Kittie

Infobox musical artist
Name = Kittie


Img_capt = From left to right: Tara McLeod, Mercedes Lander, Morgan Lander, Ivy Vujic
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = London, Ontario, Canada
Genre = Heavy metal Alternative metal
Years_active = 1996 – present
Label = X of Infamy Records (2006–present) Artemis Records (1999–2004)
Associated_acts = Night of the Demons Amphibious Assault The Dear & Departed Scars of Tomorrow Spine Suicide City Thine Eyes Bleed
Influences = Metallica Pantera Korn Deftones
URL = [http://www.kittierocks.com www.kittierocks.com]
Current_members = Morgan Lander Mercedes Lander Tara McLeod Ivy Vujic
Past_members = Tanya Candler Fallon Bowman Talena Atfield Jeff Phillips Lisa Marx Jennifer Arroyo Trish Doan

Kittie is a Canadian all-female metal 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 2000s on Slipknot's UK tour, heightening the band's popularity.

History

Origin of the name

The name "Kittie", explained by Morgan Lander:

1996–2004

Kittie was formed in 1996, when Mercedes Lander and Fallon Bowman met in an extracurricular gymnastics class. The lead singer and guitarist, Morgan Lander, is Mercedes' sister. Their original bassist was Tanya Candler, who eventually left the band in the winter of 1999 to finish high school. 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. Fallon's position as guitarist was later filled by Jeff Phillips who worked as Kittie's guitar technician. He now plays guitar for Thine Eyes Bleed.

In 2002 Talena Atfield left and 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".

2005–2007

Until March 2005, Kittie were signed to Artemis Records but parted ways due to "a proposed amendment to the recording budget for the pending fourth Kittie album." Problems between the group and record label had been rumoured for a long time. In March 2004, Artemis and Kittie came to an out of court settlement over unpaid royalties and 11 breaches of contract on Artemis' behalf.

On March 23, 2005, Morgan Lander made a post indicating that both Lisa Marx and Jennifer Arroyo had left the band. [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?Mode=Archive&Date=3/23/2005] Jennifer Arroyo's split was amicable while Lisa Marx's came as a surprise. As with Talena Atfield's departure from the band, financial reasons were cited; and in the case of Jennifer Arroyo, the desire to work outside of Kittie full-time was an additional 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 who were the first official members since the original line up of Tanya, Fallon, Morgan and Mercedes. 2005 also brought the debut of Morgan and Mercedes’ clothing line, Poisoned Black clothing. Morgan and Mercedes also appeared briefly in the documentaries "" and "Heavy Metal - Louder than Life".

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 death metal band Kataklysm.

In May 2006 Kittie announced a joint venture to create their own record label, "Kiss of Infamy Records" which will include major label distribution by EMI. The label name was later changed to X of Infamy from the previously announced Kiss of Infamy after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from attorneys representing Kiss Catalog Ltd. (the owner of the intellectual property rights pertaining to the musical group KISS) alleging that the Kiss of Infamy mark was "confusingly similar" to their client's mark. 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 45 minute DVD along with the CD. [http://www.mercedeslander.net/]

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 positive feedback and success of the tour encouraged Kittie to extend their tour into May 2007 with Walls of Jericho and In This Moment.

In November 2007 Kittie headed south to play shows in Central and South America, including dates in Santiago, Chile and São Paulo, Brazil. For these shows in Central/South America, Ivy Vujic of the Canadian band In The Wake filled in for Trish Doan on bass. Numerous videos of these shows can be found on YouTube.com. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P71W8WHBaY8] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BASj0av5s2Q] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGuNIj8lVbI] and a full video on www.woozyfly.com/kittie

2008

On March 4 2008 Kittie announced the departure of bassist Trish Doan due to an eating disorder [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=92189] . Doan had been diagnosed with the eating disorder anorexia, which she developed during the recording of "Funeral For Yesterday". Doan had battled the disease for nearly two years. Soon after, Ivy Vujic was announced as the new bass player and has since shown up in interviews, promotional photos, and tours.

On August 2 2008 David Lander, father of band members Morgan and Mercedes and the band's manager, died of a heart attack. [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=102138]

Between October 18 2008 and November 8 2008, Kittie embark on their first European tour in six years. The "Kittie Does Europe" tour includes dates in the Netherlands, England, Wales, Scotland, France, Germany, Austia and Switzerland. [http://a839.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/121/l_28addd42c94bc401999a4013e4de5dae.jpg]

Line-up

ingles

Demos

* "Sex Iz Hell Demo" (1998)
* "Kittie Sampler Demo" (1998)
* "Spit Sampler" (1999)
* "Spit Demo" (1999)

External links

* [http://focus-bliss.net/wp/ Official Fan Site ]
* [http://www.kittierocks.com Kittie - official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/officialkittie Kittie - official Myspace]
* [http://www.taramcleod.com/ Tara McLeod - official website]
* [http://www.focus-bliss.net/ What You Always Wanted]
* [http://www.poisonedblack.com/ Poisoned Black - official website]
* [http://www.shipwreckislandstudios.com/interviews/2007/kittie062507.htm Morgan Lander '07 Interview - Shipwreck Island Studios]
* [http://www.extrememusiconline.com/features/30d.html Kittie Interview]
* [http://deviantnation.com/magazine/article/Kittie/Clawing-to-the-Top/ 1998 Interview on Deviant Nation]
* [http://www.burningstars.net/kittie02 Burning Stars Interview with Morgan, Mercedes and Jennifer - 2002]

References