Nova Baby - recently changed from “The Authors Band” - started in March of 2017 in the South of Pretoria and began recording their debut EP, called “Sounds Better on Headphones” on the 17th of April 2017, which then released on the 1st of July.In just the first month of release, the EP reached over 10 000 plays on Spotify and has been put on numerous international playlists and has been played on radio stations in Europe and college stations in the US. The band consists of 4 musicians from various backgrounds, from Punk Rock to the good old Blues. The current line-up consists of Lourens van der Berg as Lead Guitarist and lead Vocalist, Luco Meyer as rhythm guitarist, JW Snooke as bassist and backing Vocals, and Bernard Malherbe on the drums.
The band’s genre has been described by many as Alternative indie, but features many aspects from traditional Blues. The band draws influence from artists such as Arctic Monkeys, The Doors, The Black Keys, Lewis Capaldi and Muddy Waters.
Lourens and co-founder Luco Meyer, met through mutual friends and then decided to form a band after a couple of months had past. Luco was a session guitarist for a few local cover bands before he co-founded the band – he is also the youngest in the group, aged 18. After the release of their EP, they decided to enforce a steady drummer - Bernard then joined the group. Lourens and Bernard had a past of playing together in numerous bands, playing at small local markets to sharing a stage with a few local artists.