Friday 30 October 2015

Butcher Babies

Photography: Hristo Shindov
I have recently come across a band whose music is unique and has killer vocals with each song by this band; the name of the band is called Butcher Babies. I came across this band while looking at, mostly, festival photos which have featured various metal bands. As I was looking at the festival photos – ranging from the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival; Download Festival; Rock on the Range; Graspop Metal Meeting and Hellfest – I came across the Butcher Babies performing at most of the festivals. Their music sound is indeed unique as their music is not the same metal sound you’ve heard before from time and time again. The band is a heavy metal band, but their sound has a punk metal sound to their music. The reason I am blogging about the Butcher Babies is simply because I have become such a great fan of theirs and would like to share with you some information about the band for any newcomers to this band and also get to know some insight about the band.

The Butcher Babies released their debut album titled “Goliath” via Century Media Records back in July the 9th 2013. The album “Goliath” had sold 3, 300 copies in the US during the first week of the album’s release. The album also charted at number 3 on the Billiard Heatseeker chart and reached at number 112 on the Billiard 200. The second album titled “Take It Like a Man” was released also via Century Media Records in August 21st 2015. The album “Take It Like a Man” charted at number 76 on the Billiard 200. The band has also released two EPs which are titled “Butcher Babies” which was released in May 2012 and “Uncovered” which was released in September 2014.

The Butcher Babies band consists of the following band members:
Lead vocals: Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey
Guitar: Henry Flury
Bass Guitar: Jason Klein
Drums: Chrissy Warner

The band members starting from the left: Henry Flury (guitars), Carla Harvey (vocals), Jason Klein (bass), Heidi Shepherd (vocals) and Chrissy Warner (drums).
Photography: Tim Tronckoe
To start off with, the Butcher Babies are a heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles is also nicknamed the “City of Angels”. The Butcher Babies consider their music as “slut metal” or “punk metal”. The Butcher Babies band name originated after one of the punk rock band, Plasmatics songs titled “Butcher Baby”. The Butcher Babies gained a lot of attention from their video on YouTube covering the song “F***ing Hostile” by the heavy metal band Pantera.

The Butcher Babies was founded in 2010 originally by Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey. After Heidi and Carla formed the band, they then went out to seek more band members, and they are currently Henry Flury, Jason Klein and Chris Warner. Heidi and Carla have stated they wanted to find band members who they can connect with and who would understand where Carla and Heidi were going with their music careers.

Photography: Psyko Boys
Before the formation of the Butcher Babies, Heidi was in a punk band who would sing cover songs from various musicians. Carla found the punk band via the social media page MySpace and then became part of the band. Heidi and Carla met in the punk cover band in 2008. While the two were in the punk cover band, they both had a vision of what they wanted to do for their careers and ended up working together and also left the punk cover band. Heidi and Carla wanted to form their own band where they can write their own music and lyrics instead of covering other musician’s songs.
Before Carla joined the Butcher Babies, she landed her very first job as an Entertainment Reporter for the Playboy Channel in Hollywood.
In 2011, the Butcher Babies First single was released and was titled "Blonde Girls All Look the Same".
During 2011, the Butcher Babies caught the attention of Rock Journalist Keith Valcourt in which he stated the Butcher Babies as the “Hottest band in the World”. In the journalist’s review, he stated that the Butcher Babies bring a “loud crashing blend of heavy metal, punk and thrash that recalls Pantera”. He also added that the Butcher Babies add to their stage show the horror bizarre of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie. He has also said that Carla and Heidi do not just merely sing, they strike the crowd with a “blinding flash of aggression and abuse. And the crowd loves them for it”.

The Butcher Babies when they first started out.
Photography: Psyko Boys
In the year 2011, a comic book – with DeepCut Productions – was released at Comic Con International in San Diego 2011. The comic book is about the origins of the Butcher Babies band and how Heidi and Carla were raised. The comic book was written by Carla Harvey and was illustrated by Anthony Winn – who also works for none other than the Stan Lee. This was also Carla Harvey’s first published comic book and the comic book premiered with excellent success.
The Hustler Magazine named Carla a “comic book mastermind”. Carla has also released 2 special edition sketchbook's titled “Gash” which was released in December 2011 and in the year 2014. The sketchbook's are dedicated to Carla Harvey’s favourite subject, which are women.

The Butcher Babies front cover of the comic book which was published by DeepCut Productions.
Carla Harvey's second addition sketchbook titled "Gash 2" which was released in 2014.
Carla has a big passion for writing, as she has also written her first full-length novel titled “Death and Other Dancers” in 2014. Some of the songs from the Butcher Babies debut album titled “Goliath” had inspired some of the events that occurred in Carla’s novel, but Carla has not said specifically which songs from the debut album inspired her novel.
During the year 2012, the Butcher Babies released their self-released album as their first EP.

The Butcher Babies self-released album cover.
 In January 2012, the Butcher Babies premiered their first new song titled “Mr. Slowdeath” which is on their self-released EP and in the month May, the music video for the song was released, and the music video was produced by Murdock. The music video was directed by Davo @ MusicMediaGroups.tv. The music video was filmed in Hollywood, California, and featured Disney Channel’s star Allisyn Arm from the Disney Channel’s show titled “Sonny with a Chance” and “So Random”.
The music video was filmed on a low budget.
In the music video, it states that it is based on a story by the Butcher Babies. The music video starts off with the main female actress who is looking into the camera, and is seen having flashbacks of her happy childhood days. The scenes change to the present day where the girl is then seen in her room, holding her teddy bear and crying, and hearing her parents arguing with each other. The scene is then changed to a desert looking scene where the Butcher Babies band is standing. Another scene shows the girl getting frustrated about her bad home life, and she gets up and starts to play the song for the music video “Mr. Slowdeath”. The girl can then be seen applying make up to her face. A Butcher Babies poster can be seen on the left hand side of this scene. The girl then escapes out her house and runs away to the same desert looking scene where the Butcher Babies are performing the song. The girl then holds her thumb up for a lift to go to Hollywood, where the girl walks on the streets. Her life goes downhill from there. The scene is then shown to what looks like the girl grown up – who appears to be a hooker – and gets in a car with a man and they both go to a motel. There is a scene then where the grown up girl is carrying a knife and appears to have stabbed the man. She then walks out of the motel, screaming, and walks to her family house, and sits on the bed, and then she sees her teddy bear and then the scene changes to the girl back to her young age, lying on the bed and holding her teddy bear, closing her eyes. During these scenes from the story line in the music video, there are scenes showing the band performing the song in a desert-like looking scene.

Snapshots taken from the music video "Mr. Slowdeath" directed by Davo.
Top left: The flashbacks of the female actress's happy childhood.
Top right: The female actress holding her teddy bear while listening to her parents arguing.
Top middle left: The Butcher Babies in the desert-looking scene.
Top middle right: The female actress applying her make-up and the band poster is seen next to her.
Bottom left: The Butcher Babies performing the song.
Bottom right: The grown up female actress outside the Motel.
In the year 2012, the Butcher Babies also performed at the Download Festival – supporting the thrash metal band Anthrax in Cardiff – on the Redbull Bedroom Jan Stage, which was held on Saturday, the 9th of June 2012.
In December 2012, the Butcher Babies signed a worldwide deal with the record label Century Media Records, and after 1 month of the signing deal, the band went on the road and toured with Marilyn Manson. During this tour, the Butcher Babies popularity grew even more as this tour proved to be one of the most talked about tours during the New Year. A few days after wrapping the tour in the City of Sin, the Butcher Babies were in Los Angeles at the time and were in the studio with producer Josh Wilbur – who has also worked with Lamb of God and Hatebreed – recording their debut album. The Butcher Babies have said in an interview that working with Josh Wilbur was an excellent experience as he had helped the band explore themselves as musicians and to further develop their unique sound and music that will be the sound of the Butcher Babies. The band also have stated in an interview that recording a debut album has been in the works since they were at a young age and the band have said they are proud to have created a collaboration of all their personal influences into one complete sound. Carla Harvey has stated on behalf of the Butcher Babies first full-length album being released on a major record label that the band needed a record label that would take the band to the next level. Carla has also said the band was very “hands on” and that the band ran “everything, but we need that machine behind us as well”.
In an interview with Rock Confidential, Heidi had said that to have an album released through a record label was “awesome for us, especially a label we all looked up to.” Heidi also added that the record label – Century Media Records – have been like a family to the band and for the record label to take the band onboard and give the them great support is something the band does appreciate.
Heidi has stated in an interview that people may not know much about the band at that point in time, but the band’s debut album will show the people what kind of music the band will have and who they really are.

Photography: Jeremy Saffer
On June the 6th in 2013, the Butcher Babies released a lyric video for their song “I Smell a Massacre” on YouTube. This also marks the band’s first single off their debut album. The single reached at number 8 on the Liquid Metal Devil’s Dozen countdown.
 In the lyric video, it features the boy who is the on the front cover of the album titled “Goliath”. The lyric video shows pictures of the boy by a street, and in what looks like his mother’s room, and another picture shows the father raising his hand and the mother is screaming, and the boy looks like he is hiding on the other side of the table where his parents are. Another picture shows the boy in the streets sitting against a wall and then again throwing a rock to the ground. There are some other pictures as well, but this seems to tell the story of the boy’s life and that his home life is not good.
Two other songs from the Butcher Babies debut album streamed on June 20th in 2013. The two songs were titled “Magnolia Blvd” and “The Deathsurround”.
The second single titled “Magnolia Blvd” played on the active radio station titled Sirius XM Octane.

The band then released their debut album titled “Goliath” on 09 July 2013 in the U.S and 22nd July 2013 in Europe. The debut album was also celebrated as part of the Butcher Babies tour with the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.
This was also the Butcher Babies first big headliner, joining other bands such as Five Finger Death Punch, Motionless in White, Huntress, Children of Bodom and Rob Zombie at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival 2013 which ran from June – August 2013. The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival had 4 stages in each show, and the Butcher Babies performed on the stage which was called the Jägermeister Stage. Serene Dominic of AZcentral.com has stated that the Butcher Babies performed to one of the largest crowd of the afternoon, while Serene Dominic attended the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Phoenix, AZ, and Serene also cited the band as the 4th best set of the festival, and also added that the band “inspired the biggest and most dangerous circle pit of the day.”
The Butcher Babies have performed at the Monster Energy Aftershock which ran from the 14th to the 15th of September. The Butcher Babies performed on the 14th of September alongside other music artists such as Korn, In This Moment, Love and Death, Skillet and Papa Roach.
The Butcher Babies then went on tour with Danzig along with Texas Hippie Coalition, and A Pale Horse Named Death which ran from October 8th – October 31st 2013.
The Butcher Babies also performed at the Hell and Heaven Metal Fest 2013 which ran from 18th – 19th May in Mexico, and the band performed on the stage titled the Hell Stage.
The Butcher Babies have had their own headline tour during the month of October in 2013.
The Butcher Babies also performed alongside the gothic band Motionless in White on October 26th 2013, at the Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare event.  The Halloween-themed music and horror event featured attractions based on Rob Zombie’s films, and there will also be food vendors, drinks, freak show characters roaming around the event and 15 nights of musical acts which range from metal music to alternative rock music. This event is frightening and is not recommended for children, but all ages are welcome to attend this event.
On September the 6th 2013, Century Media Records released the Butcher Babies music video on their YouTube account titled “Magnolia Blvd” which currently has over 3 million views.
The music video was directed by Daniel Andres Gomez Bagby. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles.
The music video starts out by what looks like the next morning from a party. A phone starts to buzz with the person’s name being “Mom” and the mother’s son picks up his phone and talk to her. As the son is talking to his mother on the phone, he sniffs what looks like cocaine or some sort of drug, and tells his mother he is fine and that she doesn’t need to worry about him. As the male character gets up and looks out the window, he sees a person wearing a hoodie out the window. The music then starts and the scene also changes to where the Butcher Babies band is performing the song. As Heidi screams the word “SCREAM”, there are then scenes that show the male character in his car as he sees a shadow of a person out of his window, and then another scene of everyone at the party the night before, and the man then sees the person in the hoodie standing right near him. The scene then changes to where the male character is still on his phone looking out the window, and then he runs out of the apartment and starts to chase the hooded person. The hooded person then runs to a corner and waits for the male character. When the male character is just about to run around the corner, the hooded person then hits him with his elbow, in the face, and the it shows the hooded person beating up the male character. During this scene in the music video, the hooded person punches the male character, pushes him up against bars and hits him on the ground and then the male character is seen trying to run away from the hooded person. When the male character is then hit to the ground again and he is hit onto black bags full of rubbish, he then sees a glass bottle and hits the bottle in the hooded person’s face. The hooded person then falls to the ground, and the male character gets up off the ground and runs to the men’s bathroom on the street and stands by the basin. As he turns the tap for water on to wash his face, it is then revealed that it was his alter ego that was chasing him throughout the music video as you then see the hooded person pull off his hood as blood pours down his face.
Throughout these scenes, you can see the Butcher Babies performing their live shots during the music video.

Snapshots taken from the music video "Magnolia Blvd" directed by Daniel Andres Gomez Bagby..
Top left: Heidi singing the intro to the song.
Top right: The male character in the music video at the party.
Top middle left: Carla singing during the music video.
Top middle right: The hooded person hitting the male character.
Bottom left: The Butcher Babies performing the song.
Bottom right: The scene revealing the alter ego of the male character at the end of the music video.
The music video’s director, Daniel Andres Gomez Bagby, has said that the storyline of the music video is about the male character realizing that his alter ego has always been around him when the male character chooses the wrong decisions, and then the male character tries to chase his alter ego away. After chasing out his alter ego, his alter ego then starts to beat him up and the male character tries to run away. The male character then finds a shelter in a bathroom, and it is then revealed that the male character is in fact his alter ego.
The director has also said that the concept of the music video is that life has been beating up the male character in the music video, which is the same as the experience people have when they go to Los Angeles. The director went on to say that people who move to Los Angeles think they are going to be stars and are going to make it, and then life beats them up.
This storyline in the music video is similar to the typical subject that people think they will be huge stars when they just pack up and move to, in this case, Los Angeles, but then they end up doing other things and not really making it to stardom.
In my own opinion, I think that people can make it, if they believe in themselves and know exactly where they want to go, and that they have all the information they need and to not just move to another city and think they are going to make it just like that. The only thing people need to do is work for what they really want to do in life.

In an interview with CrypticRock.com, Heidi has stated that the debut album “Goliath” as a whole is diverse as there is something for everyone on the debut album. Heidi also said in the interview that the band members all have different influences and everything is illustrated on the debut album “Goliath”: The bass player Jason Klein loves death metal; Henry Flury loves metal, in general; Carla Harvey loves classic metal; And Heidi said she loves nu-metal. Heidi also said the band on a whole loves metal music, but those are their favourite types of metal and that is where the band members came from. All of the bands musical influences are shown on the album “Goliath”.
In January 2014, the record label Century Media Records released an official live music video for the song titled “I Smell a Massacre” on their YouTube channel. The live music video features the Butcher Babies performing in Chicago during the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.

Here are the 11 tracks from the “Goliath” album:
1. I Smell a Massacre
2. Magnolia Blvd
3. C8h18 (Gasoline)
4. Grim Sleeper
5. Goliath
6. In Denial
7. Give Me Reason
8. The Mirror Never Lies
9. Dead Poet
10. The Deathsurround
11. Axe Wound

The album cover for the debut album titled "Goliath" which was released in 2013.
This picture shows the back of a boy, in his parents room, and his parents appear to be sleeping.
Photography: Jeremy Saffer
Photography: Jeremy Saffer
During January 2014, the Butcher Babies were one of the opening acts while they were on the Hellpop tour with the headliner metal band In This Moment. This was the second leg of the Hellpop tour, which also ran for 16 dates for the month January, and launched in Portland, Ore and ended in Florida. Other support bands that performed were Devour the Day and All Hail the Yeti.
During the course of the year 2014, the Butcher Babies performed at various festivals and had their own headliner tour, and also performed as opening acts for different bands.
The Butcher Babies went on tour with the industrial metal band The Defiled which ran during the month of February 2014, and the band served as one of the main supports for this tour.
The Butcher Babies were planned to perform on the Saturday 15th March 2014 at the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest 2014 which ran from the 15th to the 16th of March. This festival was unfortunately cancelled two days before the event due to not having adequate safety plans which posed a risk of concert-goers. It had though, been announced that a replacement one-day festival will take place at the location Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in October 2014.
The Butcher Babies performed at the 2014 Monster Energy’s Welcome to Rockville Festival which was located at the Metropolitan Park in Jacksonville, Florida. This festival was a two-day event which featured many other bands such as Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, Motionless in White, Seether and Lacuna Coil. This festival ran from April 26th to April 27th, and the Butcher Babies performed on the Saturday April 26th.
Between the 16th – 18th of May, an annual rock festival titled Rock on Range began, and the Butcher Babies performed on the first day of this festival, on the Jägermeister stage.
The Butcher Babies performed at another festival titled The Budlight River City Rockfest which was located at the AT & T Center in San Antonio, Texas, which was held on May 24th.

