Butcher Babies
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Butcher Babies

Seen as one of the most exciting metal bands to come out of L.A. in the past five years, these babies are ready to butcher the masses at Soundwave 2015. The dual frontwomen, Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, command the stage while channeling the spirit of the late great Wendy O. Williams, backed all the way by brothers-in-arms, guitarist Henry Flury, bassist Jason Klein and drummer Chris Warner.
We caught up with one half of the duo, Carla Harvey (who also happens to be a talented author, having recently published her first full-length novel and was once dubbed a ‘comic book mastermind’ by Hustler magazine), ahead of their inaugural trip to Australia.
“We’re so excited!” gushed the gorgeous brunette. “When the announcement was made that we were on the bill I was asleep, so I woke up to a ton of messages from Australian fans – tweets and comments on Facebook saying how excited everyone was that we were coming. That meant so much to us . We honestly had no idea we had such a large fan base in Australia, so we’re really looking forward to meeting everybody.”
The Butcher Babies strengthened their chokehold on the metal scene last year with the release of their debut album Goliath. “We were surprised that it did so well the first week on the charts,” Carla confessed. “We’ve felt incredible support from the fans, so obviously that made us feel pretty special.”
However, those warm fuzzy feelings that the tight-knit five-piece felt after their initial triumph appear to be short-lived, and Carla reveals that reality has set in. “We’re writing our second album right now and we’re feeling the pressure to make something bigger and better.”
Carla says both she and Heidi are aware of the impact that their explosive live performances can have on any wannabe rock goddesses in the crowd.
“On the last song of our set Heidi and I like to go out into the crowd – go out over the rails and get down in the pit with people. We came from a punk rock background and our attitude will always be punk rock. We always wanna be up-close and personal with people.
“These days a lot of young girls come up to us at shows or they write us letters to say we’ve become role models to them, and it touches us so much. Once upon a time Heidi and I were those girls at metal shows surrounded by guys. There weren’t many young girls in the crowds at metals shows back in the day,” she laughed.
“But we wanted to be on stage. We wanted to be singers but we just didn’t know how. I was just a factory worker’s kid from Detroit, so I understand what it feels like to be inspired by somebody, so to be able to meet them and tell them that in person is an incredible thing. So we make sure we do ‘meet and greets’ with everyone. We love to talk to fans. It’s just an awesome experience for both parties.”
After promising to spend extended time at the signing tents next February, Carla also promises that we’ll hear new material added to their setlist, while also confessing that Butcher Babies will be playing a bunch of sideshows as well.
In the meantime, why not get your hot little hands on a copy of their limited edition EP Uncovered, a collection of hell-raising covers handpicked by each member of the band. Find out more at butcherbabiesofficial.com
When&Where: Soundwave 2015
By Natalie Rogers