Tag: Kittie

Watch: KITTIE Rehearses ‘Cut Throat’ For Upcoming Reunion Shows

A video of KITTIE guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander, drummer Mercedes Lander and bassist Ivana “Ivy” Vujicrehearsing the song “Cut Throat” last weekend can be seen below.

KITTIE shared the clip on Thursday (May 12) and wrote in an accompanying caption: “A little sneak peek at practice progress in our creepy jam dungeon. We had a blast this past weekend. #kittie #cutthroat #practice”.

Morgan and her sister held their first rehearsal together since 2017 in April. A month earlier, Morgan confirmed to Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio that KITTIEwill play more shows beyond the already announced appearances at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September and at the When We Were Young festival in October. “That’s it for this year,” Morgansaid. “But next year, we definitely will. But I think those opportunities will come later on.

“We don’t have anything set in stone, but I think it’s something that, like I said before, once these doors are open, I think we can expect to feel comfortable doing a few more little things here and there and hopefully we’ll be able to do some more one-offs in the States and Europe and that type of thing,” she explained. “So the possibilities are endless.”

Joining Morgan, Mercedes and Ivyat the above-mentioned shows in the fall will be guitarist Tara McLeod.

Asked in a recent interview with the “Talk Toomey” podcast what led to Vujicreturning to KITTIE for the upcoming dates, Lander said: “Ivy played on two of our albums, the last two albums that we did. She left the band right before the very last big tour that we ended up doing; she did the Soundwave Festival [in Australia] with us in 2012, and those were the last shows that we did with her. And she just kind of settled into her life, started a family, got married, and so that’s sort of been what she’s been up to. But Ivy‘s a metal girl at heart and she’s always been super, super easygoing about stuff. I just sent her a message and I was, like, ‘Hey, can we talk?’ And we had a really, really great phone call and I just sort of explained the situation, explained what was going on. I asked her if she’d be into doing it, and she was, like, ‘Yeah. Sounds great.’ … It’s very much one of those things where you don’t talk that often anymore, you don’t see each other that often, but then, when you all get together again, that chemistry and that vibe is always there.”

Morgan continued: “I feel like that lineup of KITTIE in particular was always very super pro, super chill — no stress, no drama. Just, like, ‘You know what? We’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna sound amazing.’

“She’s an incredible bass player. I don’t think that Ivy gets enough credit. She is absolutely incredible. So it’s gonna be great.”

Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band’s fifth studio CD, 2009’s “In The Black”. She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE‘s sixth album, 2011’s “I’ve Failed You”.

When We Were Young will be held on the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on the Strip on October 22, October 23 and October 29.

When the lineup for When We Were Young was first revealed, KITTIE said: “Thanks for your patience with our silence friends. The truth is we’ve been in full on crisis mode the past week and weren’t sure if we’d actually be able to make this happen but it’s true and we’ll be there to melt your face off and we hope you got your tickets.”

KITTIE has not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band’s native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group’s documentary “Kittie: Origins/Evolutions”.

In January, the original lineup of KITTIE — Morgan, Mercedes, Fallon Bowman(guitar) and Tanya Candler (bass) — reunited for an online chat to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its gold-certified 2000 debut album, “Spit”.

Candler left KITTIE after the release of “Spit” in order to finish high school and was replaced by Talena Atfield.

Bowman exited KITTIE in 2001 and started her own industrial/electronic project, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT.

After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for 2011’s “I’ve Failed You” album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, “Origins/Evolutions”, which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America.

“I’ve Failed You” sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.

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Psychedelic Lunch

Welcome to our “Psychedelic Lunch” series where we find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes and explore music from the 60’s to today. Weekdays At Noon EST. Enjoy the trip!

Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in London, Ontario in 1996. All of their material has been released through independent record labels, which to date includes six studio albums, one video album, four extended plays, thirteen singles, and thirteen music videos. “Kittie” was chosen as the band name because the name “seemed contradictory.”

Kittie formed in 1996 when Fallon Bowman and Mercedes Lander met in gym class. Morgan Lander became the lead vocalist and one of Kittie’s guitarists and Tanya Candler completed the band’s lineup on bass. After signing to NG Records, Kittie released their debut album Spit, which was certified gold by the RIAA and sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States. The band released Oracle in 2001 and Until the End in 2004. In 2005, Kittie parted ways with Artemis Records and created their own label. The band released Funeral for Yesterday in 2007 and signed to E1 Music in 2009. The band released In the Black in 2009 and I’ve Failed You in 2011. In 2014, a documentary, Kittie: Origins/Evolutions, chronicling the history of the band was released in co-ordination with its 20th anniversary.

Kittie has been categorized under multiple heavy metal subgenres, including death metal, nu metal, and alternative metal.