Photography: Payne Productions
In August 2014, vocalist Carla Harvey had a book release party to celebrate the release of her first full-length book titled “Death & Other Dances”. At this book release party, Carla will be signing her books for her fans, as well as also reading at the Book Soup in Los Angeles, California.
Carla has stated in an interview that she has always been interested in writing a book and she wanted to have the right story. Carla wanted to share her own experiences with other people who have also struggled with similar events Carla has been through with her life, which was Carla growing up as a teenager and trying to see who she really was. Carla has also said that she had time to write a book in the breaks at night that she could get as the band has been on constant tours, and during this time, Carla was busy getting ideas for her chapters in the book.  Carla has said that her book took a lot of time, but she did not find it hard to write her story. The book “Death & Other Dances” is about a girl named Autumn Franklin who seeks to find out who she really is and as she is among the dead, she learns to open up and to feel comfortable in her own skin.

The book cover for Carla Harvey's first full-length book titled "Death & Other Dances".
In September 2014, the Butcher Babies released their second EP titled “Uncovered” which features songs the band has covered, but have made their own versions of the songs. This EP album was produced by Logan Mader. Carla has said in a Revolver interview that this time the band is taking a different approach for their music and will be working with Logan Mader. Carla said that working with Logan Mader was a little scary for her personally, as Logan worked fast and he captured the raw energy that the band brings when they perform live on stage.

Photography: Payne Productions
Heidi stated in an interview that working with Logan Medar was a good choice as she believes that when picking a producer for a band, it is like picking another member for the band. Heidi has said one must have that chemistry as well as the same vision for the music. Heidi said that the band wanted to go for a different sound and style of music for the second album and the band’s management suggested Logan Mader, which Heidi also said, like Carla, was quick on his feet and he is excellent when it comes to music. Heidi went on to say she is looking forward to working with Logan on the bands second album.
Carla Harvey has stated in an interview that the band members individually chose a song for their EP album that is significant to them. Carla has said she picked the track titled “They’re Coming to Take Me Away” by Napoleon XIV as she has a vivid memory of her step-father, whom she considered insane, playing the original song by Napoleon XIV over and over in his car stereo when Carla was younger. Carla said that this song is about being taken away to a mental institute.
Heidi Shepherd has also added in an interview that when she was between 8 – 9 years old, she used to look through her parents albums for some cool music. Heidi went on to say that as she was listening and looking through the albums, she came across the song titled “Crazy Horses” by The Osmonds, and Heidi said this was the heaviest song she had heard at her age, and that she would play this song over and over again. To this date, this is still one of Heidi’s favourite songs and this song also reminds her so much of growing up in Utah.
Donny Osmond has also added some feedback to the Butcher Babies cover song of his, stating that upon the release of the song “Crazy Horses”, The Osmonds were pushing against what they were known for, but the song became one of their greatest hits. Donny Osmond went on to say that the Butcher Babies have reinvented the song in a creative way, and that is what music is all about.
This EP album was designed to keep the Butcher Babies fans “happy” while the fans await the new highly anticipated follow up to the debut album “Goliath”, which was released about a year ago.
Heidi has stated in an interview that since the Butcher Babies second album will not be released for another year, the band wanted to do something for their fans in between the release of their debut album and their awaited second album. Heidi also stated that the new EP album “Uncovered” will be what the band’s new sound is going to be and what fans can expect for the band’s second album.
The songs on the new EP album have a heavier, thrashy sound to them with fast beats, and the vocals will also be fast.

It is noted that the Butcher Babies wear masks when performing the song "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!".
Photography: Beyond the Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
Photography: Beyond the Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
During September, the Butcher Babies had begun their major fall headliner tour in 2014. The tour would start on September 12th in Reno, Nevada and end on October 23rd in Las Vegas.
In between these tour shows, the band performed at the Aftershock Festival on September 13th along with many other music artists such as Limp Bizkit, Fuel, Black Label Society and Weezer.
In October 2014, the record label Century Media Records released a new video of the Butcher Babies on their YouTube account titled “They’re Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!”. With regards to the music video concept, Heidi has said that as children, the band members has always loved the song “They’re Coming To Take Me Away”, which is a creepy and quirky song, around Halloween time. Heidi added that the band thought that it would be a perfect time around Halloween season to premiere this music video. This music video shows similarity to old slasher films as well.
This music video was also filmed at vocalist, Carla Hervey’s house. This was due to the band going on tour soon after this music video was filmed. This music video was going to be filmed in Lancaster, but that band had to go on tour, so they filmed the music video at Carla Hervey’s house.
It is not known who the director is for the music video. It is not stated on the YouTube video.
The music video starts off with the band members walking to a backyard and then they sit around the backyard campfire. Vocalist Heidi then tells the band members to come closer as she wants to tell a story. Heidi and other vocalist Carla start to sing “they’re coming to take me away” while the other band members look at the girls confused. Suddenly, a shadow is seen, and the bassist Jason Klein gets up to see what that shadow was, and then suddenly he disappears and all that is seen is his torch lying on the ground. While Heidi and Carla are telling their stories, the drummer Chris Warner then asks Henry Flury – the guitarist – if he’d like another drink, and he declines, but Chris continues to get up and go get another drink for himself. As Chris enters the house and goes to the fridge, the shadow is seen and then looks like the shadow takes Chris away. The scene then changes to where the rest of the band members are. The band members then turn towards the house to see where the sound came from. The guitarist Henry Flury then gets up and goes toward the house. When Henry enters the house to search for Chris, he too is taken away by the shadow figure. Heidi then tells Carla that they should go see what is happening. As the girls enter the house, Heidi tries to turn on the lights, but the lights are not working. Heidi and Carla then see another door open and as they go to see what is beyond the door, they see a shadow figure, and start running in the streets, but to no avail as they are then abducted to where they are next seen with chains around them while they are lying head to head. Heidi and Carla then see three masked people - which all three people appear to be wearing masks - standing in front of them, and as the three people take off their masks, it is revealed that they are Chris, Jason and Henry. The scene ends with the three men looking at the camera and then Heidi and Carla looking into the camera. There is another scene where it shows Heidi and Carla against a wall, singing the song. These scenes are seen throughout the music video.


Snapshots taken from the music video "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haa!".
Top left: Heidi and Carla singing "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haa!" to the other band members.
Top right: Heidi and Carla chanting "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haa!" to the other band members.
Top middle left: The torch on the ground after Jason Klein disappeared.
Top middle right: Carla singing the song against the wall.
Bottom left: Heidi and Carla lying head to head and chained up after being abducted.
Bottom right: One of the shadow figures is revealed to be wearing a mask.
Here are the 5 tracks from the “Uncovered” EP album:
1.   Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (ZZ Top)
2. They’re Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa! (Napoleon XIV)
3.  Don’t give a F*** (Suicidal Tendencies)
4.  Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)
5. P**sy Whipped (SOD)

The album cover for the EP album titled "Uncovered" which was released in 2014.
Photography: DJ Imagery
In November 2014, the Butcher Babies announced that they had begun to work on their new upcoming album. This album is also going to be produced by Logan Mader – who has worked with Gojira, Five Finger Death Punch and Devildriver in the past. Carla has said that she was thankful for working with Logan Mader again as Logan Mader knows the bands strengths and weaknesses.
During this time, Heidi and Carla have been interviewed for updates from the studio for the upcoming album. Heidi has stated in the interview that the band has strived for evolution and progression, which will bring new sound and emotion to the band themselves. Heidi also said the band knew what their fans would like to listen to due to the band performing on tours around the world. Heidi also has said that letting your own music grow is priority, also with honest music and it is not hard to connect and grow.
With regards to the new album, the band hopes to establish the ability to release much more music.
Carla stated in the interview that the band wants to grow with each album that they release, while remaining to their origin music at the same time. Carla went on to say that when the band performs live on stage, the fans seem to like listening to the older songs from the band, so then the band wanted to bring that sound back with a fresh perspective as the Butcher Babies have grown as musicians for the past 5 years. Carla has also said that the band themselves have their own individual metal influences which they all create together, and that it always is going to be unique from anything else.

