Carla Harvey one of two frontwomen for heavy metal band Butcher Babies, and you don't want to mess with her; the woman has seen it all. The proof is in her book, "Death & Other Dances," published in 2014 by Pretty Girls to Ugly Things publishing. Harvey wrote the book as an autobiographic retelling of her childhood through adulthood, and how she worked through several industries and jobs to achieve her lifelong dream. Of course, the names are changed, and Harvey takes the name Autumn Franklin.
The book isn't just a chronicling of Harvey's life, though: it's a firsthand account of how sexist and misogynist and racist and classist the world is. Harvey is such a skilled writer that she doesn't have to overtly state that, either. She just writes about her life, and you immediately understand.
Harvey's story is unique. No one's got a narrative quite like hers, and that's another aspect of the book that makes it stand out. She writes in a raw, unapologetic way—but not in a way that's aggressively in-your-face. I read the book in two nights flat, cover to cover. She's funny, too. Sometimes her humor comes from her sarcasm, but it mostly stems from her bluntness. She doesn't skip over the dirty, uncomfortable details—and readers have to live with it. She didn't get to skip over the uncomfortable parts of her life; why do we get that privilege in reading her story?
"Death & Other Dances" could not have been easy to write. Some of the stories Harvey includes are difficult to bear, but that matters. It matters because she surfaces concepts and parts of life men may not have to consider (such as being pretty enough to work certain jobs, or confusing people because you're smart and pretty at the same time). It's not an in-depth, academic analysis; it's a straightforward account.
No one person's experience is the same—but Harvey does a flawless job at being relatable in her life story. She discusses things other people are usually too embarrassed to bring up or mention to others for fear of judgement. Good thing Harvey's not scared of shit.
Does this look like a woman you'd want to challenge?
You learn from Harvey in this book, too. There are life lessons woven into it, but the most important motif from it was "don't give up." Harvey persevered through addiction, abuse, loss, poverty, bullying and still ended up in a position she had dreamed of her whole life. Harvey has been a mortician, a funeral director, a stripper, a Playboy show host. Today, she is still an artist, a visionary, a published author and one of two powerful frontwomen for Butcher Babies (a reference to Wendy O'Williams and the Plasmatics, in case you didn't catch the song reference).
The book will have you laughing, crying and rooting Harvey on. You feel her anger and hurt with her, and you feel her frustration. "Death & Other Dances" pulls you in, holds you tight, and doesn't let go. I still reflect on it months after reading it.
You can snag a copy (or some of her brilliant artwork) here, or at a Butcher Babies show near you.
And here's a video of Carla Harvey doing her thing:
