By Kelley Simms
CAMERA AND STAGE
CH: I had done some commercials and some
TV shows and my agent sent me on a casting
call for Playboy TV for an audition for a news
anchor, to report the news. Out of something
crazy like 500 girls, I got to be their entertainment anchor. So I did that for about a hundred episodes.
Mosh: You're also a licensed funeral director
and embalmer.
CH: I started that after I worked for Playboy.
I went to school for an obsession I've had
since I was a kid, which is death. I studied to
be a mortician and it changed my life by
teaching me that you only have one life to
live and you better live it while you're here.
The Butcher Babies
L
os Angeles female-powered metal outfit, Butcher Babies, featuring vocalist
Heidi Shepherd (above, left) and Carla
Harvey (above, right), named their band
after a song recorded by '80s punk band The
Plasmatics. Harvey, a former Playboy Channel
reporter, is also an actress, an artist, writer,
singer and, bonus: a professional mortician!
Harvey's fascination with death is detailed in
her new semi-autobiographical novel, Death
& Other Dances.
Her band's new EP, Uncovered!, is a romp
thru some of their favorite cover songs (ZZ
Top and The Osmonds anyone?). Mosh
spoke to Harvey in L.A,. a day before she
departed on her current tour.
Mosh: You have a lot going on currently with
your new book, your new covers EP and your
upcoming US tour. Lets start with your
book, Death & Other Dances. I've read sever-
al chapters so far and I enjoyed reading
about your childhood. What inspired you to
write it?
Carla Harvey: Oh cool, thanks. As you read
further into the book, you'll find out that it's
about my time working in two separate
industries, and one was the adult entertainment industry. I was a stripper and I also
worked for Playboy for years. That changed
my life, so I wanted to put that in my book
and also talk about my customers at the strip
club and their different backgrounds. [It
was] during a time when there was a need
for affection and touch, which is all very
deprived of nowadays. That's basically the
premise of the book. I've gotten positive
reviews on it so far and I had fun with it. I'm
really proud of it.
Mosh: How were you discovered by
Playboy?
38 illinoisentertainer.com october 2014
Mosh: You've acted in a few films and television shows, appearing on sitcoms Rules of
Engagement and Til Death. What were those
experiences like?
CH: Well, it's all been fun, but to me, acting is
just too easy. It's not like being stuck on stage
where you're in front of a crowd and there
are people in front of you. I don't really like
being behind a camera or performing to the
camera. It's not really fun for me anymore.
But obviously it was a great experience to be
able to do that. Not many people are able to
do that and I've gotten to work with some
incredible people. But being on stage playing
music that we wrote is where it's at. I like the
vibe of being on stage and the immediate
action of that.
Mosh: Are you equally inspired to draw as
you are to write?
CH: I am. I love both. When I was a kid, I sat
in my room and listened to heavy metal and
drew. That was my life. I was an introverted
kid, so that's what I did. Comic books, music,
writing and drawing have always been a
huge part of my life.
Mosh: You have such a natural and exotic
look. Your mother was Italian/Finnish and
your father was black. What was it like
growing up in Detroit in the seventies?
CH: My mom lost a lot of friends when she
married my father, as it wasn't accepted back
then to marry a black guy. It's crazy, it's been
just 10 years since I grew up there when you
weren't legally allowed to marry. That's how
much the world has changed in the last 50
years. People seem to forget how it was. I just
stuck to knowing who I was and what I
wanted out of my life. I didn't pay much
attention to what people said about me. It's
difficult when you're a kid growing up and
people are nasty to you based on the color of
your skin. And it's not just white people.
There were black people telling me that I didn't act black enough and that I wasn't a part
of them because I didn't listen to rap music or
whatever. I grew up as a rock 'n' roll kid and
I remained a rock 'n' roll kid and I didn't care
who didn't like it.
Mosh: Since your band name was inspired by
The Plasmatics's song, how much of an
inspiration was singer Wendy O Williams to
you?
CH: We are greatly inspired by her. When
Heidi and I were in a cover band together
years ago, we used to do songs by the
Plasmatics. We're both hugely-inspired by
Wendy O Williams. She was a very strong
figure for women and she had a message.
And Heidi and I used to wear the "nipple
tape" if you will, and that's why the band is
called Butcher Babies.
Mosh: On your new covers EP, was it difficult to decide which songs to choose? I
believe each member picked one song. What's
the significance of your pick?
CH: My pick was "They're Coming To Take
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