Kittie | |
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 Kittie performing in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, Ontario, Canada |
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| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | kittie |
Kittie is a Canadianheavy metal band fromLondon, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 by guitaristFallon Bowman and drummer Mercedes Lander, with guitarist and vocalist Morgan Lander and bassist Tanya Candler joining the following year. Morgan and Mercedes have remained the band's sole constant members. Collectively, their material released viaindependent record labels has sold over two million copies worldwide.[1]
Kittie was chosen as the band name because the name "seemed contradictory".[2] After signing to Ng Records, Kittie released their debut albumSpit (1999), which saw a wider release underArtemis Records the following year. The album, which primarily exhibited anu metal sound, sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States and was certified gold by theRIAA. Kittie's subsequent output, includingOracle (2001) andUntil the End (2004), saw the band transition towards a heavier, more aggressive albeit melodic sound featuring characteristics ofalternative metal,groove metal anddeath metal. Neither album was able to replicate the success ofSpit, and Kittie parted ways with Artemis Records in 2005.
After leaving Artemis, Kittie created their own label, X of Infamy, and released their fourth albumFuneral for Yesterday in 2007. In 2009, the band signed toeOne Music, with who they releasedIn the Black (2009) andI've Failed You (2011), both with bassistIvana "Ivy" Jenkins. After the release ofI've Failed You, Kittie went on an indefinite hiatus and the band's members pursued various other projects.[3][4] In 2018, a documentary,Kittie: Origins/Evolutions, chronicling the history of the band was released in co-ordination with its 20th anniversary, followed by a one-off reunion concert. In 2022, Kittie reunited to perform at the Blue Ridge Rock andWhen We Were Young festivals.[5][6] Their first album in 13 years,Fire, was released on June 21, 2024, throughSumerian Records.[7]
Kittie was formed in September 1996[8] when guitaristFallon Bowman and drummer Mercedes Lander met in a gymnastics class.[9] Four or five months after the band's formation, Mercedes' sister Morgan joined as their vocalist and guitarist.[10] Tanya Candler completed the line-up by joining as the bassist in November 1997.[11] Kittie recorded their first demos and began playing concerts in 1998.[12] The band performed at Call the Office and the Embassy and signed up for Canadian Music Week in 1999.[12] Kittie approached Jason Wyner, who was second-in-command at NG Records. After Jason saw the band perform live, NG Records signed Kittie in 1999.[12] Kittie initially released their debut albumSpit on NG Records on November 13, 1999;[13][14][15] however, shortly after, NG Records was purchased by Artemis Records, and production was halted. Around the same time, Candler left the band and was replaced on bass byTalena Atfield. Artemis subsequently reissuedSpit, with different artwork and photographs, on January 11, 2000.[13][14][15] It is the band's most successful album, being certified gold by theRIAA.[9][16]Spit has sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States and at least 40,000 copies in Canada.[17] They supported the album by touring withSlipknot.[18][19][20]
Their debut album and supporting tour earned Kittie coverage inMetal Edge, whose readers voted Morgan Lander for "Female Performer of the Year" andSpit in Your Eye for "Home Video of the Year" in the magazine's 2000 Readers' Choice Awards. The band was also voted "New Band of the Year", "Who's Going to be the Next Big Thing", and "Most Underrated Band", earning them a total of fiveMetal Edge Readers' Choice Awards that year.[21][22] On July 11, 2000, Kittie made a home-video calledSpit in Your Eye which featured interviews of the band and the band playing shows with the bandSlipknot.[23] The success ofSpit ledBillboard to call Kittie "the most successful female band in modern metal" in December 2001.[24]
Kittie began jamming on new material in February 2001,[25] and finished writing their second album,Oracle, by June.[26] Sounding more aggressive thanSpit,[27] the album features elements ofdeath metal[28] andthrash metal.[29] Morgan Lander noted how the band members were only 14 years old when writing their debut album and said "We haven't written in 4 or 5 years." She acknowledged a change in influence from their early days, stating, "Then we listened to bands likeNirvana,Silverchair, andAlice in Chains. Now we listen to stuff likeCannibal Corpse andNile." However, the band would continue to write in the same fashion by first composing the music and then using that "as the backdrop behind the vocals."[30] Weeks before the album was due to be recorded,[31] Bowman left Kittie due to creative differences with Morgan and her own struggles dealing with the band's pressures for success.[32][33] They have since reconciled their differences.[34] As a result of her departure, Morgan recorded all of the album's guitar tracks herself.[31] In August 2001, Artemis Records announced that Kittie would continue as a three-piece (Bowman was not named in the statement) and that the band'sguitar tech, Jeff Phillips, would fill in as a touring guitarist.[35] Released in November 2001,[36] the album went on to ship almost 220,000 copies in the United States by 2004.[37]
