Kittie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kittie | ||
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Kittie from left to right: Trish Doan, Morgan Lander, Mercedes Lander, Tara McLeod.
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | London, Ontario, Canada |
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| Genre(s) | Alternative metal | |
| Years active | 1996 – present | |
| Label(s) | X of Infamy Records | |
| Website | www.kittierocks.com | |
| Members | ||
| Morgan Lander Mercedes Lander Tara McLeod Trish Doan |
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| Former members | ||
| Tanya Candler Fallon Bowman Talena Atfield Lisa Marx Jennifer Arroyo |
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Kittie is a Canadian, alternative metal, all-women band from London, Ontario. The band rose to success in 1999 when the track "Brackish" from their debut album Spit became a hit single. The band also supported Slipknot during the early 2000's on Slipknot's UK tour, heightening the band's popularity.
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Kittie was formed in 1996, when Mercedes Lander and Fallon Bowman met in a high school gymnastics class. The lead singer and guitarist, Morgan Lander, is Mercedes' sister. Their original bassist was Tanya Candler, who was eventually forced to leave the band in the winter of 1999 due to health problems. She was replaced with Talena Atfield.
In 2001, Fallon Bowman left Kittie without citing her reasons and eventually started a new project called Amphibious Assault. (It was alleged that her departure was due to the rest of the band's discomfort with Fallon's obsession with the Columbine killings; this rumor, however, has been confirmed to be untrue by Fallon although never confirmed by Morgan or Mercedes). Fallon's position as guitarist would later be filled by Jeff Phillips who worked as Kitties' guitar technician. He now plays guitar for Thine Eyes Bleed.
In 2002 Talena Atfield left the band. She was replaced on bass guitar by Jennifer Arroyo. In 2004 the group added a fourth member, the second guitarist Lisa Marx, and Jeff Phillips went to work full-time on his side project, Thine Eyes Bleed.
In 2004 Kittie released the album Until the End. A band with the same name, Until The End, joked about naming their newest album Kittie to return the favour, however, they didn't.
Until March 2005, Kittie were signed to Artemis Records but parted ways due to "a proposed amendment to the recording budget for the pending 4th Kittie album." Problems between the group and record label had been rumoured for a long time. The only official sign of these problems was a settlement out of court for unpaid royalties and 11 breaches of contract on Artemis Records' behalf, in March 2004.
On March 23, 2005, Morgan Lander made a post indicating that both Lisa Marx and Jennifer Arroyo had left the band.[1] Jennifer Arroyo's split was amicable while Lisa Marx's was a surprise. Financial reasons were cited — nothing new, as the same had happened earlier with Talena Atfield, and in the case of Jennifer Arroyo, the desire to work outside of Kittie full-time was also a factor. Jennifer Arroyo would go on to join Billy Graziadei of Biohazard, to form Suicide City.
In 2005 Kittie added two new members: Tara McLeod, on guitar, and Trish Doan, on bass. Most fans have stated that this is Kittie's most musically talented line-up yet. 2005 also brought the debut of Morgan and Mercedes’ clothing line, Poisoned Black clothing. Morgan and Mercedes also appeared briefly in the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey.
On February 7, 2006, Kittie released the Never Again EP through Rock Ridge Music. Also in 2006, vocalist Morgan Lander provided vocals on the song "It Turns to Rust", from the album In the Arms of Devastation, by the Canadian metal band Kataklysm.
In May of 2006 Kittie announced a joint venture to create their own record label, "Kiss of Infamy Records" which will include major label distribution by EMI. Their fourth studio album is entitled Funeral for Yesterday and was released on February 20, 2007 through their new label.
Along with the release of Funeral for Yesterday it was announced by Morgan Lander that Kittie would be releasing a new DVD. The DVD was released along with the CD. The DVD runs for about 45 minutes.[2]
Kittie kicked off 2007 with the "Funeral for Yesterday Tour" running from the beginning of February until the end of March. Other bands on the bill include Walls Of Jericho, 36 Crazyfists, Dead To Fall, and In This Moment.
The name "Kittie", explained by Morgan Lander:
| “ | When we were thinking of names to call the band before our first show, we had decided that we wanted something completely contradictory to what the band and the sound of the band was. I think we chose Kittie because we wanted something totally unexpected, something that sounded weak, so that when you heard the band for the first time, it would be a total shock. I think there were a few other weak sounding names... Like Swan or Swansong (which is what I remember really wanting to call the band)...But Kittie was chosen, and the rest is history.1 | ” |
| 1996–1999 | |
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| 1999–2001 | |
| 2001–2002 | |
| 2002–2004 |
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| 2004–2005 |
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| 2005–present |
| Album Cover | Date Of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | US Sales |
| 1999 | Spit | Artemis Records | #79 | Gold | |
| 2001 | Oracle | Artemis Records | #57 | N/A | |
| 2004 | Until the End | Artemis Records | #105 | N/A | |
| 2007 | Funeral for Yesterday | X of Infamy Records | #101 | N/A |
- "Brackish" (2000)
- "Charlotte" (2000)
- "What I Always Wanted" (2001)
- "Into the Darkness" (2004)
- "Funeral for Yesterday" (2007)
- Sex Iz Hell Demo (1998)
- Kittie Sampler Demo (1998)
- Kittie EP (1999)
- Spit Sampler (1999)
- Oracle Sampler (2001)
- What I Always Wanted Sampler (2001)
- What I Always Wanted Mixes (2001)
- Run Like Hell Australian Single (2002)
- It is a common misconception that the song "This Town" is performed by Korn and Kittie, but it is actually by Korn and Human Waste Project.
- Another misconception is that the Deftones song "My Own Summer" which is said to be covered by Kittie was in fact simply an exact copy of the original Deftones version with raised speed and pitch.
- Morgan Lander has provided featured vocals on "It Turns to Rust" by Kataklysm, and on "Feel Good" by (həd) pe with Serj Tankian of System of a Down.
- Kittie - official website
- Kittie - official Myspace
- Morgan Lander - official website
- Mercedes Lander - official website
- Tara McLeod - official website
- Trish Doan - official website
- Poisoned Black - official website
- Live Videos of Kittie via UVTV (Underground Video Television)
| Kittie |
| Morgan Lander | Mercedes Lander | Tara McLeod | Trish Doan
Tanya Candler | Fallon Bowman | Talena Atfield | Jeff Phillips | Lisa Marx |
| Discography |
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| Albums and extended plays: Spit | Paperdoll | Oracle | Safe | Until the End | Never Again Digital EP | Funeral for Yesterday |
| Singles |
| Brackish | Charlotte | What I Always Wanted | Into the Darkness | Funeral For Yesterday |