Kittie was formed in 1996 when drummer Mercedes Lander and guitarist Fallon Bowman met in gym class. Mercedes’ sister Morgan Lander became the lead vocalist and guitarist after weeks of Fallon and Mercedes jamming. Tanya Candler completed the lineup by joining as the bassist. Kittie made demos and started playing concerts in 1998. The band played concerts at Call the Office and the Embassy and signed up for Canadian Music Week in 1999. Kittie approached Jason Wyner, a person who was second in command at NG Records. The band went up to Jason and made him see them play live and Jason and the rest of NG Records signed Kittie in the summer of 1999. Kittie got signed to the NG Records-distributed record label Artemis Records and producer Garth Richardson acquired Kittie’s demo. NG Records was bought out by Artemis Records. Therefore, Kittie ended up on Artemis Records. Kittie released their debut album Spit on Artemis Records and toured with the band Slipknot. Although Kittie’s album Spitwas finished in August 1999, it was not released until January 2000, due to the departure of original bassist Tanya Candler. The album is the band’s most successful album, being certified gold by the RIAA. Spit has sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States and at least 40,000 copies in Canada.

Their debut album and supporting tour earned Kittie coverage in Metal Edge, whose readers voted Morgan Lander for “Female Performer of the Year” and Spitfor “Home Video of the Year” in the magazine’s 2000 Readers’ Choice Awards. The band was also voted “New Band of the Year”, “Who’s Going to be the Next Big Thing”, and “Most Underrated Band”, earning them a total of five Metal Edge Readers’ Choice Awards that year. On July 11, 2000, Kittie made a home-video called Spit in Your Eye which featured interviews of the band and the band playing shows with the band Slipknot.

In August 2001, Fallon Bowman left Kittie. Bowman explained why she left the band, saying: “I was unhappy with some things in the band so I felt that maybe it was time for me to depart. I think it was for the best”. On October 30, 2001, Kittie released their second album Oracle. Sounding more aggressive than “Spit”, the album features elements of death metal and thrash metal. Morgan Lander noted how the band members were only 14 years old when writing their debut album and said “We haven’t written in 4 or 5 years.” She acknowledged a change in influence from their early days, stating, “Then we listened to bands like Nirvana, Silverchair, and Alice in Chains. Now we listen to stuff like Cannibal Corpse and Nile.” However, the band would continue to write in the same fashion by first composing the music and then using that “as the backdrop behind the vocals.” The album Oracle was recorded with Morgan Lander as the sole guitarist. Fallon’s position as guitarist was filled by Jeff Phillips who worked as Kittie’s guitar technician. In 2002, Talena Atfield left the band and was replaced on bass by Jennifer Arroyo. In 2004, the group added guitarist Lisa Marx, and Jeff Phillips went to work full-time on his side project, Thine Eyes Bleed. On July 27, 2004, Kittie released their third studio album Until the End.

The title track from Kittie’s debut album, “Spit,” is about how people expect the all-female heavy metal band to play terrible, soft music. “We’re intense, and a lot of people just don’t expect it,” drummer Mercedes Lander explained to the Washington Post. “That’s why ‘Spit’ is my favorite song in the world – people expect us to suck, then we get on stage and blow them away. One minute they’re just standing there, then their mouths drop open and their dicks feel small.”

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On This Day in History

On this date in history, 8/10/2000, I saw my third consecutive Ozzfest at the familiar confines of Deer Creek. The lineup that year included Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Godsmack, Static-X, Incubus, Methods Of Mayhem, P.O.D., Queens Of The Stone Age, Taproot, Apartment 26, Soulfly, Kittie, Disturbed, Reveille, Slaves On Dope, Pitchshifter, The Deadlights, Primer 55, and Shuvel.

Out of all those bands, there were only a handful that stood out for me on that day. Soulfly headlined the second stage and rendered all the other bands on that stage null and void with their thunderous tribal warfare.

Max Cavalera stood on the stage like a metal Bob Marley, bringing his people to the promised land of the almighty riff. Queens Of The Stone Age were out of place on this tour, but Josh Homme and company executed their set like ninja assassins, playing with deadly controlled ferocity and elegance.

Incubus were reliably excellent as well. Brandon Boyd sang at a level most metal singers can’t attain, which is to say that Incubus never claimed to be a metal band in the first place. This departure from the norm always suited them and let them separate from the pack in the best way.

Static-X, led by the always unique Wayne Static (R.I.P. Wayne), played their brand of ‘evil disco’ and got the crowd moshing and bouncing throughout their frantic set. Godsmack were the band onstage when the inevitable sod war began. Front man Sully Erna managed to put a quick end to it when he announced that if it didn’t stop, neither Pantera or Ozzy would perform.

Needless to say, the lawn raping came to an abrupt finale then and there. Godsmack played a killer set, but the best was still to come.

PanterA took the stage and top honors for the day. Phil Anselmo’s commanding presence, fearsome vocal power, and drill sergeant crowd control whipped the masses into a crazed volcanic moshing cauldron of humanity.  Dimebag’s guitar cut through our souls and melted all in its sonic path, while Rex Brown’s bass rearranged our chromosomes to Vinnie Paul’s crushing beats.

Ozzy capped it all with a set full of the Ozzman’s finest tunes. Only the Prince Of Darkness himself could follow the Pantera attack and still bring more out of us, but that is precisely what he did. Even on a day where there were quite a few sub par bands, Ozzfest still managed to be the show of the summer.

Written By Braddon S. Williams aka The Concert Critic

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