One of New Zealand’s most dominant live acts, Devilskin, have spent the last few months playing across 14 European countries on a sold-out tour with Halestorm, as well as headlining their own 10 date UK tour. It’s been a crazy two years since Devilskin played with Disturbed at Spark Arena in November to a full-house of 11,000 people on the release of their second album, which like their first, entered the NZ album chart at #1.
Devilskin return to Australia supporting Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators after having converted a legion of new fans and hard-rocking friends all over Europe and the British Isles and their previous Australian tour in January 2017 where they performed with Halestorm on a 3-date sold out Australian tour. We talk to singer Jennie Skulander about all the latest with the band and the upcoming tour.
Andrew: Thanks for your time today, really appreciate it! So obviously we have some big things to talk about, first it’s exciting for you guys and for us to see you guys touring with Slash in a weeks time.
Jennie: Yeah we are really looking forward to it! Very looking forward to coming over and playing Aussie as well, bring it on!
Andrew: Yeah definitely! I assume you’re fans of those guys and the various projects they have been involved with?
Jennie: Yeah I guess so! We did open for Slash and Myles Kennedy last time they were here in New Zealand in 2015 so it’s cool to be doing it again.
Andrew: How was that experience and what are those guys like to hang out with and stuff?
Jennie: The experience was great, we only did 2 shows in New Zealand last time but they were really nice. Slash was just absolutely lovely, he’s sort of more quiet these days off the drugs and the booze [laughs]. But we had a good old chat to him so it will be nice to catch up with him again so really looking forward to that.
Andrew: You had quite a busy year in 2018 with a couple of runs with Halestorm and such so looking back on that last 12 months, how have things been with the band so far?
Jennie: Yeah real busy! The Halestorm tour obviously and in October we were in Europe so it was 18 shows in 25 days, we started in October in the middle of Spain but before we left we did a few shows in New Zealand and after the Europe tour we did some shows in the UK. So in 6 weeks we did about 36 shows all up, we came back and did some more shows with a very popular band that came out in the 2000’s in New Zealand called Blindspot together and obviously had a few weeks off and now doing Slash. The last 6 months of 2018 was very busy for us and all this time as well we’ve been writing a new album!
Andrew: I was going to ask because it’s been a couple of years since “Be Like The River” came out and I know you put out a single a couple of months ago, if you were thinking of the next album. Now that you’ve mentioned it how has it been going so far?
Jennie: Great we’ve got at least 30 songs at the moment, we’re going to be in the studio come April and looking to release it a few months after that. I think we would of recorded it last year if the Halestorm Europe tour didn’t come up but it was too much of an opportunity to not take up, so the album got put on hold [laughs].
Andrew: Well with Halestorm we’re big fans of that band and we’ve talked to a couple of guys in that band but we’ve never managed to have a chat with Lizzie so what is she like in person?
Jennie: Oh she’s absolutely lovely! She’s real cool, real down to earth, they’re all real down to earth. We were hanging out with them across Europe obviously and when they came to New Zealand a few years ago they opened for us and then we went over to Aussie and we opened for them. Absolutely lovely people and we get on really well, can’t wait to catch up with them again when they come back over here.
Andrew: Yeah definitely so a lot happening with the new album coming and the upcoming tour so it sounds like 2019 is maybe in some ways going to be an even bigger year than last year.
Jennie: Yeah I think so! It’s all looking pretty busy but it’s great though.
Andrew: Yeah you guys are doing great stuff and it’s not often that we hear a lot of bands from New Zealand come out and get the kind of success that you guys have so it’s cool to see that. What’s the music scene like in New Zealand at the moment? Is it going really well?
Jennie: Yeah it’s going great! I mean every time we do shows the crowd is amazing and very supportive of rock music so it’s great, pumping at the moment definitely.
Andrew: And now that you have done some touring overseas and in Australia and such, what do you think are the main differences around the world as far as the crowd reactions and how they respond to your music?
Jennie: I guess it’s the shock when you play somewhere and they haven’t seen you before because they’re not used to seeing someone like me getting up and then doing major deep balls growls [laughs] which always sort of gives them a fright. But the reactions have been great and obviously a lot of fans have been coming to the shows for a few years now, we’re almost 10 years old actually. But you’re also building up these crowds in Europe and UK and whatever so you just keep going over and try to build up that crowd and hope the crowds are even more ever year.
