Devilskin: Hot - and taking their sizzle on tour

Devilskin members Paul Martin, Jennie Skulander, Nic Martin and Nail still have day jobs, but will they need them much longer?

If you want to see Devilskin on stage you’ll have to move fast, writes Paula Yeoman

The hype may have died down in the months since the release of Devilskin's chart-topping debut album, We Rise, but it's cranking up again as the Hamilton rockers plot their upcoming summer tour.

Fans be warned. Devilskin is among the hottest acts in Kiwi rock right now. We Rise is one of the top-selling albums this year and their recently released Live at The Powerstation CD/DVD shot straight into the charts too, and tickets to a live gig sell fast. So, if you snooze, you lose.

It is fantastic news for a band whose members are still holding down day jobs to keep the dream alive. It's "mind blowing", says singer Jennie Skulander.

"I'm looking back on the year, and I can't believe all of this has happened. For the album to do so well and then the live CD/DVD to enter the charts at number 12, it's amazing to have two albums in the top 40."

The group's soaring popularity should come as no surprise. New Zealand is a nation of metalheads and the hunger for solid, meat-and-potatoes rock continues to grow. But, in Devilskin's case, it's much more than that. This is a band with an edge - Skulander as front woman for starters.

"Having a female fronting the band has helped," she says. As has the element of surprise: "You know, I've been singing in bands since I was about 15. It took me a while to figure out my image. But my favourite is the burlesque look. But it's not really all that 'rock'. So, if you've never seen Devilskin before, you might turn up and think, 'What kind of music is this?'. I've had people ask me before a gig, 'Are you a rockabilly band?' and I'm like um, 'Not quite'."

Not quite, indeed. Devilskin's sound is grunty, power-rock, delivered hard and fast by a fierce Skulander, who's known to grace the stage with any number of frightening props.

"We like to put on a stage show rather than just be a band playing, you know, just standing there. We move around a lot. I like to bring out a few surprises. Like, on the last tour, I came on stage with a chainsaw, and I rarked that up. And I've got a gun that shoots CO2 or sometimes shoots glitter. It's the party gun."

There are a few more surprises for those lucky enough to get tickets to this summer's tour. "Yep, we've got a few more tricks up our sleeve," smiles Skulander.

For tour dates visit devilskin.co.nz