Photography: Beyond the Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
In an interview with Revolver while the band was at Knotfest – which took place from Friday 24th October – 26th October 2014, Heidi and Carla gave updates for their new second album. Heidi stated that the new album is going to be raw and much heavier than the band’s debut album “Goliath”. This reason is because the band started out as a more thrashier sound to their music.
The new music for the band’s second album has a lot of emotion to it and the while Heidi and Carla where penning the lyrics, they also opened up like never before as their lyrics are brutal and flat out honest as the lyrics penned down come straight from the heart. With regard to the musical direction, Carla has said the majority of the second album is going to be more aggressive thrash metal, which basically 90% of the album is going to have an aggressive thrash metal sound to it. Heidi added that the band is not going to sacrifice who they are and what the band’s intention is will be to bring back the aggressive metal sound to radio.

Photography: Beyond the Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
In another interview with The Roman Show, Heidi stated that she and Carla got emotional during the recording of the new album as they wrote from emotion to their songs. Heidi stated one time during the recording session that she was tearing up because the music was very emotional for her. Heidi also said writing the songs for the band is like a healing experience, and that Heidi herself thinks for many songwriters, that is how it goes as the songwriter would take the negative experiences they have had in their life and turn that experience into something positive through their music.
Carla stated the new album came together in a much different way compared to the band’s debut album “Goliath”. Carla said it was different to be writing songs in the studio as the songs in the past were performed live, which the band had the privilege of doing before they recorded their songs. Carla went on to say writing in the studio was a new experience for the band, however, some songs were also written while the band was on their headliner tour, and then the songs would get recorded without playing those songs live first. Carla said that the band had a lot of emotion during the recording of the new album, which the songs came out great and the band is really proud of their songs they recorded. Carla also stated the band also wrote songs in a studio atmosphere while on the road.
Both Heidi and Carla have stated in an interview with Revolver the writing for their songs: Heidi has said the new album has had a lot of songs that were either not finished in time for their debut album or after the debut album came out, and as an artist, it is always important to keep being creative.
Carla has said that the band only concentrated on the new album during the past summer time, and got in deep during the bands headlining tour in October 2014. Carla ended with saying the band took advantage of their days off and went into the studio to share ideas.
 
Photography: Beyond the Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
The main issue the band had was time, as the band had been touring a lot, and whenever the band had time on their hands, they sat down and put new songs together. The band has succeeded, but they had worked at a fast-paced process.
During the month April, the Butcher Babies were confirmed to be one of the supporting acts on the In This Moment Black Widow tour for the band’s North American tour, which kicked off on April 18th in Montclair, New Jersey and end on May 24th in San Antonio, Texas. The other supporting acts that also went on the In This Moment Black Widow tour were Upon A Burning Body and The Nearly Deads. Before In This Moment performed at their Black Widow tour, the Butcher Babies performed, along with Upon A Burning Body which ran from April 9th in Scottsdale, Arizona – April 17th in Poughkeepsie, New York. Heidi stated in an interview that this upcoming tour is special to the band as they get to not only see their friends they have made through music, but the band will have the opportunity to play their new music off their new album, and that this will be a treat for the Butcher Babies fans. Heidi has said with regards to the band’s most dedicated fans that she is happy that the fans have been patient in waiting for the Butcher Babies new album, and in true Butcher Babies fashion, the band never does a half-hearted job with their music, so that is why the band took a little more time for their album to be released. Heidi ended with the thought of touring with the metal band In This Moment is an honour as the band In This Moment has been supportive towards the Butcher Babies, and In This Moment also put on an incredible live show.
Carla stated in an interview that all the new and old Butcher Babies fans have inspired the band throughout the years, and that is the reason why the band does free meet-and-greets at their merchandise table after their shows. Carla went on to say how crazy it is to be on the bands 9th big national tour since the band’s big tour in the year 2012. Carla has said that the band is now familiar with the truck stop showers and coffee shops across the states, although the best thing is seeing familiar faces in the crowd while the band is on tour, and that fans have also become friends over the years and that every night after the bands performance, it feels like a family reunion with the fans.
The bands guitarists, Henry Flury, has stated in an interview that the more the band tours in different cities, the more the band hears their fans singing along to their songs. Henry also expressed that the fans have no idea how that makes the band members feel.
Heidi has stated in an interview that the new album will have some major emotions – happy, angry, sad and energetic – in each song. Heidi has said the band has put a lot of emotion into each and every song on the new album, which people will also feel the same emotion the band felt. Heidi added that each song on the new album carries their own identity, which is what the band is aiming for.
Carla stated in the same interview that the band is all very proud of the new music and the new music is a step above what the band created on their debut album. Carla added that the band will continue to grow, but the band will remain to their aggressive sounds, that the band has started with in the beginning.
With regard to the creative writing process behind the music, Heidi mentioned in an interview that the band members all sit together and write their music, and that every single member has a say in every lyric, song, symbol hit etc. Heidi added the one important aspect is that all the band members felt every song represents every single one of the members, and the band has had success with this process.
 
Photography: DJ Imagery
In April 2015, the band confirmed to have completed their second album. The band revealed that their second album would be a return of their more thrashier metal and aggressive sound to their music, whereas their debut album “Goliath” was more a melodic sound. It was also revealed that the band would release a rerecorded version of their first single titled “Blonde Girls All Look the Same” onto their second album.
In June 2015, the band confirmed their second album is to be titled “Take It Like A Man”, which was to be released on August 21st in the fall season. The band also released their first single off the album titled “Monsters Ball”, even though the band was going to originally release their one single titled “Never Go Back”, which ended up being the bands second single.
The band had revealed that the record label Century Media Records and management did not take a liking to the album title, nor the albums artwork, and the band then had to fight to keep the artwork and album title.
Carla Harvey has stated with regard to the album title that all the band members have come from different places and backgrounds, but every band member of the band had to fight to be the person they are today, which is the basis of the record. Carla has also said this is not based on gender, but on the inner strength that one must find in order to keep moving on in any situation.
Carla had stated in an interview with The Front Row Report that the band has been telling people that there is a little controversy with regard to the album’s title, as both management and the records label did not like it, but it was an album title the band chose.
Heidi stated in the same interview that the band fought for the album title as the band was very proud of the title and it had meaning behind the title. Heidi has said the theme for the album is becoming the women Carla and Heidi are today.
In June 2015, the Butcher Babies released their music video for their lead single titled “Monsters Ball”. Heidi has said the concept of this song is about the pit in which everyone is like monsters when they run around out in the pit – hence the singles title “Monsters Ball”. The one lyric line says “Over the edge, you take a decadent fall” which explains the people who are crowd surfing and eventually are lead to the front of the crowd, opposite the stage at a concert. Heidi added that the song is also about the positive energy at a metal festival.
Heidi has stated this in an interview on louwire.com with regard to the song: “Too many times, mainstream media makes these shows out to be dangerous and evil, but what they don’t know is that we are a big family who in that moment will do anything for each other. A family, who rocks stick together, inevitably stays together. That’s our Monster’s Ball.”
Carla added that she has felt metal music is something that brought misfit people together. Carla said with the lyrics being “Monsters Ball”, the band wanted to paint out a picture of the moment they have in the mosh pit, which lets the music course through people’s veins.
The music video for this single was directed by Dan Dobi.
The music video starts with the guitarist, Henry Flury, the bassist Jason Klein and the drummer Chrissy Warner playing their instruments, while it can be seen that there are people who look like monsters – as well as the band members – in a small club – which Heidi has said in an interview that the band wanted to use the feel of the song to create a jazz type club scene. The next scene then shows Heidi and Carla all dressed up on stage in front of the other band members. Heidi starts to sing, which she introduces every one of all ages to step right up and get their tickets to greatest show on Earth. This part of the song sounds like Heidi is talking to the people. Carla then starts to sing, and then Heidi sings after her. The next scene shows Heidi looking at a girl who is texting and Heidi starts to talk again suggesting why is the girl walking away as the best part of the show has not started yet. During the music video, the scene changes from the band performing, to the people in the small club who appear to be having fun as they are smiling, laughing and having a good time. During the second chorus, people are then seen dancing in the middle of the small club. During the bridge of the song, the band members – except for Chrissy Warner – then walk off the stage and is seen taking the people to the middle of the small club, and then the scene changes to the people surrounding the band members. The people are then seen with their eyes closed as Heidi and Carla sing the words “Can’t stop moving, no you can’t stop moving, no you can’t stop”. As the drums stop, everyone then opens their eyes and the next scene then shows everyone dancing while Heidi and Carla sing and dance with the crowd. This happens for the rest of the music video until the end where Heidi and Carla are then facing the camera, and then move toward the camera as the music video ends.

