You recorded Parasites and Butterflies with Rich Costey in Vermont. What went into your decision to record here?

Georgia: I think fate kind of put us all together with schedules and everything aligning. It was quite sudden that the opportunity came up to work with Rich. Obviously, we jumped at it and flew to America and did it with him in Vermont. [laughs] It was a really great experience. We were kinda in the middle of the woods for about four weeks, and we had the Foo Fighters tour in the middle of it and a few festivals. It was a crazy trip.

How did the environment impact the recording?

Amy: It was quite a juxtaposition from our rooms in winter, where we started writing the album. By the time we went to Vermont to record it everything was welcomed, like the scenery because it’s so green there. It was in the middle of the woods. It was a winter going into spring kind of thing and it was really beautiful and exactly what we needed; the calm, the peace. We had a studio dog, she was the engineer’s dog and it was just lovely. It was just what we needed.

There needs to be more studio pets; they just make everything that much better.

Georgia: They really do!

Amy: They do! She was so sweet as well.

You also worked with three different drummers remotely for the album. What was that experience like?

Georgia: That was really fun. We Zoom-called in to them in their studios. We had Ilan Rubin in L.A., and then we had Zep in the Netherlands. Then we had Jake [Woodward], who tours with us, who recorded at Marshall Studios in Milton Keynes. It was crazy having this global drum session happening. [laughs] But it actually worked really well. I think because they had the camera set up right by them on the kit, it felt like we were even more in the room than we would be in the actual studio with them.

Amy: It was a really good way to be able to work with the drummers that you want to but without having to fly everywhere and try to figure it out.

Growth is a huge theme on the album. How do you feel you’ve grown as people and as musicians during your time working on the album?

Amy: With the theme, we like to say it is the bridge between chaos and beauty and just addressing all sides of the spectrum. We’ve always been known to be like Supernova, superhuman, superpowered, and we are definitely still those girls, but also, we are all human at the end of the day. It’s very important to share both sides of the coin and to make sure that people understand that there is power in being vulnerable as well. You don’t always have to be this front-facing titan; you can be vulnerable and honest with your emotions and still be just as powerful by sharing that. That went into the album a lot.

I think we say each year that it doesn’t ever stay the same. We naturally just evolve. We naturally grow. We definitely got more into the production on our side. We enjoyed that part of the growth. We’ve learned a lot, and to look back and see what we can do ourselves is really great.

What’s helped you embrace that vulnerability and lean more into taking care of your mental health?

Georgia: I think from our experiences touring, we’ve learned how to monitor our mental health more. We always just write how we feel. We wrote this album in the depths of winter, coming off the road from touring for like 2 years, so we were naturally feeling quite low just from the spikes and drops in adrenaline. We love touring so much, it’s like our favourite thing to do, but it does naturally take a toll on your mental health. So writing the album straight after that was definitely a learning experience of strength and resilience in itself of having to find light in the darkness and find creativity even when you’re feeling a bit lost. We definitely feel very proud of this album and how it all came together.

Did you have a song that was the most cathartic to write?

Amy: I think for me, personally, maybe “Monsters”. That’s probably the song that was in the chaos. [laughs] That was good. It was just kinda letting it all out.

Georgia: For me, I feel like my song in the chaos was “Parallel Universe”. I love it because it sounds chaotic and dark, but it’s almost like befriending the darkness and chaos and just reveling in it. That was also fun. [laughs] You have to let it out and project it in a positive way.

Amy: With that one, you must’ve really been going through it then.

[laughter]

How would you describe your songwriting process?

Amy: It’s always daunting when you’re staring down the barrel of an album. We had a really fun time with Supernova, and it was a really important album for us. You always think like, “Can we do this again? How are we gonna create another album?” Then you’re one song in, then you’re two, three, four songs in, and when you get halfway, you’re like, “Great, an album’s shaping up. We’ve still got it!”

I think that’s a learning process for us to know that we do have it in different shapes and forms. We rode the wave of the creativity, it wasn’t always there. It was just a different way again. For the first album we had all our lives to write it, for the second album we had lockdown, and for this one we didn’t have any of that time. It was just straight off the back of a tour like, “Go and be creative when all you’ve done is live in a van for two years.”

We did a lot of catching up on ourselves, and that’s why it was written in quite a chaotic period. I think at the end of it all, to know that we managed to come through it, we wrote an album, and now we’re gigging it, it feels mad. It feels quite far away. We wrote this album the Christmas before last Christmas. We have our proper headline tour at the end of the year, and I think that’s the reward - just gigging it because that’s what we love the most. [laughs]

Georgia: We always imagine songs to be played live, so it’s great to be able to play them live. We haven’t been able to contain ourselves, we’ve just been putting unreleased songs in the set because we really wanna play them. [laughs]

Amy: Yeah, we’re about to put in more as well.

