There is always plenty of eye candy for the women on the Soundwave Line up, and this year, the eye candy for the men is well and truly covered by the Butcher Babies. But don’t let the looks of the two sexy front women Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey fool you… they can also sing and scream like they are ready to rip your head off in a second… BALLSY!!
It really is not just about looks though. Butcher Babies have been rocking the US metal scene for a few years already, releasing two EP’s and a full length album ‘Goliath’, which peaked at #3 on the US Heat chart!
It has been a quick ride for them so far, with this year being their first trip down under with the Soundwave Festival. When I spoke to Heidi and Henry about it, they both couldn’t contain their excitement!
Heidi - You know what’s great about this particular tour is that this is another country I’ve always wanted to visit my entire life. My parents have gone, my sisters have gone and I’ve always wanted to go and never been able to, so now being able to go and play music I think is kind of a huge dream come true. It’s such a legendary iconic festival to play so the whole band is really excited.
There had been rumours flying around and our agent told us we were a good possibility, which is something we have been itching for for the past couple of years, so everyone was really excited. I actually have Henry in the car with me and both of us were like whoaaaaaaaa!
Henry- we really couldn’t believe it. We always wanted to go to Australia and this is actually a dream come true. I couldn’t wait to tell my Mum that I was actually travelling abroad. I told her ”you know what, music is totally worth it”!
Their full-length album had been a long time coming, with some parts of songs written right back when Heidi was just 12 years old! The band themselves had been working together for years, but to actually hear their music in full on a CD was like a dream come true for all involved…
Heidi - We have been writing this album for years and we had been a band for four years before we even released that album, so it kind of just culminated everything that we had thought of between the time of the band being together and even prior to. I’ve been writing since I was 12 years old, and with the rest of the band, we’d been coming up with all these ideas for years and finally got to put them on paper. You know this is something a little bit different and we didn’t know how people would react but I think they were ready for something different and the reaction has been undeniably 100% positive. It’s just incredible.
Henry - Yeah it’s really taken off and also we didn’t realise how heavy it ended up. Everybody was like ‘Hey I can’t believe how heavy you guys are!’ That was our goal as a metal band. We wanted to come out really aggressive, balls to the wall and swinging! What’s funny about that is I still don’t think its heavy enough (laughs) so we are writing our next album right now!
It really is not just about looks though. Butcher Babies have been rocking the US metal scene for a few years already, releasing two EP’s and a full length album ‘Goliath’, which peaked at #3 on the US Heat chart!
It has been a quick ride for them so far, with this year being their first trip down under with the Soundwave Festival. When I spoke to Heidi and Henry about it, they both couldn’t contain their excitement!
Heidi - You know what’s great about this particular tour is that this is another country I’ve always wanted to visit my entire life. My parents have gone, my sisters have gone and I’ve always wanted to go and never been able to, so now being able to go and play music I think is kind of a huge dream come true. It’s such a legendary iconic festival to play so the whole band is really excited.
There had been rumours flying around and our agent told us we were a good possibility, which is something we have been itching for for the past couple of years, so everyone was really excited. I actually have Henry in the car with me and both of us were like whoaaaaaaaa!
Henry- we really couldn’t believe it. We always wanted to go to Australia and this is actually a dream come true. I couldn’t wait to tell my Mum that I was actually travelling abroad. I told her ”you know what, music is totally worth it”!
Their full-length album had been a long time coming, with some parts of songs written right back when Heidi was just 12 years old! The band themselves had been working together for years, but to actually hear their music in full on a CD was like a dream come true for all involved…
Heidi - We have been writing this album for years and we had been a band for four years before we even released that album, so it kind of just culminated everything that we had thought of between the time of the band being together and even prior to. I’ve been writing since I was 12 years old, and with the rest of the band, we’d been coming up with all these ideas for years and finally got to put them on paper. You know this is something a little bit different and we didn’t know how people would react but I think they were ready for something different and the reaction has been undeniably 100% positive. It’s just incredible.