Snapshots taken from the music video "Monsters Ball" directed by Dan Dobi.
Top left: Heidi welcoming all the people at the small club.
Top right: The people all at the small club.
Top middle left: Two people at the small club appear to be looking at the band performing.
Top middle right: The band members about to step off the stage to go toward the people at the small club.
Bottom left: Heidi and Carla singing with the people surrounding them.
Bottom right: Heidi an Carla right in front of the camera at the end of the music video.
Carla has stated via her personal Instagram account, that one of her custom drawings were her inspiration for her look in the “Monsters Ball” music video.
Heidi’s make-up in the music video also seems to have inspiration from one of Carla’s drawings as Heidi’s make-up, looks like the cover of one of Carla’s drawing books titled “Gash”.

Carla Harvey's first edition sketchbook titled "Gash" which was released in December 2011.
This book cover looks similar to Heidi's make-up look in the music video "Monsters Ball".
 In July 2015, the band released their second single “Never go Back” and the band has asked their fans to request this song to be on radio.
Heidi has said the song titled “Never Go Back” is about anyone who has ever felt in their lives that they have been stuck in a place, and now are finally free and will never be going back. Heidi added that the song could be depicted to be in a relationship or the song could be for any bad situation in someone’s life that they are finally free of.
 
The Butcher Babies single "Never Go Back"
On August 20th the band announced on their Facebook page that their new album is available on iTunes. The album was also on a special for $7.99 at Best Buy which ran from August 21st – August 29th. On August 21st came the day the Butcher Babies sophomore album “Take It Like A Man” was released.
Another surprise the Butcher Babies did for their fans was announce that they have released an official album stream of all 12 songs on their new album. This album stream was also 12 music videos which can see viewed on YouTube currently. Each video that was filmed was directed by Mike Gevorgian. This release was originally going to be a 30 second live snippet of each song for the new album, but instead was streamed on a playlist and put onto YouTube rather than just the picture of the album cover. These videos will show the Butcher Babies fans how the band performs live at a show and also shows the fans who the band really is.

Snapshots taken from the album stream videos which was directed by Mike Gevorgian.
The following snapshots are from the following songs of the album stream videos:
The Cleansing; The Butcher; Gravemaker; Thrown Away; Never Go Back; Marquee; Blood Soaked Hero; Dead Man Walking and For the Fight.
The bottom right snapshot is taken from the album stream video titled "Blonde Girls All Look The Same" which show where the album stream videos were filmed.
During the course of 2015, the Butcher Babies have also performed at multiple music festivals, which some of them are the following:
Louder than Life; Download Festival; Hellfest; WILL ROCK Festival; Monster Energy’s Carolina Rebellion; Soundwave Festival; Fort Rock; Welcome to Rockville Festival; Rise Above Festival; Rocklahoma; Rock Allegiance and Copenhell.
Even though the Butcher Babies were in studio recording their new album, and filming an official music video, the band still managed to attend these music festivals. Now that shows how dedicated they are to their fans and shows how well they can manage to attend shows while recording a new album.
The band also joined GWAR and Battlecross for a North American tour which ran from August 25th – September 18th.
It was announced in September that the Butcher Babies will be touring with the pop infused metal band Amaranthe which will run from October 29th in Atlanta, GA – November 29th in San Jose, California for the Massive Collision Tour in North America. The Butcher Babies will be special guests on this tour for Amaranthe, along with opening act Lullwater.
During October 2015, the Butcher Babies headlined their own tour that will feature the supporting act Nekrogoblikon. The tour started in on October 9th at Toledo, Ohio and end in October 25th in Corpus Christi, Texas.
On October 19th the Butcher Babies released a brand new music video titled “Igniter” via YouTube on the Century Media Records YouTube Channel.
Heidi has said with regards to this song that everyone has been in a different state of mind when rage takes over their body and mind. Heidi added that the song “Igniter” is about the emotions of rage a person feels and that also last straw that breaks a person. Heidi gave some input about the music video, stating that the band was lucky to have filmed this video during their performances at the Download Festival, Metal Hammer Boat and at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. Heidi added that this music video shows the intense live performances that the band has onstage, as well as their more goofy personalities offstage.
Carla also added some information about the song that “Igniter” is about the frustration that everyone can consume and can even destroy people at times. Carla mentioned some personal experience that when the band started out, she was in a dark place and let rage take over her at times, but after having a healthier outlet for those feelings through music, Carla has said that now she is a different person. Carla added that she loves the music video for “Igniter” as the video shows a juxtaposition of onstage rage performances and then the offstage fun personalities that they band has. Carla added that the video speaks volume, which music provides not only for people listening to the music, but also for the creators.
The music video for “Igniter” is a live music video which features the band performing at shows that they did during their UK tour. The beginning of the music video shows the band putting their hands together just before they go on stage to perform. Other scenes can be seen of the band acting crazy, having fun and being themselves offstage. Some scenes also show the band being interviewed, busy getting ready for their performances, and shown having a good time either before or after their performances, and also at the award show Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. Besides the offstage scenes, the other scenes show the bands live energy performances onstage and interacting with their fans while they are performing. The music video ends with Carla leaning against the wall smiling and Heidi standing upside down smiling.


Snapshots taken from the music video "Igniter".
Top left: The Butcher Babies band members before going on stage to perform live.
Top right: The Butcher Babies attending the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.
Top middle left: Carla acting goofy offstage.
Top middle right: The band performing live.
Bottom left: The band performing live to their fans.
Bottom right: Heidi hand standing and Carla standing against the wall at the end of the music video.
Here are the 12 tracks from the album titled “Take It Like a Man”:
1. Monsters Ball
2. Igniter
3. The Cleansing
4. The Butcher
5. Gravemaker
6. Thrown Away
7. Never Go Back
8. Marquee
9. Blood Soaked Hero
10. Dead Man Walking
11. For the Fight
12. Blonde Girls All Look the Same (rerecorded from the single in 2011)

The album cover for "Take It Like A Man" which was released in 2015.
This picture shows a little girl making a contrasting statement by wearing a pink dress and wearing a horned battle mask.

Photography: DJ Imagery
Photography: DJ Imagery
     The majority of the band’s lyrics are based on serial killers, psychopaths and death. The lyrics are written by Heidi and Carla, and the music is written by Henry, Jason and Chrissy, although, all the band members sit together and write down ideas for new songs.
      In a few interviews, Heidi and Carla have stated what some of the songs are about and what they represent:
       “Magnolia Blvd.” is a song about living and dying in Los Angeles, California as both Heidi and Carla had lived at Magnolia Blvd. This road in Los Angeles has influenced the band as well.
      “The Mirror Never Lies” is a personal song that was also co-written by the drummer in the band. It has been said that this was inspired by a relationship the drummer had with a person, but the person did not treat him well.
       “Dead Poet” was written by Heidi and Heidi has said in an interview that this song was about an idol she looked up to a lot as this person stood up for bullying and freedom of speech, but after meeting her idol, Heidi thought the person did not turn out to be the person she thought this person would be. Instead, that person was false, and a big hypocrite.
     “Monsters Ball” as said before, is about the pit and the people, who look like monsters, running around the pit. This song describes how the fans are at the bands shows.
      “Igniter” as stated before, is about the rage a person has, which rage takes over their body and mind. This song is also about the anger and frustration a person will go through until it is the last straw and break them down.
      “The Butcher” song was inspired by a boy who brutally murdered his girlfriend, and also exploring the mind of a psychopathic person. The song explores the story around why the boy butchered his girlfriend. Both Heidi and Carla were fascinated by this story and Heidi also just finished watching the TV series Dexter and seeing that the boy had an obsession with Dexter, was very interesting for both Heidi and Carla. The name of the song could have also been called “Ed Made Me”, but both Heidi and Carla thought “The Butcher” fitted perfectly for the song title.
      “Dead Man Walking” has been noted to be a very personal song for both Heidi and Carla and it is also very emotional for them too. This song rummages into emotions that both Heidi and Carla wanted to suppress.
       The new songs off the album titled “Take It Like A Man” reflect both Heidi and Carla’s childhood memories. Heidi has said in an interview with Revolver that both Carla and Heidi have grown up in different places, but are a lot alike. There was segregation between religion, abuse and race, and most of the new songs are both Carla and Heidi’s emotion of rising above these situations.
      Carla has also said in an interview with Revolver, that the concepts of the new songs are about feeling disconnected, and knowing a relationship between two people are over and going through the struggle of the emotions, even though the two people want to kill each other. There are also songs that are about overcoming a rough time in one’s life and also becoming the person they want to be, and lastly, there are songs that are about false idols.
       It has been noted that some songs are the band’s favourite songs to perform live, and they are: “Jesus Needs More Babies for His War Machine”, “Axe Wound” and “Magnolia Blvd”.

