As the vocalist for rising alt. metal stars Vukovi, Janine Shilstone has undeniable charisma. Whether she's burning her bare feet and borrowing crocs on-stage at 2000 Trees or getting blasted on Buckfast at London's Electric Ballroom, she brings a chaotic energy that makes her utterly magnetic.
So naturally Hammer strapped in for a fun, frantic five minute chat on everything from Scottish pride to novelty mugs and the time she wrote a song for Hollyoaks...
Hey Janine! How’s it going?
“Well, I’m actually going into my old college tomorrow. When I left school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I studied art for a year, and then I went and did music at college. They’ve asked me to go in and teach a morning class about stagecraft.”
Are you feeling prepared?
“I’m planning the lesson today, and I’m nervous… but it’s a new challenge for me! I’m just seeing it as an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone. I had some people that came into college when I was that age, and I learned a lot from them. I’m hoping that I can at least be helpful in that way – teach them something about the reality of the music industry, instead of what some textbook says the industry is like. I can’t prepare them for everything, but I’ll try my best!”
What were you like when you were a younger artist?
“I was in a function [wedding] covers band called Funky Broadway – we’d play cool soul music around Glasgow. But I also used to perform at Burns poetry readings across Scotland and win awards for my poems, when I wasn’t singing.”
What else do you usually do when you’re not touring?
“I do session writing, doing bits of music for film and TV. A random track I wrote got picked up by Dolce & Gabbana for a fashion show once – they decided to use it for the opening number! I also had a track play in [British soap] Hollyoaks once, which was insane. I’m talking nearly two full minutes of a song – and it was during an end-of-season finale.”
You got the end-of-season finale?!
“Fuck yeah! It was dramatic. It’s easy to find on YouTube – it’s when Glenn [Donovan, played by Bob Cryer] shoots Kim [Butterfield, played by Daisy Wood-Davis]. When the gun comes out, there’s slow-mo and everything. Before she’s shot, she was eating an ice cream, and my voice comes back in on a slow-motion shot of the ice cream falling to the floor. It’s incredible. Life-changing. Very big achievement, very proud of that.”
Do you find working as a session artist inspires you when you return to your own music?
“Definitely. When you’re writing for something commercial, it’s not about you. You can’t be up your own arse, because it’s totally separate, so you’re free to express yourself in different ways. I’ve also written a lot with a Scottish guy, Thomas McNeice, who used to be in post-punk group Gang Of Four. He’s definitely been a mentor to me, helped me develop my writing skills.”
How do you feel about being a Scottish artist?
“Oh, I’m so proud. I’m incredibly patriotic. But I think sometimes it almost hinders you when you’re from Scotland – you can feel like a bit of an underdog. But Scotland has had some of the most incredible artists in the world! Yet people still underestimate us? Come on… We invented penicillin and the fucking telly, for fuck’s sake!”
But Scotland didn’t invent Buckfast, though…
“I’d say it’s an honorary Scot! I don’t drink it all the time, but when the right occasion arrives, Buckfast is the best. Like, a big show… At the Electric Ballroom show [earlier this year], I nearly finished the bottle and didn’t even notice. When the adrenaline wore off at the end of the set, I definitely started slurring my words.”
I didn’t notice, don’t worry…
“I think the adrenaline helped. I was working through a bottle right before our SWG3 Glasgow show got cancelled too. The whole grid just went to fuck! They had to evacuate the show. The power went back on at our venue after about 30 minutes, but everyone had already left.” [Vukovi eventually rebooked and played on April 11.]
I see you drinking something, by the way – I assume it isn’t Buckfast, but what does the mug say?
“It says ‘Anthem’. Hamish [Reilly, guitars] always buys me mugs for birthdays and Christmas with random shit on them. For my last birthday he got me one with Luke [Caley] from unpeople on it. Just a huge, stupid picture of his face.”
Vukovi's new album My God Has Got A Gun is out now via Sharptone. Vukovi's 2026 UK tour starts in Newcastle on January 30. For the full list of dates, visit their official website.
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