Carla Harvey Reveals Why She Left Butcher Babies

Earlier this year, Butcher Babies singer Carla Harvey surprised fans when she announced she was leaving the group. “Over the last 6 months You may have noticed my absence from Butcher Babies posts,” she said at the time. “After 15 years of dedication, I wanted to let you know that I will not be rejoining the band for any future endeavors.”

Harvey recently appeared on The Ward Bond Show and explained how both her other career and personal life factored in to her decision to part ways with the group. A longtime worker in the death care field, Harvey has partnered with Parting Stone, a company that works with solidifying the remains of both human and pet loved ones.

Harvey attended mortuary school prior to Butcher Babies and the band’s success. In 2009 she committed full time to music. “It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me because our career just exploded, and so I got the best of both worlds,” she said. “I had gotten my education. I had gotten a taste of working in death care, and then I could still live out my dream, and I am so grateful for that. The last 15 years of my life have been spent onstage, entertaining people in a capacity that I never dreamed I would have, especially after so much disappointment in my early years in L.A. So I got to do that. I got to be a rock star. I got to do all the things. And then 15 years later, my mind kind of changed again.”

Harvey went on to explain that her family factored into her decision to step away from the band.

“There’s so much that goes into being in a band, especially as you get older and your life changes, you have relationships, you have a partner,” she explained. “I have a stepdaughter, and the idea, all of a sudden, of being on the road 10, 12 months out of the year became just a lot to handle. And in a band there’s five people, and half of those people may feel like they want to be on the road constantly all the time and then some people are, like, ‘Maybe it’s halftime.’ So it doesn’t always work out for the greater good of everybody.”

Harvey went on to say that she never really left her day job even while pursuing music. “I’m glad I never quit my day job. In fact, all the while, the last 15 years, while I’ve been on tour, I’ve been getting more education and getting more certification so that I could continue on because I always had that need to still be in death care in some aspect,” she said.

Harvey is also engaged to Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. “There’s just so many moments in life where you really have to assess what’s best for you,” she said. “Life changes. And also another thing about the entertainment industry and the music industry, it’s not the same as it was for musicians 20 years ago, 10 years ago. My future husband’s in a legacy band. They never have to worry about having a real job — ever. But bands my size? You’re not breaking the bank. You’re not really earning a livable wage unless you’re on the road 12 months out of the year. You can’t support yourself. So I’ve always had other jobs.”