The four piece band from Hamilton, New Zealand have spent the last decade ‘in the skin’ making a name for themselves with fellow countryman, spreading three studio albums and a live DVD to global ears. They’re no longer New Zealand’s best kept secret, after multiple European treks, the buzz has hit American shores.
Their third studio creation Red has garnered major attention and positive feedback, breaking new markets with the Live at the Powerstation show being an offering of what’s to come from the stage. “We couldn’t be more excited about it,” bassist Paul Martin says. “It’s presenting the songs exactly how we want them, A bit of a roller coaster ride,” They wanted an immersive sound experience for people to get lost in the music.
They almost went ZoSo with the title, “It’s funny. Our first album is called We Rise. We thought it was a great name. The song ‘We Rise’ used to close our shows but didn’t make the cut for the album. We ended up putting it on our second album Be Like the River. “Originally we were going to call it IV, like Led Zeppelin.”
Drummer Nic Martin said, “How about red? It’s the color of all the mojo and evocative things, blood, power, lust, fire, love and passion.”
They filmed a video for “Corrode,” Coincidentally director Alex Hargreaves used a lot of red in the ideas he sent back before filming without knowing the album title. “He had us in this pool of thick red liquid and had all these crazy ideas. It came out amazing.”
Two kilometers of tin foil were spread over their band room, “It was like hey, we don’t want the cops in here, thinking we’re growing pot,” Martin assures. “It was very cool.” They were lying in a pool of big red goopy liquid. “It was freaking cold and definitely uncomfortable. The shoot took hours.”
Some of it became unintentional keepsakes, after swallowing, “It was in every orifice,” Martin recalls. “We had to be totally submerged. Our directors going, do you have underwater guitars? Yeah we can get some. After climbing out of the pool, they said, sorry guys, there’s no shower here. Now they tell us! They made one of those portable camp showers, where you stand and someone stands at the top and pours water on you.” They were covered in lots of food coloring, dye, flour and water. “When they poured the water our beards became like pancakes.”
Red may have also been inspired by the guitar players matching goatees. “Maybe a little,” Martin laughs. “Here’s the funny thing. Nic is my son. The singer (Jennie Skulander) married my wife’s brother. So she’s my sister in law and Nic’s auntie. People say the guitarist (Tony ‘Nail’ Vincent) and I could be twins. Maybe we’ll adopt him and make it all legal.”
The goatees were inspired by Dimebag and Scott Ian’s crimson chins. “When Dimebag passed away, everyone was walking around with red beards in tribute. It’s something different aesthetically for people to look at. Scott Ian sported one for awhile. He’s a huge influence too.”
The birth of the band began after Skulander’s previous band ended and they invited her to jam. During that first session “Little Pills,” “Fade” and another song was written.
Reading her lyrics for “Fade” about a breakup planted a seed for Martin, “The guy was a dick, but some day’s he was nice, You can put on a skin, today you’re an angel, tomorrow I’ll be a devil, You can swap skins. That gave me the idea for the name. Everyone always asks if it’s Devils Kin or Devilskin. It’s one word, no hyphens, with one capital letter. Some people can turn into a monster, changing skins.”
Their previous video “Endo” had its share of bloodstains as well, “We got doused with buckets of blood playing in white suits. It was our Slayer moment and thought we can’t get messier than that.” Wrong.
The song was about their struggle with endometriosis. “It’s about an operation. When the director had the idea, we wanted lots of blood and he was cool with it. It was great.”
They wanted the video to be visually arresting, making people want to go listen. “It’s good to have some humor with the country thing. I think people appreciate it when bands have their guard down. We can laugh at ourselves when we want to.”
The video for “All Fall Down” was another showerless experience though not nearly as messy, “We seem to pick all the sites without them,” Martin quips. “I was coming home on my motorbike and got pulled over by the cops. I took my helmet off and still had a face full of apocalyptic makeup on, looking like a crazy raccoon. The cop goes, ah ok, who are you? I’ve been making a video for my band. We get ourselves in these messy situations.”
Skulander penned lyrics for “Eyes Red Heavy,” “It’s about being overwhelmed at the end of your tether and looking for hope. Jennie hit this beautiful melody and came up with “Eyes Red Heavy.” Jennie loves that stuff (screaming and growling); she can do that so easy. When we play gigs I have to stand back from the mic so people don’t think it’s us. She’s so damn good at it.”
“Do You See Birds” is Skulander unleashing, “Its track one on the album and one of the last songs we wrote. I really pushed for it because I believed in it. It’s about being stuck inside and all your freedom going by, it’s kinda eerie it panned out like that. We’re all stuck in that situation.”
Her voice is God-given, “She just opens her mouth and does it.” She began in her mid-teens at a school variety show, “She’s got this incredible voice and incredible sense of melody. We can be jamming and come up with a new song and say, can you sing something to this. She’ll start and we’ll get goose bumps. What was that? It’s a recipe in this woman’s magazine. She’s a great lyricist.”
They’re pretty much household names in New Zealand, “We got two number one albums here, won a few New Zealand music awards, one albums gold and one, platinum. We can regularly pull 1000 people to a gig.” They get asked for newspaper quotes when big names come to town. “New Zealand’s not a big country and it’s always been hard for rock bands. We’ve got a really good profile and army of fans in this country.”
