Former Butcher Babies singer Carla Harvey has unveiled the single/video “Hell or Hollywood” as the latest offering from her new project The Violent Hour. The single features a guest guitar solo from Zakk Wylde.
The new song, which follows previous single “Sick Ones” featuring John 5, has a distinctive ’80s hard rock vibe, and is accompanied by a music video filmed at the famed Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood, California. In the clip, actors portray Lemmy Kilmister, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain.
“Shooting the ‘Hell or Hollywood’ video at the Rainbow was a full-circle moment for me,” stated Harvey. “As a kid growing up in the Midwest, I saw the Rainbow in rock mags and iconic Guns N’ Roses videos…it exuded that gritty, dangerous, rock ’n’ roll lifestyle I craved. When I moved to LA, I practically lived there. I made my first friends at the Rainbow, found my first bandmates there, and got into plenty of trouble. The Rainbow is more than a backdrop; it’s a living, breathing piece of rock history.”
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She added, “This video tells the story of chasing a dream to LA (both the pleasures and the pitfalls) and toys with the question: do you have to sell your soul for rock ’n’ roll? Is this Hell or Hollywood? The answer reveals itself at the end of the video. It was important for me to have Lemmy (played by Luke Edwards of Killed by Death) in the video as one of my “tempters” because of his iconic presence at the Rainbow. You’ll spot a Janis Joplin too (actress Shannon Corbett) and I had to throw in a little tongue in cheek humor as well with a Kurt Cobain lookalike (Gabe Maska) because let’s be real, if Kurt showed up at the Rainbow, you’d definitely be in hell.”
Harvey’s fiancé, Anthrax/Pantera drummer Charlie Benante, who composed the music and performed most of the instruments on The Violent Hour’s upcoming debut EP, added, “Carla grew up loving Guns N’ Roses, and since they were so heavily influenced by Aerosmith, I wanted to write something that paid tribute to both. The riff on ‘Hell or Hollywood’ is the kind that stands on its own — even without vocals, it’s got a swagger to it. And having Zakk Wylde on the solo? He brought this raw, six-string grit that rips through the track. You hear it and instantly know — it’s him.”
Benante and Wylde are both playing in Pantera, alongside classic members Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown, with a summer US tour set to kick off in July (tickets available here). Harvey, meanwhile, is currently on tour as the singer of industrial-dance veterans Lords of Acid (pick up tickets here).
Watch the video for “Hell or Hollywood” below, and stay tuned for more details on The Violent Hour’s debut EP.