Kittie
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| Kittie | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | London, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre(s) | Rock, alternative metal Nu metal |
| Years active | 1996 – present |
| Label(s) | X of Infamy Records (2006–present) Artemis Records (1999–2004) |
| Website | www.kittierocks.com |
| Members | |
| Morgan Lander Mercedes Lander Tara McLeod Ivy Vujic |
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| Former members | |
| Tanya Candler Fallon Bowman Talena Atfield Jeff Phillips Lisa Marx Jennifer Arroyo Trish Doan |
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Kittie is a Canadian 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.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origin of the name
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 pussy 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 | ” |
[edit] 1996–2004
Kittie was formed in 1996, when Mercedes Lander and Fallon Bowman met in an extra-curricular 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 the band 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.
[edit] 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.[1] 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. 2005 also brought the debut of Morgan and Mercedes’ clothing line, Poisoned Black clothing. Morgan and Mercedes also appeared briefly in the documentaries Metal: A Headbanger's Journey 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. [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 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 Sao 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.[3] [4] [5]
South America Picture Gallery
 Morgan Lander |
 Morgan Lander and Tara McLeod |
 Tara McLeod |
 Mercedes Lander |
 Ivy Vujic |
 Morgan Lander |
 Tara McLeod and the Crowd in Brazil |
 Ivy Vujic |
[edit] 2008
On March 4, 2008 Kittie announced the departure of bassist Trish Doan due to an eating disorder[6]. 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.
[edit] Line-up
| 1996–1999 | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2001 | |
| 2001–2002 | |
| 2002–2004 |
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| 2004–2005 | |
| 2005–2008 | |
| 2008–present |
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[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Date of release | Title | Label | U.S Billboard peak | U.S. sales [1][2] |
| 1999 | Spit | Artemis Records | #79 | 713,986 + (Gold) |
| 2001 | Oracle | Artemis Records | #57 | 237,168 + |
| 2004 | Until the End | Artemis Records | #105 | N/A |
| 2007 | Funeral for Yesterday | X of Infamy Records | #101 | 9,000 + |
[edit] EPs
| Date of release | Title | Label | U.S Billboard peak | U.S. sales |
| 1999 | Kittie EP | Self-released | N/A | N/A |
| 2000 | Paperdoll | Artemis Records | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 | Safe | Artemis Records | N/A | N/A |
| 2006 | Never Again | Rock Ridge Music | N/A | N/A |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Main. [3] |
UK [4] |
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| 2000 | "Brackish" | — | 46 | Spit |
| "Charlotte" | — | 60 | ||
| 2001 | "What I Always Wanted" | — | — | Oracle |
| "Run Like Hell" | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "Into the Darkness" | — | — | Until the End |
| 2007 | "Funeral for Yesterday" | 40 | — | Funeral for Yesterday |
| "Breathe" | — | — | ||
[edit] Demos
- Sex Iz Hell Demo (1998)
- Kittie Sampler Demo (1998)
- Spit Sampler (1999)
- Spit Demo (1999)
[edit] External links
- Kittie - official website
- Kittie - official Myspace
- Tara McLeod - official website
- What You Always Wanted
- Poisoned Black - official website
- Morgan Lander '07 Interview - Shipwreck Island Studios
- Kittie Interview
- 1998 Interview on Deviant Nation
- Burning Stars Interview with Morgan, Mercedes and Jennifer - 2002
[edit] References
- ^ Metal/Hard Rock Album Sales In The US As Reported By Soundscan. Blabbermouth.net (2002-03-30). Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ KITTIE: 'Funeral For Yesterday' Enters Billboard Chart At 101. Blabbermouth.net (2007-02-28). Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
- ^ UK Singles - Kittie. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
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