While they’re grounded, they want fans to get into the new album, explore the lyrics and get to know them, “Some pretty personal songs are on that album. There’s a song I’d written lyrics to, coming back from a song writing session and came across a really horrific car crash, We were first on the scene, There were children involved but no one was killed though children were ejected, The songs about holding someone hand’s as they think they’re dying on the road. They’ve got blood on you and you’re a stranger. There’s some pretty tough stuff for us.”
“Sweet Release” is about a young guy named Nicky Stevens suffering from health problems on suicide watch. “He went to the river and drowned himself. This was five years ago. His parents have been through hell trying to make the hospital accountable. I felt so bad for the family, I wrote these lyrics one night to the melody. One night I went and saw the boy’s parents, said I’d written a song about your son’s suicide from your POV, basically asking for their blessing. It was one of the most emotional days I can think of in a while.”
Music is a great healer in times like this. “We’re so relieved the records out and people can listen to it and tell us their stories. We’re all music fans. We know how important music is to us. Such an amazing honor in the position we’re in. We’ve had people come up and say, I tried to kill myself and I was a cutter and listened to the lyrics of your songs. It helped me through this hard time. Holy crap man! That’s serious stuff to be able to help people like that.”
On the Live at the Powerstation DVD, Skulander comes out wielding a chainsaw, “Our guitarist’s a contractor,” Martin says. “He chops down trees and bulldozes. He always has a chainsaw with him. It was in our jam room and thought it’d be funny to play with it. We used it on “Vessel.” It’s becoming part of the show now. You hear it warming up. The crowd knows what’s going on, they’re hyped and she comes out waving this chainsaw. It’s a bit of fun.”
They celebrate and honor their road crew, the unsung heroes on “Voices.” “We’d be nowhere without them. We’re a team; there are sound and guitar techs that have been with us for years. It’s one big family. Our manager James, we wouldn’t be here without him or them. It keeps the ball rolling. They’re all beautiful, special people.”
“Believe in Me” is their version of a dark fairy tale, “I was so happy with that video. We were in the UK playing at Donington Park’s Download Festival. The day we filmed was my birthday. It was a Friday and the second day we were playing at Download, that crazy castle. It was a lot of fun.”
They were told, “I need you to shave your body hair then I’m gonna paint you blue. I was like, are you serious? They airbrushed muscles on us and filmed in a giant park open to the public. There’s people walking around, one of the directors says to run into this bush then snort and growl like you’re some crazy animal. There’s family’s walking past with an 80-year-old woman with a kid. This young girl was horrified and her mum said, they’re making a movie, Poppy, calm down, it’s fine. She goes, no they’re monsters. I poke my head out, dressed as a monster, saying Poppy it’s OK, we’re friendly. She screams, oh my god they know my name!”
The recurring devil figures in their videos play up their namesake along with the red goatees, “It’s part of the look. We’re not devil worshippers or anything like that. We’re not too religious either but we like to put a little shtick value in there. The devil thing suits the theme so we run with it.”
The cover of Be Like The River has a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe to it, “Kind of, I had a picture in my head trying to describe it to the art guy. Use the theme of the skull with the bullet teeth, Johnny, our mascot. We wanted it coming out of this cliff with water around it.” The song “Be Like The River” is about sticking to yourself, be like the river, take your time, get to where you’re going, don’t let any obstacles get in your way. That song really talked to us as well, and visualized the power of the river going through rocks.”
Becoming a musician was a gradual process. “I started playing in bands when I was 17. I’m still doing the same thing. I sit at home, play guitar, write songs, go to band practice, write songs, gig and tour. It was never a conscious decision, I’ve had jobs that keep paying the rent but always, music’s been first for me. He’s been doing his radio show The Axe Attack since 1987. “I got to hang out with Dimebag on a number of occasions and interview Ozzy and Dio.”
He calls himself the old man in the band, “I don’t feel my age. Another 30 years ask me but at the moment I’m absolutely loving this energized and vitalized.”
Martin’s thrilled to play with his son, “He’ll do a drum fill and I’ll get goose bumps. That’s my son, I built him! He’s just starting out. I brought him in at 15. I said, either you’re doing the tour or you’re grounded. He’d never played gigs or set up a drum kit. He’s played since 7.”
He doesn’t stage dive anymore, “I’ve had a broken back so I’ve been a little more reserved about throwing myself off stage these days. Nail is out there all the time, Jennie’s out amongst the crowd. We love playing live. You can’t sit still.”
They plan to be back in the U.S. as soon as the dust settles, “We’re getting so much attention from the states, lots of great reviews and genuine excitement over our music.” They’re sure to be wide-eyed once back on American soil. We’ve been to Hollywood for a couple shows; we loved it, We were fortunate enough to play the Whisky A Go Go which was a bucket list for us. It was surreal just being in that room.
I was saying to the guy that worked there. I guess everything’s changed and moved over the years. He said nothing in this room has changed. The stage is still the same stage. The booth we’re standing in is the booth where Janis Joplin had her last night alive. It was pretty crazy.”
They have mutual admiration for Waipu thrash county-man and tour mates Alien Weaponry. “They sing in the Māori language about war and ancient people, its heavy. A really good band, we took them on tour when two of the boys were 13. They’re young and fantastic to watch.”
Both bands are bringing the New Zealand culture to the world in their own way.
Music brings people together; music is a great healer. Now more than ever we need to dig deep into music. The craziness will blow over soon and we can get back to enjoying rock n’ roll live and live normally. Life comes first.