On March 18, 2002, Talena Atfield left the band and was replaced on bass by Jennifer Arroyo two days later.[38][39] In April 2003, Kittie and Garth Richardson sued Artemis over unpaid royalties of $900,000 and eleven breaches of contract by the label; the dispute was settled out of court in March 2004.[40][41][42] In 2004, the group added guitaristLisa Marx, and Jeff Phillips went to work full-time on his side project,Thine Eyes Bleed.[9] On July 27, 2004, Kittie released their third studio albumUntil the End.[43]
On March 23, 2005, Morgan Lander reported that both Lisa Marx and Jennifer Arroyo had left the band.[44] Jennifer Arroyo's split was amicable while Lisa Marx's came as a surprise. Morgan cited financial difficulties, which they attributed to Artemis Records' poor promotion of their releases, as the reasons for both members' departures.[45][46] Lander also revealed that Artemis and the band were in negotiations over whether the band's contract would be renewed, expressing her desire to leave the label.[47] Arroyo confirmed that the split was amicable, and also cited her desire to work outside of Kittie full-time was an additional factor. She would go on to joinBilly Graziadei ofBiohazard in the bandSuicide City.[9][48] On March 31, 2005, Kittie parted ways with Artemis Records due to "a proposed amendment to the recording budget for the pending fourth Kittie album."[49]
In 2005, Kittie added two new members: Tara McLeod on guitar andTrish Doan on bass. In 2005, Morgan and Mercedes Lander's clothing line, Poisoned Black clothing, started.[50] Morgan and Mercedes also appeared briefly in the documentariesMetal: A Headbanger's Journey andHeavy Metal - Louder than Life. On February 7, 2006, Kittie released theirNever Again EP throughRock Ridge Music.[51] Also in 2006, vocalist Morgan Lander provided vocals on the song "It Turns to Rust", from the albumIn the Arms of Devastation, by the Canadiandeath metal bandKataklysm.[52]
Kittie created their own record label, Kiss of Infamy Records, and used it to release their fourth studio album. The label name was later changed to "X of Infamy" after a cease-and-desist letter from attorneys representing Kiss Catalog Ltd. (the owner of the intellectual property rights pertaining to the musical groupKiss) alleging that the Kiss of Infamy trademark was "confusingly similar" to their client's trademark.[53] Kittie's fourth studio albumFuneral for Yesterday was released on February 20, 2007, through their record label.[53] Along with the release ofFuneral for Yesterday, Morgan Lander announced that Kittie would release a 45-minute-DVD with the CD.[54] In February 2007, Kittie toured as part of theFuneral for Yesterday Tour alongsideWalls of Jericho,36 Crazyfists,Dead To Fall, andIn This Moment.[55] Doan left Kittie following the tour due to her struggles withanorexia athletica-nervosa, which she developed during the recording ofFuneral for Yesterday.[56][57][58][59] From July 6 to September 16, 2007, Kittie embarked on another headlining tour of the United States, the Sweet Revenge Tour, withIt Dies Today,Silent Civilian,Bring Me the Horizon andBlessed by a Broken Heart.[60][61] Jeff Phillips filled in on bass for the duration of tour.[60] Soon after, Ivy Vujic officially became the new bass player.[59]
On August 2, 2008, David Lander, father of band members Morgan and Mercedes and the band's manager, died of a heart attack.[62]
On June 26, 2009, it was announced that Kittie signed to theE1 Music record label.[63] The band's fifth studio albumIn the Black, was released on September 15, 2009.[63] Videos were shot for two singles, "Cut Throat" and "Sorrow I Know". "Cut Throat" premiered on MTV 2'sHeadbangers Ball on September 5, 2009, and on the Canadian showMuch Loud on September 20, 2009. "Cut Throat" also appeared on theSaw VI Soundtrack released on October 20, 2009,[64] and also inDiary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, released on March 25, 2011. On September 16, 2009, an announcement was made that German labelMassacre Records would distributeIn the Black in Europe.[65]
In January 2010, Kittie returned to Europe to promoteIn the Black. Supporting bands on the tour includedIt Dies Today andMalefice. This tour included dates in Scotland, England, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In a January 27, 2010 interview, Morgan Lander revealed that the band was in talks to film a video for the track "Die My Darling".[66] In March 2010, Kittie embarked on another North American tour withGod Forbid,Periphery andGwen Stacy as support. From May through June 2010, Kittie took part in theHappy Daze tour headlined byInsane Clown Posse and featuringCoolio,Kottonmouth Kings andNecro.[67]
Kittie participated in the 2010Thrash and Burn tour through July and August which also featuredAsking Alexandria,Born of Osiris,Evergreen Terrace,Stick to Your Guns,Chelsea Grin,Through the Eyes of the Dead,Impending Doom,Periphery andGreeley Estates.[68] This was followed by a one-month stint as one of the two opening acts onDevildriver's 2010 North American tour.[69]
Kittie's sixth studio album, titledI've Failed You, was released on August 30, 2011.[70] Two videos were released for the songs "We Are the Lamb" and "Empires (Part 2)".[71] In 2011, Mercedes Lander joined the all-female band the Alcohollys featuring former Kittie bassist Tanya Candler.
