be. To me, the apocalypse is loneliness, no civilization in sight, hitting the dirt road and listening to old country and folk music. That’s sadness, that’s loneliness, that’s what my apocalypse felt like.
Nova Recommends:
Townes Van Zandt
Nova: Townes was one of the largest influences for this album. He depicts the feeling of isolation so accurately. His lyrics come from such a genuine and raw place. He once said1: “Aloneness is a state of being whereas loneliness is a state of feeling. It’s like being broke and being poor. I feel aloneness all the time and loneliness I hardly ever feel.” I think that explains the feeling better than I could ever explain — aloneness. He is also from Austin, making him extra special to me.
The Magnetic Fields — 69 Love Songs
Nova: This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I’ve listened to this album so many times and many of the songs off of it are comfort songs for me. I actually recently saw them perform this entire album in Boston earlier this year. It was amazing. I love that they all sit down when they play because I like sitting down when I play. I hate standing and playing guitar. I always practice sitting down, so why should I not perform sitting down? I love the playful, kitschy elements but also the dark, emotional pain and loss in this album. It definitely was an influence on the song “Boxcar” from our album.
Joanna Newsom — “‘81”
Nova: I love Joanna Newsom. I want to learn the harp so badly. Joanna’s lyrics are so poetic and moving. I love the medieval sound in her music. She is an amazing songwriter. Her music influenced “Bird in the Hurricane” the most from the album.
Tele Novella
Nova: Tele Novella is my favorite Texas band. I love their emphasis on themes in their music — whether it is medieval, circus, or cowboy-centered, there is always a fun element to their music. They describe themselves as “coin-operated medieval pop songs through a 1950s western lens,” which I think describes them perfectly. I recently saw them in concert with of Montreal, it was beautiful!
Fiona Apple
Nova: It’s impossible for me to write about my influences without writing about Fiona Apple. As primarily a singer/pianist, Fiona is who I look up to. Her music is just so interesting, with her usage of dissonance and her frequent inspirations of jazz progressions and chords twisted in her own style. Her jarring percussion, erupting at the most intense parts in her music — everything is so captivating. Her lyrics, though, are the best part to me. Lyrics are so important to me in music and Fiona’s writing is so fucking awesome. No other artist can make me cry as hard as she can.
Keep up with Nova on Instagram and YouTube. Check out their music on Spotify and Bandcamp.
You can find all music mentioned on “Artists Recommend” in the “Of The Moment: Artists Recommend” playlist:
Check out the series’ previous installment featuring Northern Greece R&B musician Ariel de Balkan here. Interested in more ramblings from me? Have a look at the archive, here.
From Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (2004)