Devilskin

Early years (2010–2013)

Devilskin originated in Hamilton, New Zealand in 2010. Founding member Paul Martin was going through bands that were sent to him to play on The Axe Attack radio show and found a demo from a Rotorua band called 'Slipping Tongue', with member Jennie Skulander on vocals. Martin bumped into Skulander in Hamilton in 2010, moving there after the breakup of Slipping Tongue. After lots of persisting from Martin, they both agreed to form a band, grabbing Nail Vincent from Chuganaut (one of Hamilton's leading hard rock bands) and asked a local drummer, Rob, to play drums for the band. After a few shows, Rob had to have an operation, following a motorcycle accident, forcing Martin to "press-gang" his son, Nic Martin, into temporarily replacing him. Nic's drumming add to the band so they decided to take on Nic as the full time drummer.

Devilskin released 'Little Pills' on YouTube in 2012 to positive reviews, eventually getting second in The Rock 1000, a countdown of the best 1000 rock songs as voted by listeners.

We Rise and subsequent tour (2014–2015)

In May 2014, Devilskin released the single 'Start a Revolution', peaking at 28 on the NZ Singles Chart. Following this they released their debut album, We Rise debuting at number 1 on the national album chart in 2014 and became the nation's biggest selling independant release of the year. By March 2015, We Rise went platinum, having sold an excess in 15,000 copies, being the first NZ rock/metal album to do so since Shihad's Killjoy album 18 years prior. We Rise stayed in the national album Chart for 95 weeks from 2014 to 2016.

The band accompanied We Rise with the live CD/DVD 'Live At The Powerstation', which debuted at number 12 on the NZ Album Chart in December 2014 and stayed on the chart for eight weeks.

Mountains and Be Like the River (2015–present)

After sold-out album tour for We Rise and an 8 date 'Summer Surrender' tour in late 2014, Devilskin went offshore to play a series of promotional gigs, where they attracted the attention of international record companies and festival organizers, where they played the iconic Whisky a Go Go. The band returned home after this tour, to record to release a follow-up single 'Mountains', recorded whilst they were over in England. Following the supporting 'Mountains and the Moon' tour, the band went to England to finish fully recording their follow-up album, Be Like the River, which was released on November 11, 2016.

Band members

Lead vocalist Jennie Skulander was previously the lead vocalist for the band Slipping Tongue from Rotorua, New Zealand. Guitarist Nail previously played with the band Chuganaut, performing at Mount Smart Stadium in support of Iron Maiden in 2009. Bassist Paul Martin has also played in numerous New Zealand bands including Knightshade, Blackjack, and (still currently plays in) World War Four. Drummer Nic Martin is the son of Paul. He also currently plays drums for metalcore band Seas Of Conflict, and was half of the duo Let This Be None alongside Harrison Mordecai.

Albums

Devilskin's debut album We Rise was ranked at number 8 on Recorded Music NZ's year-end album chart for 2014, and at number 40 for 2015.