Butcher Babies’ Heidi Shepherd, Interview – Talking Doja Cat and More
Butcher Babies’ Heidi Shepherd: Interview – Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Beatriz Mariano
Butcher Babies’ Heidi Shepherd: Interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio
Heidi Shepherd of Butcher Babies knew she wanted to do music early in life. Her journey to get there was a bit unique, as she started out as a radio DJ and then made her way onto the stage as a metal vocalist. But, that makes her journey even more special.
“I’ve wanted to do music my entire life. I grew up thinking, ‘I want to be a rock star,” she tells Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio. “I grew up in music. My entire family plays music. My dad is actually the middle of 12 kids, and in his family, they’re a family band. So, every wedding, every family reunion, every funeral, everything that we would get together for, no matter what it was, there was always a band set up.”
Today, Shepherd and co-vocalist Carla Harvey front the successful metal band Bucher Babies. They just released a new, double album, “Eye for an Eye…” and “…’Til the World’s Blind.” One standout on the set is the rock ballad “This is the Part,” featuring Chad Gray of Mudvayne. While the song sounds like a romantic breakout song, it actually isn’t.
“Well, the song sounds like a breakup song, and we are well aware of that,” Shepherd says, laughing. “But, honestly, when we were writing it, we were coming from a different place, and when we approached Chad with it, he was writing it from a different place, as well.”
She adds, “When we were writing it, we had just left our label, and it was kind of like our freedom song. It was our song of taking back what is ours and taking back our freedom as artists and taking back our say in what we do. We are releasing this album independently, so this song is so very, very important for this and for this album. We feel like – and a lot of our friends felt like this, too – that there are a lot of labels that do a lot of really good for people, and our label did great for us at first, but it started to become a prison. I feel like this song was really our anthem for breaking up with them.”
For Chad, it holds a different meaning. “When we approached Chad with it, he actually has become sober over the last two years,” Shepherd explains. “When I first met Chad, he was starting his sober journey. This is kind of his call and answer to that. So, for us, we were kind of coming at it from a different angle. But, it really sounds like this big breakup anthem, which is kind of cool in and of itself.”
When asked for her thoughts on the current state of metal music, Shepherd says it’s difficult to say. “I don’t really have that much of an opinion on the current state of metal, because I focus on what we’re doing, and I feel really good about what we’re doing,” she says.
“I really love a lot of new bands that are out there,” Shepherd adds. “And, I think there’s a lot of really great bands putting out really great music. Something that I can really respect is that people are experimenting and people are doing things that are different. People are not putting out the same record over and over again. People are expanding. I love that the genre is crossing with so many other genres, as well. I’m such a huge fan of hip-hop. Also, I’m such a huge fan of country. I’m a huge fan of all music, to be honest.”
Speaking of switching up genres, Butcher Babies recently covered “Best Friend” Saweetie & Doja Cat. When given props for the choice, Shepherd gushes over Doja Cat.
“I love Doja Cat,” she says. “She’s way more metal than most metalheads. Like, that girl is so cool. It’s just, there’s so much respect to be given to all artistry. I feel like sometimes, we’re told, ‘Oh, you’re only supposed to like metal.’ But, I feel like you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you only jam to metal all the time. I can go from the heaviest death-core, because death-core’s my favorite.”
Shepherd adds, “So, I can go from the heaviest death core, like Slaughter to Prevail, you know, the heaviest stuff to, Lainey Wilson, who’s one of my favorite artists out right now. She’s dominating the country charts and she’s just like us. She’s a girl. I read something today that she tried out for “American Idol” seven times. She failed at “The Voice.” Then, she went out there, and she’s the biggest thing in country right now. I just love success stories like that, and I can find total inspiration in drive like that and to just keep knocking down doors. I find inspiration in that kind of stuff, too.”
Listen to the Butcher Babies, Heidi Shepherd interview via the YouTube audio player above. You may also stream and download the interview via the Audio Ink Radio podcast on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify Podcasts here.
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