Henry - Yeah it’s really taken off and also we didn’t realise how heavy it ended up. Everybody was like ‘Hey I can’t believe how heavy you guys are!’ That was our goal as a metal band. We wanted to come out really aggressive, balls to the wall and swinging! What’s funny about that is I still don’t think its heavy enough (laughs) so we are writing our next album right now!
Goliath isn’t the only great experience they have under their nipple tape. They’ve also toured with Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Danzig and Black Label Society to name a few, and are renowned for the energy and atmosphere they create during their live shows… They are a flat out fun, hard party band that knows how to bring it!
I asked Heidi how she feels about their looks being the first thing people would judge the band on, and both her and Henry’s response were so great, it’s all here word for word…
Heidi - If they saw what I looked like right now they wouldn’t think that, make-up can do wonders for anyone!! People will obviously perceive something that they aren’t really comfortable with as a threat or just something that they won’t even give a chance. I think seeing a female in general in the music industry, especially with metal, has been an uphill battle for us (women). Regardless of what you look like, regardless of what kind of sex appeal you bring, it always is.
Right now we are kind of coming to a time where it’s becoming more acceptable and we are more than grateful to be a part of that movement.
But it has been very difficult and I think it’s frustrating. People think ‘Oh she has big blonde hair flowing around on stage and looks like a cheerleader’, and a lot of people are afraid of that. They don’t think it belongs, but for me it’s about the passion and it should NEVER really be about what you look like. Yeah you can dress up and put on makeup and wear your hair a certain way but really what speaks volume is the PASSION!! So people who dismiss a band by what they look like or what they think they might be like judging by their appearance, I think they are really missing out on the real passion and the real love that comes from music.
On a positive note, one thing that’s really outshined the negative by 1000% is having young girls who look up to us saying stuff like “ oh my god, I didn’t know that girls could try and be pretty and still like metal”. Or girls could dress up like a girl and still like metal and I think that’s something I wish I had when I was younger. I wish there was women in metal that would have been a positive influence. That’s one thing that I am very grateful for about our career - we can effect and inspire young girls, we can reach out to them the way I wish I had been when I was younger. That is worth it.
So, great stage presence, great sound, great atmosphere and two gorgeous inspiring women backed by some talented metal musicians like Henry Flury on guitar, Jason Klein on bass and Chris Warner on drums, The Butcher Babies are a must see staple of the 2015 Soundwave Line up!
I asked Heidi how she feels about their looks being the first thing people would judge the band on, and both her and Henry’s response were so great, it’s all here word for word…
Heidi - If they saw what I looked like right now they wouldn’t think that, make-up can do wonders for anyone!! People will obviously perceive something that they aren’t really comfortable with as a threat or just something that they won’t even give a chance. I think seeing a female in general in the music industry, especially with metal, has been an uphill battle for us (women). Regardless of what you look like, regardless of what kind of sex appeal you bring, it always is.
Right now we are kind of coming to a time where it’s becoming more acceptable and we are more than grateful to be a part of that movement.
But it has been very difficult and I think it’s frustrating. People think ‘Oh she has big blonde hair flowing around on stage and looks like a cheerleader’, and a lot of people are afraid of that. They don’t think it belongs, but for me it’s about the passion and it should NEVER really be about what you look like. Yeah you can dress up and put on makeup and wear your hair a certain way but really what speaks volume is the PASSION!! So people who dismiss a band by what they look like or what they think they might be like judging by their appearance, I think they are really missing out on the real passion and the real love that comes from music.
On a positive note, one thing that’s really outshined the negative by 1000% is having young girls who look up to us saying stuff like “ oh my god, I didn’t know that girls could try and be pretty and still like metal”. Or girls could dress up like a girl and still like metal and I think that’s something I wish I had when I was younger. I wish there was women in metal that would have been a positive influence. That’s one thing that I am very grateful for about our career - we can effect and inspire young girls, we can reach out to them the way I wish I had been when I was younger. That is worth it.
So, great stage presence, great sound, great atmosphere and two gorgeous inspiring women backed by some talented metal musicians like Henry Flury on guitar, Jason Klein on bass and Chris Warner on drums, The Butcher Babies are a must see staple of the 2015 Soundwave Line up!
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