On February 13, 2012, Kittie announced that Ivy Vujic was resigning from the band and that Trish Doan would be returning.[72] On September 7, 2013, Kittie performed at the Spread the Metal Festival atThe Opera House inToronto.[73] The band would enter a period of inactivity following the performance, citing rising costs associated with touring and writing new music.[74][75] Morgan later noted declining turnouts at the band's shows as a factor,[76] with her and Mercedes both feeling that Kittie had "overstayed [their] welcome" by the timeI've Failed You was released.[4] In 2017, Mercedes described Kittie as being on an indefinite hiatus.[3] In spite of their prolonged inactivity, the band did not want to announce that they had broken up.[4] In 2024, McLeod said: "To admit that we were done would have been a really big heartbreak for all of us. None of us wanted to admit that even though we did overstay our welcome. We knew it was inevitable but maybe didn't want to admit it. All of us really gripped onto [Kittie] as a musical identity."[4]
In early 2014, Kittie posted information about a secret project that was in the works to their Facebook page. On March 8, Kittie posted photos on their Facebook and Instagram of past and present members all together in the same room with a camera. On March 28, 2014, Kittie launched anIndiegogo campaign celebrating the impending 20th anniversary of the band, with a DVD documentary featuring past and present members and a tell all book.[77] Their goal of $20,000 was reached in eight hours. The campaign closed on April 28, 2014, with a total amount of $40,525 raised, 203% of the initial goal. Kittie slated Rob McCallum to direct the documentary and Mark Eglinton to help pen the biography.[78]
In April 2015, it was announced that Kittie would tour the United States in June 2015, as part ofIll Niño's the Civil Unrest Tour.[79] However, a month before it could begin, the band dropped out of the tour "due to unforeseen issues with immigration in the USA".[80] In October 2015, Kittie released a cover ofDavid Bowie's "Space Oddity", featured on theCleopatra Records tribute albumA Salute To The Thin White Duke - The Songs Of David Bowie. Morgan, Mercedes and McLeod recorded the cover in a single day in December 2014 at Beach Road Studios with producer Siegfried Meier.[81]
In October 2016, it was announced that drummer/vocalist Mercedes Lander had started a new sludge/doom metal band called the White Swan that released the single "Illuminate". The debut EP,Anubis, was released on November 1, 2016.[82][83]
On February 11, 2017, bassist Trish Doan died at the age of 31.[84][85] Doan had moved to Australia in 2013 and had frequently used her social media accounts to speak of her frustrations with depression.[86]
On August 30, 2017, the band announced that they would performing a three-set single concert on October 27, 2017, in their hometown of London, Ontario in the London Music Hall, featuring three different line-up variations made up of both current and former members. The concert marked the launch of their 20-year anniversary documentary,[87] and featured the return of Candler, Bowman, Phillips, Arroyo and Vujic to perform songs from their respective eras.[88] The concert was released on DVD format on March 26, 2019.[89]
On March 30, 2018, the documentaryKittie: Origins/Evolutions, which was filmed prior to the reunion concert, was released on Blu-ray and DVD for the very first time. Like they did with the reunion concert, Atfield and Marx declined to participate; according to Morgan Lander, Atfield was supportive of the documentary, appearing in the initial crowdfunding pitch video, but "didn't think it was the right move for her" to appear.[90] Packaged with the movie was a CD featuring a collection of live performances by the band.
In 2019, Morgan Lander expressed uncertainty about the future of the band, the primary reason being that she didn't feel right moving the band forward without Trish Doan.[91] Several months later, it was announced that Lander had joined the melodic death metal band, Karkaos, as their new lead singer.