Which ones have you been playing live?

Georgia: We’ve done “Glory”, “Drip”, and "N.O.V.A.".

Amy: We’re playing “Monsters”, “Piranha”, “Soprano”, but those are all out. They’re in the set. The only reason there’s not more is because we’ve been busy, but we’ve got a few days at home and we’re going to try to get some up and ready so we can get some more in.

Do you have one you’re most excited to get in the set?

Amy: I go through different phases, personally. I think at the moment, I’m quite looking forward to putting “Parallel Universe” and “Hummingbird” in. It was “Black Roses” but for some reason now, I’ve gone to “Parallel Universe”. [laughs]

Georgia: I’m excited about those ones as well. “Black Roses” I’m excited about.

Amy: I’m excited about all of them, I can’t wait. I’m excited about “Hide and Seek”. It just brings a different flavour. “Sandman” as well, because it has got a heavy breakdown.

Georgia: We’re excited to build the headlining show.

On “Hummingbird” you have a sample of “Lullaby” by Mahsa Vahdat. What’s the story behind the sample?

Amy: Mahsa is an Iranian singer and that tune is paying respect to my mum and my nan, they’re both passed now. Because they’re Iranian, it felt like a nice sentiment to bring the culture into the music. We both created this world of dreamy landscapes, almost like the part in grief where you’re accepting it and letting go, almost, of that period. We’re super happy with that song because it came out so dreamy and exactly how we envisioned it.

On “Hurricane” you reference Queen Amina. What drew you to her story in particular?

Amy: That’s actually a Nigerian reference. I’m half Nigerian as well. We just like to bring our cultures into it sometimes, and we like to reference strong women. Muhammad Ali is referenced in there as well. I think the thing is we can be as strong as any man and we can fight like a warrior queen. We just like to bring our heritage into it sometimes.

You self-directed the video for “Piranha” and there’s a Blair Witch Project reference near the end. What was the filming and directing process of the video like?

Georgia: That was so fun because it was very unexpected. We had very little budget for this video. We had such a small skeleton crew. Our friends had woods at the back of their house, so they were like, “You can film in the woods.” Fin [Frew], the drone operator, made this tiny pond look like the Amazon rainforest! [laughs] In real life, it’s just a small pond, but the drone shot was just stunning. We were vivid red amongst the trees.

I think we just had a lot of fun. The weather was perfect. Because everything was set up outside, our pedalboards got so dusty with all the leaves. Our crew was like, “Where have you been with your gear? It’s all just covered in dust!” We were like, “Been in the woods!” [laughs] They were brand new pedalboards as well.

You’ll be touring Europe and the UK this fall, and you have your largest headlining show to date on this run. What are you most looking forward to about these shows?

Amy: Just connecting with our audience, the community that we’ve built over the years. There’s nothing quite like it. We’ve built this safe space, kind of. It’s for all the people who feel like how we always felt, on the outside looking in. Everyone can just show up. We really promote coming as your best self, whatever that is to you, and everyone has that sense of freedom and fun. It’s much needed.

A song never really comes alive until you play it live. For us, that’s the cherry on top. It’s our favourite thing to do, is to play. Not the traveling so much, that’s the long part, but the playing is fucking great! As long as you get there, it’s like, “Woo!” [laughs]

What helps you look after your mental health on tour?

Georgia: We’ve started journaling, which is really fun. We started in January and we both got these cute little diaries. We write in there every night and that really helps. Just to have more of a routine of something you can do every day that grounds you again when everything is so different and crazy every day. You can come back to this journal. [laughs]

I think being more open in terms of if your social battery is feeling drained or if you feel a bit off, just communicating it. It’s fine to have to go for a walk by yourself and just chill. And trying to get as much sleep as we can because last tour was hardcore, we wouldn’t sleep for days and try to fit in as many shows as we could from LA to Bristol to Glasgow to God-knows-where. [laughs] It was crazy. We’re just trying to be more mindful with that. We’ve got a really amazing team that we travel with who also help keep morale high. We’re a really good unit.

Which part of Parasites and Butterflies are you proudest of?

Amy: It’s really hard. I feel like generally, the album as a whole. The songs are all very different from each other as well. You’ve got all these different concepts and energies. I think when we look back at the album, that’s the story. That’s the final thing. Like I said earlier, I was really excited to put “Black Roses” in the set but then it changes, it depends what mood you’re in. Now I’m in a “Fuck it!” chaotic mood.

[laughter]

Amy: I need to bring out “Parallel”! It just depends. For me, I would say I'm proud of the album as a whole.

Georgia: I would say the same, like as a whole body of work. It takes a lot to put a whole album together. You don’t see all behind the scenes; it’s not just writing it, it’s recording it, mixing it, then mastering it, and ordering it. It takes a long time. I think we’re proud of being proud of the work. [laughs]