Strict health shake-up for Devilskin's frontwoman

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

Jennie Skulander - pictured at Jim Beam Homegrown - says she has to do ‘a lot of things differently now’ to look after herself.

A recent osteoarthritis diagnosis means Jennie Skulander, lead singer of Hamilton metal band Devilskin, has to be stricter about her health.

Skulander has spent more than two decades fronting one of New Zealand's most successful metal acts and it has started to take a toll, she tells RNZ’s Culture 101.

“I've just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of my jaw. So, I've got to do a few things differently now, well, actually, a lot of things differently now.

“It's just trying to look after yourself.

'And it's also, everything's got to be down to a T. I've given up drinking a lot of alcohol, I've cut right down on caffeine, I've tried to make sure that sleep is my main priority.”

It’s necessary to keep her pipes in working order, she says.

“The more tired you are, the worse your voice is going to sound the next day.”

The four-piece alternative metal band, Skulander on vocals, guitarist Tony 'Nail' Vincent, bassist Paul Martin and drummer Nic Martin, formed in Hamilton in 2010 and have gone on to tour the world.

The band which won the People's Choice award at the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards, has announced six shows across the country in July and August performing the entirety of their chart-topping and award winning 2016 album Be Like The River in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.

Time on the road was starting to affect her health last year, she says.

'Especially 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.

Skulander in action on the Jim Beam Rock Stage for Homegrown.

“And 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.”

She’s now much stricter with herself, she says.

“I made sure that this year was going to be a year that I really, really pulled back on a lot of things… over the years, I've been quite strict, but I've definitely gotten stricter, because I want to be able to do my best on stage.”

Skulander says she found her powerful rock voice singing along to the radio in her Dad’s car as a kid.

“He 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.

'I've never had singing lessons. I still feel like at 41, I'm still learning.”

Her latest project, Come Together - a super-group of New Zealand rock musicians performing Bruce Springsteen’s classic album Born to Run - is quite a departure from her regular job.

“With Devilskin, everything's me and I'm very, very comfortable, whereas this is kind of stepping out of my comfort zone a bit. It's just trying to dial into being that artist. And it's a lot of fun. I love it.”