In October 2020, Mercedes Lander stated that it was unlikely that Kittie would reunite to perform again without a significant financial offer and the ability to include all of the band's former members. Like her sister, she also stated that she found it difficult to go forward with the band without Doan.[92]
In late 2021, coinciding with a resurgence in nu metal's popularity, Kittie was contacted by bookers to play several shows,[93] prompting the band to officially end their hiatus in January 2022 with Jenkins rejoining the band on bass.[5] On September 8, 2022, Kittie performed their first show since 2017 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.[94] In October 2022, Kittie performed on all three days of theWhen We Were Young festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5] After seeing the band perform at the When We Were Young festival, Kittie were signed toSumerian Records by label headAsh Avildsen and began working on new material in January 2023.[4][95]
On May 13, 2023, Kittie performed their first new song in 12 years, "Vultures", at the Sick New World Festival inLas Vegas.[96] On November 19, 2023, the band confirmed that they were recording a new album with producerNick Rasculinecz at Sienna Studios inNashville,Tennessee.[97] On February 13, 2024, Kittie premiered their first new song in 13 years, "Eyes Wide Open", onSirius XM'sLiquid Metal channel.[98] The following day, the band formally released the song as a single with a music video and announced that they had signed to Sumerian Records.[99][100] Upon release,Consequence,Exclaim!,Metal Hammer andRevolver listed the song as one of the best of the week.[101][102][103][104] After the release of "Vultures", the band announced that its seventh album,Fire, would be released on June 21, 2024.[7]
Kittie has been put under multiple genres of music. They have been categorized asnu metal,[105][106][107][108]alternative metal,[109][110]heavy metal,[9][70][111]death metal,[112][113][114][115][116]extreme metal,[117]groove metal,[118][119][70]thrash metal,[120][70]gothic metal,[121]punk,[122] andhard rock.[123] Kittie has often used death metal andblack metal vocals in their songs and often had clean singing in those songs as well.[106][124][125][126] On theSpit album, Kittie used screaming, clean singing andrapping.[127][128] Kittie have been compared to bands such asPantera,[129]Slayer,[129] andMudvayne.[2]
Kittie's formative influences were based within theSeattle grunge scene;[130] Morgan Lander has stated that when Kittie madeSpit, the band were listening to bands such asSilverchair,Alice in Chains, andNirvana.[30] Later on, when Morgan joined the band, Kittie transitioned from agrunge band into anu metal band, taking inspiration from recent releases of the time byKorn,Deftones andSepultura.[130] When asked about their influences in an interview withMetal Maidens in 1999, the members of Kittie citedNile,Today Is the Day,Placebo,Far,Weezer,Orgy,Fear Factory,Hole,Tura Satana,Human Waste Project,Babes in Toyland,Misfits,Blondie, andNasum as influences.[131] With the release ofOracle, Kittie abandoned the nu metal style found onSpit in favour of a more extreme metal sound.[32] In interviews, Morgan has citedMarilyn Manson, Korn,[132]Metallica,Cannibal Corpse,Nile,Carcass,At the Gates,Acid Bath, andTestament as influences on the band.[30][133]
Tiny Mix Tapes called Kittie "probably the best known all-female band of the [nu metal] era",[134] and various publications have described the band as influential to women in rock and metal.[135][136][137][138] The band have been cited as an inspiration byLzzy Hale,[139] Serena Cherry (Svalbard andNoctule)[136] andPoppy,[140] whilstDemi Lovato[141] andCaroline Polachek[142] are fans of the band.Princess Nokia has called Kittie her favourite metal band of all time,[143] and included the band in the music video for "Dragons", from her debut albumMetallic Butterfly (2014).[144] In 2016,OC Weekly listed Kittie as the eight-best Canadian metal band.[145]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Kittie | Best New Group | Nominated | [147] |
| 2025 | Fire | Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year | Nominated | [148] |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Kittie | Best International Newcomer | Nominated | [149] |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Morgan Lander | Female Performer of the Year | Won | [21][22] |
| Kittie | Nominated | |||
| Spit in Your Eye | Home Video of the Year | Won | ||
| Kittie | New Band of the Year | Won | ||
| Who's Going to be the Next Big Thing | Won | |||
| Most Underrated Band | Won | |||
| 2002 | Mercedes Lander | Drummer of the Year | Nominated | [150] |
| Morgan Lander | Female Performer of the Year | Won | ||
| Kittie | Nominated | |||
| Talena Atfield[N 1] | Bassist of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Kittie | Most Underrated Band | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Kittie | Most Underrated Band | Won | [151] |
Studio albums
Notes
Citations
"[It] will be [Kittie's eleventh birthday] in September".
Today 16 years ago we released our first album.
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