     The Butcher Babies have also appeared in a couple of magazines, but the main magazine the Butcher Babies have been featured in, mostly, is Revolver magazine, most notably featured in the Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock. Heidi and Carla were the cover girls for the 2014 Revolver Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar, and both Heidi and Carla have appeared in the Revolver Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendars since 2012. Other magazines the Butcher Babies have featured in are: Kerrang! Magazine; Outburn magazine and Rock N Roll Industries magazine.
    The Revolver magazine had named Heidi and Carla the “Hottest Women in Rock”.
 
Revolver's Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock 2014 cover featuring Heidi and Carla.
   
Heidi and Carla featured in an issue of Revolver magazine.
Photography: DJ Imagery
    With regard to the Butcher Babies musical sound, their music is described to be thrashy, heavy metal, shock rock, aggressive thrash and groove metal, and neo-thrash. The band did consider themselves as “slut metal” due to Heidi and Carla wearing nipple tape on stage in the past. The singing voices for the Butcher Babies sound both have clean, as well as harsh/screaming vocals.
     Some songs do have a quick sound to them, and some songs also have slower sound to them and some songs are in between. An example would be “Blonde Girls All Look The Same”, which has a fast sound to the song, especially at the end of the song, which the lyrics can also be catchy. An example for a slower song would be “Thrown Away” which has no harsh vocals in the song, and only have clean vocals in the song. An example for a song that is in between slow and fast sounds would be most of the Butcher Babies songs, but notably “Grim Sleeper” as this song opens with slow sounds, and then the suddenly goes faster when the instruments start to play. Some songs have a feeling of deep anxiety with more melodies that showcase the Butcher Babies sound. Some songs from the band have hard and fast beats, while other songs have more ominous and catchy lyrics, and other songs showcase the band at its most intense with songs that are heavy and brutal.

      The Butcher Babies have mentioned who their influences are, and their biggest influence is Wendy O. Williams and the band The Plasmatics. This was because Wendy O. Williams did not care what anyone else thought of her and the Butcher Babies shared that same spirit. The Plasmatics had a song called “Butcher Baby” which Heidi and Carla has said are one of the main songs they love from the band, and was the inspiration for their band’s name. Some other musicians that influenced the band are the following: Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Slipknot; Korn; Iron Maiden; Cannibal Corpse; Meshuggah; Joan Jett and Gwen Stafani.
     The band’s music is influenced mostly by horror movies. Some of the horror films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects. The Butcher Babies has stated that they prefer horror movies that have real life social rejects on the fringe of society and the horror of humanity.

     The Butcher Babies are known for their provocative stage appeal. The vocalists, Heidi and Carla, formally were known for wearing nipple tape and no other top clothing, and all the band members wore stage blood for their stage performances. Many people have thought that the band’s provocative look overshadowed their music. People also often mistook Heidi and Carla as “Ex-Playmates”. Both Heidi and Carla believed that what they were wearing was empowering to women. Heidi has stated in an interview that female empowerment is where it started, but it can be about anyone who has a dream and goal they would really want to achieve. Heidi added it is never too late to follow your own dreams, and that is what both she and Carla stood for. This stage look was heavily inspired by Wendy O. Williams as Wendy was the first female in the heavy metal music scene. Both Heidi and Carla has said that Wendy O. Williams was the first female to go all out and she did not care what other people thought of her and she would be the performer she wanted to be without anybody telling her what to do.

Heidi and Carla's provocative stage appeal and wearing the nipple tape.
Photography: Psyko Boys
With regard to the female in metal, both Heidi and Carla have said that it has been a challenge over the years for people to accept women in metal.
Carla has said in an interview that both she and Heidi would like to work towards a time where people won’t say something similar to “That is a female metal band” because a metal band is a metal band, and not separate women and men.
Carla has said in another interview that metal is not about looks and it is about the music. Carla added that metal actually helped her through tough times.
Heidi has said in an interview that this challenge has been an uphill battle, but also a double-edged sword. Heidi said that nowadays, it is being widely accepted that there are female fronted bands. Heidi went on to say when people hear that the band is female fronted, they do not even listen to their music and dismiss a band due to there are females in the band, which is an unfortunate thing. Heidi is also seeing movement nowadays with regard to females being in a band, and from back to when the Butcher Babies started out up until now, and people have now become more accepting. Heidi added that every negative comment someone has to say, there are about 10 more people who are all for females in various bands.
In an interview with GetYourRockOut on YouTube, Heidi said the following with regard to women in metal: “Just because we don’t have dicks, doesn’t mean we can’t swing them just as high”.
With regard to the criticism the Butcher Babies have received, the band has said they do not listen to the naysayers. The band has said they do not read any of the negative comments they receive and Heidi has said – in an interview – a small minded person feels comfortable behind a keyboard and typing all the negative comments, and they would invariably say words they would not say in front of the band’s face. Heidi said that she won’t let the negative people define who she is, and that she will be who she wants to be. Heidi added there will always be negative people and they will always try to knock someone down, because the negative person is not happy about their own lives, and Heidi said that she feels sorry for those negative people. Lastly, Heidi added that should she ever come into contact with a person who criticises the band in any way, she will not think much of what they have to say to her, and those people are mistaken if they think that the band is going to be let down if they say something bad about the band, as this makes the band better and that is a win-win situation.
Carla has said in an interview that she is not ashamed of who she is, or what she has done in her life. Carla said who she is should not determine, in any way, what the band is doing with their music.
Carla also added that looks is not everything in music as she has said she was not that attractive at a young age, and as mentioned before, metal saved her life. Carla also said people should not say that you cannot play in metal due to the way you look. Carla ended with no matter what a person looks like, if you’re a male or female, there will always be someone who will try to break your spirit and tell you what you cannot do, and it is mostly people who are angry and do not do much for their own lives.

Before the Butcher Babies formation, Heidi and Carla were involved in the media industry and one of them has studied a degree. Here are some facts about both Heidi and Carla:

Heidi: Used to be a Spike TV Hostess; a model; a radio DJ for 5 years; and entrepreneur and 
            designed clothing – although Heidi still does design clothing when she gets time to.
Heidi was in a Mormon marriage, but she had a dream before she got married, but her
dream was gone due to her Mormon marriage. Heidi’s love for being a performer was set
aside and suddenly she would be a family person instead. Heidi has said that she is lucky to
have gotten out of the marriage and she can now express herself through music and
performance, and live the dream she was born to live.
Carla: Used to be an Entertainment Reporter for the Playboy Channel. She briefly went under the
name “Bridget Banks” when she was an adult actress; Carla is also of Ethiopian, Finnish, Irish
and Italian background;  Carla has a degree in Mortuary Science from the Cypress College in
California, and she is a licensed Funeral Director and embalmer. Carla has said that she had a
life changing experience when working in the mortuary as she wanted to help people and
Carla hopes to one day own her own funeral home. Carla has always been fascinated by
death ever since she was a child and when her grandfather passed away. Carla has had
a lot of loss in her life, and Carla feels that the loss in her life has made her who she is today;
Carla used to be a volunteer at night when she was in hospice and working at a
funeral home. In this hospice, Carla held people’s hands who were actively dying, and Carla
had to embalm children, infants, adults and the elderly; Carla is a talented artist in
drawing pictures – mostly women – and has released 2 sketchbooks for her fans to buy;
Carla has been married to Gregory Coates since 2012.

