![\"Devilskin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PBLALKVZGZBXBDJMMDNKDAMMCI.jpg\")
\nDevilskin announced six shows in July and August to celebrate their album Be Like The River. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
A recent osteoarthritis diagnosis means Jennie Skulander, lead singer of Hamilton metal band Devilskin, has to be stricter about her health.<\/p>\n
Skulander has spent more than two decades fronting one of New Zealand\u2019s most successful metal acts and it has started to take a toll, she tells RNZ\u2019s Culture 101.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of my jaw. So, I\u2019ve got to do a few things differently now, well, actually, a lot of things differently now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just trying to look after yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s also, everything\u2019s got to be down to a T. I\u2019ve given up drinking a lot of alcohol, I\u2019ve cut right down on caffeine, I\u2019ve tried to make sure that sleep is my main priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s necessary to keep her pipes in working order, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more tired you are, the worse your voice is going to sound the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four-piece alternative metal band, Skulander on vocals, guitarist Tony \u201cNail\u201d Vincent, bassist Paul Martin and drummer Nic Martin, formed in Hamilton in 2010 and have gone on to tour the world.<\/p>\n
\nDevilskin announced six shows in July and August to celebrate their album Be Like The River. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
The band, which won the People\u2019s Choice award at the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards, has announced six shows across the country in July and August. They will be performing the entirety of their chart-topping and award-winning 2016 album Be Like The River in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.<\/p>\n
The amount of time spent on the road was starting to affect her health last year, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially when I tour, it does get very, very demanding on my body. I found last year, because I was doing a lot more shows, and then I was finding that every month I was getting sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then I got hit pretty badly last year with a double ear infection, and I still had to sort of push through a lot of these shows.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s now much stricter with herself, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made sure that this year was going to be a year that I really, really pulled back on a lot of things \u2026 over the years, I\u2019ve been quite strict, but I\u2019ve definitely gotten stricter, because I want to be able to do my best on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skulander says she found her powerful rock voice singing along to the radio in her dad\u2019s car as a kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was always playing music in the car. A lot of Iron Maiden, a lot of Judas Priest, Dio. And I used to like to imitate the voices, that sort of thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never had singing lessons. I still feel like at 41, I\u2019m still learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her latest project, Come Together \u2013 a supergroup of New Zealand rock musicians performing Bruce Springsteen\u2019s classic album Born to Run \u2013 is quite a departure from her regular job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Devilskin, everything\u2019s me and I\u2019m very, very comfortable, whereas this is kind of stepping out of my comfort zone a bit. It\u2019s just trying to dial into being that artist. And it\u2019s a lot of fun. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n