KITTIE

'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 2000s on Slipknot's UK tour, heightening the band's popularity.

Contents

History

1996–2004

2005–present

Origin of the name

Line-up

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Demos

Trivia

External links

History

1996–2004

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 eventually left the band in the winter of 1999 due to the fact that she wanted 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 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.

2005–present

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 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 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 tour received a huge turnout and feedback that Kittie decided to extend their tour into May 2007 with Walls of Jericho and In This Moment.

Origin of the name

The name "Kittie", explained by Morgan Lander:

Line-up

1996–1999	★ Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar ★ Mercedes Lander – Drums ★ Fallon Bowman – Guitar ★ Tanya Candler – Bass guitar
1999–2001	★ Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar ★ Mercedes Lander – Drums ★ Fallon Bowman – Guitar ★ Talena Atfield – Bass guitar
2001–2002	★ Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar, Piano ★ Mercedes Lander – Drums ★ Talena Atfield – Bass guitar
2002–2004	★ Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar ★ Mercedes Lander – Drums ★ Jennifer Arroyo – Bass guitar ★ Jeff Phillips – Guitar (session member)
2004–2005	★ Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar ★ Mercedes Lander – Drums ★ Jennifer Arroyo – Bass guitar ★ Lisa Marx – Guitar (session member)
2005–present	★ Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar ★ Mercedes Lander – Drums, Vocals, Piano ★ Tara McLeod – Guitar ★ Trish Doan – Bass guitar

Discography

Albums

'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

EPs

★ ''Paperdoll'' (2000)

★ ''Safe'' (2002)

★ ''Never Again'' (Digital EP) (2006)

Singles

★ "Brackish" (2000)

★ "Charlotte" (2000)

★ "What I Always Wanted" (2001)

★ "Run Like Hell" (Australian Radio promo) (2001)

★ "Into the Darkness" (2004)

★ "Funeral for Yesterday" (2007)

★ "Breathe" (2007)

Demos

★ ''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)

Trivia

★ It is a common misconception that the song "This Town" is performed by Korn and Kittie, but it is actually by Jonathan Davis of Korn and Human Waste Project.

★ Another misconception is with the Deftones song "My Own Summer", said to be covered by Kittie, but in fact is 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) p.e. with Serj Tankian of System of a Down.

★ In the 2003 comedy ''School of Rock'', there is a scene where Jack Black talks to a character in front of a bulletin board. When Black moves, a Kittie sticker is seen.

External links

★ Kittie - official website

★ Kittie - official Myspace

★ Mercedes Lander - official website

★ Tara McLeod - official website

★ Trish Doan - official website

★ What You Always Wanted

★ Daughters Down

★ Poisoned Black - official website

★ Morgan Lander '07 Interview - Shipwreck Island Studios

★ Kittie Interview