Kittie
is a Canadian heavy metal band from London, Ontario, formed in 1996. 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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KITTIE TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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Kittie Tickets 7/12 | Jul 12, 2024 Fri, 7:00 PM | | Kittie Tickets 7/19 | Jul 19, 2024 Fri, 7:00 PM | | Kittie Tickets 8/2 | Aug 02, 2024 Fri, 6:00 PM | | Kittie & Upon a Burning Body Tickets 8/4 | Aug 04, 2024 Sun, 7:00 PM | | Kittie Tickets 8/23 | Aug 23, 2024 Fri, 6:00 PM | |
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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 the sister of drummer and band co-founder Mercedes. Their original bassist was
Tanya Candler, who eventually left the band in the winter of 1999 to finish high school.
Talena Atfield was selected as the new bassist.
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.
[2] 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
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.
[3]
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.
2008
On
March 4 2008 Kittie announced the departure of bassist Trish Doan due to an
eating disorder.
[4] 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.
[5]
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, Austria and Switzerland.
[6]
Kittie is planning on releasing a new DVD titled "A Night At The Office - A Tribute to Dave Lander".
[7] The DVD will feature 4 Kittie songs live and bonus interviews. The DVD also features Thine Eyes Bleed, Acia, and Night of The Demons (Mercedes's side project). Since their show in December Kittie has played 4 new songs, the titles are My Plague, Whiskey Love Song, Sorrow I Know, and Forgive and Forget.
2009
On 26 June, 2009, Kittie announced that they had signed to the
E1 Music label and that a new album, entitled
In the Black
, would be released on 15 September 2009. Songs will include "Cut Throat", "Sorrow I Know" and "My Plague".
[8]
Band members
1996–1999
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar
- Mercedes Lander – drums
- Fallon Bowman – Guitar, Backing vocals
- Tanya Candler – Bass guitar
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1999–2001
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar
- Mercedes Lander – Drums
- Fallon Bowman – Guitar, Backing vocals
- Talena Atfield – Bass guitar
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2001–2002
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar, Piano
- Mercedes Lander – Drums
- Talena Atfield – Bass guitar
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2002–2004
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar
- Mercedes Lander – Drums
- Jennifer Arroyo – Bass guitar
- Jeff Phillips – Guitar (session member)
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2004–2005
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar
- Mercedes Lander – Drums
- Jennifer Arroyo – Bass guitar
- Lisa Marx – Guitar
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2005–2008
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar
- Mercedes Lander – Drums, Vocals, Piano
- Tara McLeod – Guitar
- Trish Doan – Bass guitar
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2008–present
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- Morgan Lander – Lead vocals, Guitar
- Mercedes Lander – Drums, Vocals, Piano
- Tara McLeod – Guitar
- Ivy Vujic – Bass guitar
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Discography
- Spit
(1999)
- Oracle
(2001)
- Until the End
(2004)
- Funeral for Yesterday
(2007)
- In the Black
(2009)