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The tight-knit trio began when Harris and Baxter began making what they dubbed “country-friend techno” together in 2017. One of their first songs was born from Harris dictating her dreams to her new bandmate and their first show, at night called Narcissistic Exhibitionism at The Five Bells pub in New Cross, took place just two weeks after they met. The night was curated by Harris and featured painting, sculpture and photography upstairs, and bands on the ground floor. She booked PVA as headliners.
After this early stage they then recruited Satchell to bring a new dimension to their live shows. These more muscular gigs helped PVA establish a cult reputation among London gig-goers, particularly as they barely put any music online. Seeing the live show was really the only option. They established themselves as key players in south London’s fervent indie scene alongside Squid, black midi and Black Country, New Road. This then led to slots at SXSW, Pitchfork Music Festival and Green Man as well as national tours with Shame, Dry Cleaning and Goat Girl. Even in their earliest iterations, however, their existence beyond the confines of a traditional band set-up were clear. It wasn’t unusual to be able to catch them twice in one night, once at Brixton sweatbox The Windmill and again in the early hours DJing at Deptford’s subterranean Bunker club.
The group released their debut single ‘Divine Intervention’ through Speedy Wunderground in late 2019 with debut EP ‘Toner’ arrived a year later via Ninja Tune, home to similarly iconoclastic acts including Young Fathers and Kae Tempest. The EP featured a remix of ‘Talks’ from Mura Masa that picked up a GRAMMY nomination in the category of Best Remixed Recording at the 2022 ceremony.
On their debut album PVA carry that same energy from the live circuit, while also building out a holistic world full of texture and heart. BLUSH is rich with industrial-sized beats that pack a heavyweight punch, jagged punk spirit, and moments of hushed contemplation from Harris’ poetic lyrics. It sprints tirelessly throughout, linking influences including Portishead, PC Music, Laurie Anderson, and cult rave-pop duo The Pom-Poms with ease.