Andrew: Yeah and the Slash tour will step that up to a different level, I guess the idea behind the bigger support slots is that you get to play in front of I guess, almost new crowds with every new band I suppose.
Jennie: Yeah exactly and making new fans and that’s how it was for us in Europe with Halestorm. We had only really played Germany I think maybe 4 years in a row but we were going to places like Spain, Italy and Austria and we’ve made all these new fans. We still get these fans saying, ‘Oh come back to Denmark, come back to Paris” on our Instagram and it’s like, ‘Yes!’ [laughs]. We will!
Andrew: [laughs] Sure and outside of New Zealand and even Australia as well, do you have a particular favorite place that you have been to at all?
Jennie: We did play in Hollywood a few years ago at the Whisky A Go Go which was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed Germany, playing Hamburg was probably my favorite place we played when we were there last time. Denmark was amazing and always have a soft spot for the UK, love going back there and going back to London and just playing shows there because there’s a massive Kiwi crowd there as well. A lot of Kiwis in London [laughs].
Andrew: Oh wow ok! So let’s go back into a little of your history, how did you get involved in music? Was there a particular band or anything that sort of made you stand up and go, ‘I want to do that for a living?’
Jennie: Yeah my Dad was always into heavy metal like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and that sort of stuff and I grew up listening to that and then got to high school and there was all these bands jamming in the music room so I stayed there at lunch time and watched them. Of course I started getting into music like Deftones and Slipknot and these nu-metal bands at the time and I was like, ‘I would love to be able to do that’, that’s what I wanted to do. I remember in high school everyone was applying for university and stuff or getting ready to travel and I was like, ‘Na I’m going to be a rock star, I’m going to travel the world with my band’ and I didn’t actually think it would come true and it did and I’m pretty stoked doing something I love [laughs].
Andrew: Absolutely it’s not something that everyone gets a chance to do. Reading into your bio as well, the band is interesting in how it was formed. It seems quite family oriented, everyone is connected to each other. How did all that come about?
Jennie: Yeah so Paul (Martin, bass) approached me to start a band and I said no and then they all approached me later to start a band about 10 years ago. I had already known them from other bands that my band who had previously just broken up, had played with and then about a year later I met Paul’s wife’s brother who is now my husband which makes Paul my brother in-law and because Nic (Martin, drums) being Paul’s son makes Nic my nephew. But me and Nail (Tony Vincent, guitar) are not related but his last name is Vincent which my Uncle who married my Mum’s sister, he’s a Vincent so I don’t know, we might be related somewhere down the line [laughs].
Andrew: [laughs] That’s another thing we don’t get to see very often is that bands usually come together through mutual friends or through ads or whatever so they are almost complete strangers in a way. So it’s interesting that not only do you guys know each other but that you’re all related to each other in a way which is very cool and interesting. I guess that helps with the chemistry of the band I suppose.
Jennie: Yeah definitely. We all get on really well and it definitely helps with touring, the long tours and lots of late nights and bugger all sleep and stuff so we get along with each other because we’re family, it’s really good.
Andrew: Yeah very cool so we are looking forward to seeing you guys. We’re based in Perth so we’re keen to see you guys over here with Slash and I think it’s going to be a good time, certainly for me personally as it will be the first time seeing you guys live.
Jennie: I’m looking forward to getting to Perth because I haven’t been there and it’s a place I’ve wanted to go to for a long time so really excited about that!
Andrew: Well if you do have some free time over here do check out the Bon Scott memorial in Fremantle, it is something a lot of bands do check out when they are over this side of the country.
Jennie: Yeah definitely do that!
Andrew: Thanks for your time, really appreciate it. Good luck on the tour, have fun with Slash and the rest of the guys and we will see you in a couple of weeks.
Jennie: Cool sounds good!
Slash Ft Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators Australian & New Zealand Tour Dates
with Devilskin
Tauranga Friday 25 January – Baypark Arena
Auckland Saturday 26 January – Spark Arena
Sydney Monday 28 January – Qudos Bank Arena
Brisbane Wednesday 30 January – Brisbane Convention Exhibition Centre
Melbourne Friday 1 February – Margaret Court Arena
Perth Sunday 3 February – RAC Arena
Tickets: TegDainty.com