There is a fact that both Heidi and Carla grew up in a society where they couldn’t really listen to metal music, but actually, Heidi and Carla ended up loving metal music.
Heidi grew up in Provo, Utah and Carla grew up in Detroit and both have stated to have different experiences in their lives before they met, but even though both Heidi and Carla grew up in different places, they have stated that everyone shares the same life experiences and same emotions everyone else has.
Heidi grew up in a family where music was very important; however, her family could not listen to metal music as the family thought metal music was evil. Heidi said being a natural rebel, she immediately pulled towards listening to metal music and she has since, been listening to metal music that is mostly in the nu-metal generation.
Carla has said that living in Detroit has shaped who she is today. She has also stated that she was a misfit child. Carla has said music meant so much to her when she was younger, and the music did help her get through a lot of personal issues in her life. Carla has said that she felt alone and alienated from people, and there was just something about metal music that drew her to this genre of music. Carla has said that the metal music she listened to was raw and honest, and the people who listened to metal music felt disconnected and were misfit children, and Carla connected with that crowd of people. Carla has said she likes the sound of the singer’s clean and screaming vocals, the guitars and the music in general.

For those of you who are interested in knowing what Carla Harvey’s book “Death & Other Dances” is about, here is the synopsis:
An awkward and biracial girl by the name of Autumn Franklin is growing up in a suburb called Detroit, in a factory-driven hometown. Autumn already feels disconnected from her peers at an early age due to her background, and she also becomes more withdrawn when her young parents get divorced. Ever changing but stubbornly firm, Autumn survives the life she has been dealt with by playing against the odds of life. Do not try to hurt her as she will not hesitate to push you away, which makes it easier to walk away. Autumn transplants herself from her hometown to the City of Angels to find out one goal she wants to achieve, and that is to find herself. As she struggles to make connection with people around her, Autumn consumes her retain for the future and pushes limits to the extreme as she moves between two drastic career changes: A career in the adult entertainment industry and a mortician. As Autumn is amongst the dead, she learns what it is to really live, love, and allow other people inside her space, which finally lands in the most comfortable place of all, which is her own skin.
Carla has always been interested to write a book, but she wanted to have the right story to write. Carla has said going to mortuary school and working in Hospice Care changed her life for the better. Carla wanted to share her own experiences with other people who have also struggled with the same things she had been through, which one of them were growing up as a teenager trying to identify herself. This book also resembles creative non-fiction, as this book shares similarities about Carla’s real life when she was younger.
You can purchase "Death & Other Dances", as well as the 2 special edition sketchbooks titled "Gash" and "Gash 2" on Carla Harvey's bigcartel website:
http://www.carlaharvey.bigcartel.com/

Both studio albums – “Goliath” and “Take It Like A Man” – is a definite must-buy! You can hear the changes of music sound with both of these albums. Personally, I would say “Take It Like A Man” is my favourite album, not that the debut album “Goliath” was not good – believe me, this debut is fantastic to listen to. The debut album introduces you to who the Butcher Babies are and what their music will sound like.
I find that the Butcher Babies sound is unique and different, let me elaborate on this: The Butcher Babies have both female singers that both have angelic voices, as well as aggressive and harsh voices at the same time. The music sound to the band’s music has got that aggressiveness in the sound, and also live energy songs that make you want to sing-a-long and also do a little head banging at the same time. The lyrics that the band has is also unique as these are not the typical songs about being in love, or heartbreak – in the sense of heartbreak from a break up with someone – the Butcher Babies lyrics are mostly, as said before, about psychopathic people and about death. Some of these songs could even be used in horror films, as they would totally fit with the horror stories.
If you are wondering who sings what in the songs, you can hear Carla’s harsh vocals as her voice is deeper than Heidi’s, and Heidi’s harsh vocals are a little higher than Carla’s. When you hear Carla and Heidi sing together with either their clean or harsh vocals, you can tell the difference of who is singing.

Both Heidi and Carla’s voices sound a little bit different between their debut album and their second album. I have noticed that Heidi’s screaming is a little different between the debut album and the second album. An example would be if you listen to one of the songs off the debut album such as “Grim Sleeper”, and then you listen to one of the newer songs off the band’s new album such as “The Cleansing”, you can hear the difference in Heidi’s screaming voice. Heidi’s screaming seems to sound a little deeper than what her screaming voice sounded like on the band’s debut album.
Carla’s voice is also a little different from the debut album and the new album. An example would be if you listen to one of the songs off the debut album such as “The Deathsurround” and then you listen to a new song off the band’s second album such as “Gravemaker”, you can hear Carla’s screaming vocals has also deepened a little bit more.  This is in no way a bad thing at all; I see this as an evolution in both Heidi and Carla’s voices.
I have noticed that Heidi can hold a note for about 10 seconds when it comes to her screaming, and this is something to be proud of. Holding a note for about 10 seconds or more shows how talented a singer is. An example of Heidi holding a note for about 10 seconds would be from the song titled “Magnolia Blvd”. Hearing Heidi hold out that note just shows you how amazing and talented her voice is.
Carla can also hold a note for a few seconds as well, which can be shown on the song titled “For the Fight”. This shows you how incredibly talented both Heidi and Carla are, and as I have said before, you can also hear the emotion in the songs they sing.
What is great about the Butcher Babies is that they care so much for their fans as they are always happy to take photos with their fans, and they constantly look at fan art, fans photos etc. on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Other examples would be that the Butcher Babies follow their fans on their Twitter page, and once a new fan tweets them, they immediately send that fan a message to say that the fan should go on Facebook as the band always replies to their fans on Facebook. I have also noticed that both Heidi and Carla seem to write some inspiration when they post photos onto their personal Instagram accounts. Some of these words written by Heidi and Carla are truly inspirational and are good motivation for their fans.
The Butcher Babies also have meet and greets with their fans which they do after every show they perform, and take photos and sign CD booklets for their fans. The Butcher Babies also have VIP Packages, which includes a meet and greet, as well as other accessories which can include merchandise, posters, albums etc.
With regard to what the Butcher Babies call their fans, it seems like it is “Party Animals”. This reason is because when the Butcher Babies band members post photos or update their statuses, they usually start the sentence off with “Hello Party Animals...”, so this could be what the Butcher Babies call their fans.
I also find it inspiring that both Carla and Heidi consider themselves more sister than best friends as they have been touring for a couple of years now and they always have each other’s back. This goes to show you that true friends will always be there for you when you need them and will support you as much as they can.
 
Photography: Tim Tronckoe
Some advice I have learned from the Butcher Babies would be that you determine your own future, and do not let anyone stand in your way of your own dreams and goals in your life. Heidi and Carla, as well as the rest of the band members, do not let anyone stand in their way and tell them what to do in their lives. The Butcher Babies will pursue what they want to do in life and also connect with their fans as well. I am sure the Butcher Babies do know that they have helped their fans in many ways. I, for one, cannot name exactly how the Butcher Babies helped their fans, but they have in some way. For me, personally, I would say that the band has helped me by them writing lyrics that, as you can say “speak to me” and I can hear the emotion in each song, and I have interpreted my own meaning to the lyrics the Butcher Babies have written. One song I know for a fact that has helped me is “Thrown Away” because there was a time in my life I felt I was alone, unsupported and nobody wanted to speak to me. Another song that has helped me would be “Dead Man Walking” as this song reminds me of somebody who has hurt me in the past, and this song seems to “heal” the pain I had. I can guarantee you there is not one day that goes by that I do not listen to the Butcher Babies songs.

