Metal Underground conducted an interview with BUTCHER BABIES frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey on April 22 at the Underworld in London, England. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On being called “slut metal”:
Carla: “It’s funny because years ago, someone said,’ Oh, this is a new genre of music called ‘slut metal.” It was a joke. We are not a self-proclaimed ‘slut metal’ [band].”
Heidi: “It was some douchebag on YouTube [that first called us that], and we thought it was hilarious. And so when someone brought it up one time, we laughed about it, and all of a sudden we’re ‘self-proclaimed [slut metal band].”
Carla: “We’ve learned over the years not to necessarily repeat things all the time on social media, because people really just regurgitate it and regurgitate it. And something that you think is funny, other people don’t get the joke, and it may turn into something serious. And that definitely is not what we’re about.”
On the period in the band’s history when they used to perform topless with tape over their nipples, Wendy O. Williams (PLASMATICS)-style:
Carla: “It was completely blown out of proportion. When we first started this band, we didn’t do it to go out there and strut around on stage like Playboy models. We did it as kind of a ‘fuck you’ to the cookie-cutter music industry. We were paying tribute to a woman in metal that we respected, Wendy O. Williams. And that was it. And the show has never been sexual — ever.”
Heidi: “What you see now is exactly what it was then, just with the nipple tape. And that was it. And to everyone who saw the show, they knew it was nothing sexual. You didn’t go to Wendy O. Williams shows and see her blow up cars in nipple tape and think that that’s sexual. Even our band was named after a Wendy O. song… PLASMATICS. For us, that’s a female who paved the way for us to do what we do. And as Carla stated, that was a big, giant ‘fuck you’ to the music industry when they said… So many times [I was told], ‘No. You don’t look like you like metal, so you can’t do that. You’re gonna be a country singer. That happened to me. ‘No. We’re gonna cut your hair. You’re gonna be 19, and you’re gonna sing country.’ And that’s the music industry in reality. And, for us, it was kind of just a big ‘fuck you’: don’t tell me what to look like; don’t tell me what to sound like; don’t tell me who to be. I’m gonna be myself. And that’s kind of where that all lies.”
BUTCHER BABIES‘ second album, “Take It Like A Man”, was produced by Logan Mader, who has previously worked with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DEVILDRIVER, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and GOJIRA.
Source: Blabbermouth
