Tag Archives: me too

Heidi Shepherd (Butcher Babies) On Women Against The Term Female Fronted “Your Vagina Says You Are”

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Los Angeles California’s metal band Butcher Babies has been entertaining crowds since their formation in 2010. Leading the charge are vocalists Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, who were inspired by pioneering metal vocalist  Wendy O. Williams of Plasmatics. The band is named after the track “Butcher Baby” from the Plasmatics 1980 debut album ‘New Hope for the Wretched’. Butcher Babies debut album, ‘Goliath’, was released on July 9, 2013 via Century Media Records. It sold 3,300 copies in its first week. The band was off too an incredible start and things weren’t about to slow down anytime soon. The band toured with notable bands like Marilyn Manson, Danzig, A Pale Horse Named Death and several others. Up until this point the vocalists Heidi and Carla had performed wearing only nipple tape as a way to pay tribute to the late Wendy O. Williams, it was in late 2013 they decided to ditch the nipple tape and let their look evolve. This didn’t effect the bands fan base in any way and may have even strengthened their connection with fans. In 2015 the band released their sophomore album ‘Take It Like a Man’ which was produced by Logan Mader (Once Human, Machine Head, Soulfly). The album charted even higher than the bands debut and from the album came three amazing singles “Monsters Ball”, “Never Go Back” and “Igniter”. Around this time the band was dominating the festival circuit playing at Louder Than Life, Carolina Rebellion, Rock On The Range and various others. The band is highly known for their incredible live performances and welcomes crowd surfing. During a recent tour with Hollywood Undead the band encouraged fans to crowd surf to the front and high five the vocalists as they came over the rail. In October of last year Butcher Babies released their most recent album ‘Lilith’. This album seen a major progression in the bands sound as both vocalist have increased the amount of clean vocals on the album. The band is currently preparing for the ‘Kings & Queens Tour’ which will be co-headlined with Nonpoint and support from Cane Hill and Sumo Cyco. The tour kicks off on April 25th in Dallas, Texas and runs through June 8th in Jerome, Idaho. This is a tour you won’t want to miss.  Continue reading →

State Of The Art: Maryland’s SHARPTOOTH [Official Videos]

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Photo Credit: Kat Nijmeddin

*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state.*

This month’s state is Maryland!

 

Formed in Baltimore, Maryland the 5 piece hardcore band Sharptooth have truly made a name for themselves on the East Coast. Did I mention they are also a dinosaur themed band? Who doesn’t love some fucking dinosaurs? Sometimes a new incredible band just appears in front of you and clicks instantly. That is just what happened after watching a recent interview with Jon’s Untitled Podcast and Sharptooth vocalist Lauren Kashan. The in depth chat opens a window into the singers personality and it makes their music even more alluring. You can hear the entire conversation here. Their fierce hardcore sound is known for it’s politically driven lyrics and their live shows are an unstoppable force of chaotic energy. Led by aforementioned vocalist Lauren Kashan the band is one of hardcore’s most promising up and coming acts. Sharptooth also includes the talents of Keith Higgins and Lance Donati on guitars, Phil Rasinski on bass and drummer Conor Mac. The bands debut came in the form of an EP in 2014 which was titled ‘Chompers’. Their debut full length ‘Clever Girl’, released on October 27, 2017 through Pure Noise Records. The first track released from the album was “No Sanctuary” which included some truly inspiring lyrics. Kashan stated about the song “This song is about us as LGBTQIA people telling the rest of society how you can and cannot talk to us, and the insidious ways that language shapes the way people interact with and treat each other. The lyric ‘every time that you say ‘f*ggot’ is a bullet through my head’ directly illustrates how hateful slurs and rhetoric lend credence to homophobic views, and negatively impacts the way the world treats people like me. It’s a slur that’s been used against me personally, and against all of the members of this band, queer and straight alike, and it feeds directly into a cycle of hate that has the potential to manifest as violence against us, and other members of the LGBTQIA community. People say “sticks and stones will break my bones”, but words can and do directly impact our culture and the ways that members of different groups are treated. We can ALL work together to be more mindful of the way we communicate with each other so as to create a safer world for all people.” Sharptooth isn’t the type of band that hides meaning in their lyrics, everything they want to say is screamed right in your face with pure aggression and angst. For example “Fuck You Donald Trump” also from ‘Clever Girl’ doesn’t beat around the bush, you know exactly what this song is about and the bands activism in lyric form makes them much more than just a hardcore band.

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