The songs I would recommend would basically be all the Butcher Babies songs, but if you are a new fan of their music, here are a few of the songs that would be recommended: Mr Slowdeath, Blonde Girls All Look The Same, I Smell a Massacre , Magnolia Blvd, Grim Sleeper, Give me Reason, Dead Poet, Monsters Ball, The Butcher, Gravemaker, Thrown Away, Marquee, Blood Soaked Hero and For the Fight.
If you are looking for one of the most popular songs from the band, I would suggest “Magnolia Blvd” from their debut album and “Monsters Ball” from their second album. These two songs are the band’s best known songs to date as well as Mr. Slowdeath and Blonde Girls All Look The Same.
If you are looking for a slow song, I would suggest the song “Thrown Away” as this song has no screaming vocals, but only the angelic voices of Heidi and Carla’s beautiful clean vocals.
If you would like to listen to a fast song, I would suggest the following: Igniter, Blonde Girls All Look the Same and Never Go Back.
 
Photography: DJ Imagery
For the time being, you can get your tickets online to go see the Butcher Babies who will be special guests on the Massive Collision Tour in North America with Amaranthe and opening act Lullwater. If you are looking to buy tickets, you can always check out the Butcher Babies official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account to see where you can purchase the tickets.
You can also vote for the Butcher Babies second single titled “Never Go Back” to be played on radio.
Heidi and Carla are also featured in the new Revolver Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar for 2016.

I received most of my information about the Butcher Babies from Wikipedia, Revolver, and from various interviews that were conducted for the Butcher Babies in the past. The information I have said about the Butcher Babies music videos is what I have seen through my eyes and what I understood from the music videos. Other viewers who have seen the music videos may have a different interpretation of the music video, but the concept I gave is what I have seen through my own eyes.

You can check out the Butcher Babies on their official website and as well as their social media websites:
Facebook: Butcher Babies
Twitter: @ButcherBabies
Instagram: @butcherbabies

You can also check out the band member’s personal accounts on social media:
Heidi Shepherd:
Facebook: Heidi Shepherd (You can follow her on Facebook)
Twitter: @HeidiTheButcher
Instagram: @heidithebutcher

Carla Harvey:
Facebook: Carla Harvey
Twitter: @carlaharvey
Instagram:@carlacoates

Henry Flury:
Twitter: @HenryFlury
Instagram: @henryflury

Jason Klein:
Twitter: @JasonTheButcher

Chrissy Warner:
Twitter: @ToothlessChris

For those who are interested about Peepshow clothing and what designs Jessica Nicole has made, you can check out the official website, as well as the social media pages:
Official website: http://www.peepshowclothing.com/
Facebook: Peepshow Clothing
Twitter: @PeepShowCouture
Instagram: @peepshowclothing

Heidi wearing an outfit from Peepshow Clothing at the Copenhell festival 2015.
Photography: Peter Troest
Carla wearing an outfit from Peepshow Clothing at the Copenhell festival 2015.
Photography: Peter Troest
The photographers who have taken the photography on this blog are the following:
Beyond The Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
Payne Productions
Jeremy Saffer
Psyko Boys
DJ Imagery
Hristo Shindov
Tim Tronckoe
Peter Troest
All photographers have given permission to upload their photos onto this blog.

Here is where you can individually check out the photographer’s official websites and also their social media pages:
Gary Flinn is a lead writer and photographer for Hellhound music. Gary Flinn has conducted reviews and interviews for Hellhound Music. You can check out Gary Flinn’s other photography on his official website, as well as his social media pages:
Facebook: Beyond The Pit/Gary Flinn Photography
Instagram: @beyondthepit
You can also look at Gary Flinn’s work on the Hellhound Music website: http://www.hellhoundmusic.com/

Payne Productions is a photography company which takes photos at festivals, promo photos and shoots music videos. This company is solely owned by John Payne, who is a photographer, videographer and editor. You can check out Payne Productions other photography on their official website, as well as their social media pages:
Facebook: Payne Productions
Twitter: @Payneography101
Instagram: @producingpayne
Flickr: John Payne
YouTube: John Payne

Jeremy Saffer is a worldwide known photographer for taking promotional pictures of, mostly, musicians. He also takes photos of models as well, but he mostly shoots photos with well-known musicians. Jeremy Saffer began his work in the magazine world, and then soon became a well-known photographer. Jeremy Saffer also offers a variety of photography workshops and seminars, as well as offering private lessons while on tour and locally. You can check out Jeremy Saffer’s work, as well as see when he has upcoming workshops you can attend to, on his official website:
Official website: http://www.jeremysaffer.com/
You can also keep up to date with what Jeremy Saffer is currently working on with his social media pages:
Facebook: Jeremy Saffer
Twitter: @jeremysaffer
Instagram: @jeremysaffer
YouTube: Jeremy Saffer
Tumblr: Jeremy Saffer

Psyko Boys is owned by Fernando Guerrero who is an artist from California. Fernando Guerrero went back to school to perfect his work in photography at Brooks Institute. It is noted that Fernando Guerrero photographed the Butcher Babies back to when the band first started out. You can check out Fernando’s official website, as well as his social media pages:
Official website: http://www.psykoboys.com/
Facebook: Psyko Boys
Twitter: @PsykoBoys
Instagram: @fernandothephotographer
Tumblr: Psyko Boys

DJ Imagery is based in Los Angeles and is a photographer that specializes in modelling portfolios, actor/actress head shots and editorial photography. DJ Imagery has been taking photo shoots for the Butcher Babies for quite a few years. You can check out DJ Imagery’s official website to view all his other work, as well as follow his social media pages:
Official website: http://www.djimagery.com/
Facebook: DJ Imagery
Twitter: @dj_imagery
Instagram: @djimagery

Hristo Shindov is a Los Angeles based photographer, and works in the entertainment industry. After graduating school, it was Hristo Shindov dream to be involved with the Rock ‘n Roll scene, so he moved to Los Angeles and pursued his lifelong dream. Hristo Shindov’s photography caught a lot of attention from big companies and have asked Hristo to shoot various advertisement projects for companies, which included E! Channel, peta2 and Nisson. You can check out Hristo Shindov’s official website and see what work he has done:
Official website: http://www.shindov.com/
You can also follow Hristo Shindov’s social media pages to see where he will be next with his work:
Facebook: Hristo Shindov Photography + Film
Tumblr: Hristo Shindov Photography + Film

Tim Tronckoe is an international music photographer who is from Belgium. Tim Tronckoe specializes in rock and metal photography for international, as well as national music artists. Tim Tronckoe is also one of the main photographers who are hired for photographing the musicians at metal festivals, which are: Graspop Metal Meeting, Groezrock and Alcatraz Metal Fest.
Tim Tronckoe has done photography for many musicians who include Arch Enemy, Motionless in White, Cradle of Filth, Slipknot and Epica. Tim Tronckoe has also done photography for album shoots, or any photo shoot that a musician may ask for – an example of this can be backstage of the musicians own live concert. You can check out Tim Tronckoe’s official website, as well as his social media pages to view all his past and upcoming work:
Official website: http://www.timtronckoe.com/
Facebook: Tim Tronckoe photography
Twitter: @timtronckoe
Instagram: @timtronckoe

Peter Troest is a freelance photographer who takes photos at live concerts, as well as roller derby photos as well. You can check out his official website to see what work he has done and also view concerts he has attended to, to take photos of various musicians:
Official website: www.troest.nu

The record label, Century Media Records has given permissions to upload the promotional photos.
You can check out Century Media Records official website, as well as follow their social media pages:
Official website: http://www.centurymedia.com/
Butcher Babies section on the official page: http://www.centurymedia.com/artist.aspx?IdArtist=613
Facebook: Century Media Records
Twitter: @centurymedia
Instagram: @centurymedia
YouTube: Century Media Records
You can also view the official album stream from the new album titled “Take It Like A Man” by the Butcher Babies on Century Media Records YouTube account here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWT5waYZYnkeiqtrgWwy-Q3WLThVO-hY
I thank you Century Media Records for the permission!

Here are a few Butcher Babies Music videos:
Mr. Slowdeath:

I Smell a Massacre live video:

Magnolia Blvd:

They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Haaa!:

Monsters Ball:

I thank each and every single person for taking the time to read this blog,
I thank each and every photographer for giving permissions to upload their photos onto this blog,
I also thank Century Media Records for having such an inspiring band, and for having such an amazing band that care so much for their fans and have such incredible music,
Lastly, I’d like to thank the Butcher Babies band for existing! Without you, this blog would not be alive and running, so I thank you for being so inspiring and for having such great music to listen to,
Please remember everyone that you are welcome to tell your friends and family about this blog,
Thank you everyone!

Photography: Payne Productions

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