CHICAGO, IL (Friday, June 13, 2025) — Today, “Hell or Hollywood,” the brand new music video from Carla Harvey’s upcoming project, “The Violent Hour,” (Megaforce Records) is released. Featuring Zakk Wylde, the video was shot at West Hollywood’s iconic Rainbow Bar and Grill, a location that literally was the reason Carla moved at a young age to Hollywood from her Detroit home. You can check the video out HERE.
Directed by Industralism Films’ Vincent Cordero (Black Veil Brides, Kat Von D), the video explores Harvey’s experiences and emotions from when she first moved to Los Angeles, and has been described as a “swampy metal induced rocker” that captures the chaotic, gritty, and euphoric aspects of her L.A. journey.
“Shooting the ‘Hell or Hollywood’ video at the Rainbow was a full-circle moment for me,” said Carla. “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. 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.”
“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,” added Anthrax’s Charlie Benante who wrote the project’s music and played all instruments on the EP. 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.”
ABOUT CARLA HARVEY: Not many people have comic book author, embalmer, and musician on their resumes. Carla Harvey boasts all three and so much more. Carla was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan—a city known for its grit, resilience, and often deep divides. Navigating life as a bi-racial kid in a fractured environment wasn’t easy, but Carla found her escape in art, music, and self-expression. By day, she hustled, attending the prestigious College for Creative Studies alongside working odd jobs like perfume counter girl and gas station attendant, and by night, she was on stage with local bands, saving every dollar she could for a one-way trip to Los Angeles.
At twenty, she put all her belongings in her car and navigated from Detroit to Hollywood with a paper map. In LA, she landed acting roles on shows like Rules of Engagement, played in bands searching for her sound, and never stopped creating. But beyond the music was a driven academic. Carla had a deep love for science and eventually pursued a Bachelor of Mortuary Science (graduating as valedictorian) and a Master of Science in Thanatology. Carla became a licensed funeral director and embalmer and founded her own grief counseling service – all while touring the world extensively as a founding member of The Butcher Babies.
Today, In addition to her music career, Carla is a Grief Specialist for the innovative death care company ‘Parting Stone,’ that transforms cremated remains into environmentally-friendly stones that the departed’s family can hold, treasure and honor.
Beyond her professional life, Carla is a devoted collector of pop culture oddities: comics, wrestling figures, vintage Barbies, Elvira, the Incredible Hulk, and rock relics from her wildest nights in Hollywood. She still holds onto her Rainbow Bar and Grill drink tickets from the ’90s and a poker chip from Lemmy’s last birthday party. Her creative heroes—Russ Meyers, Robert Williams, Robert Crumb & Charles Bukowski—mirror her love of the bold and the raw.
To date, Carla has released six albums, multiple comic books and a 2014 novel, “Death and Other Dances.” But if you ask her…she’s still just a blue-collar kid from the Midwest with big dreams.
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