Kittie

Kittie is an all-female heavy metal/metalcore band from London, Ontario, Canada. 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 2000's on Slipknot's United Kingdom tour heightening the band's popularity. As of 2008, Kittie consists of Morgan Lander (vocals, guitars), Mercedes Lander (vocals, piano, drums), Tara McLeod (guitars), and Ivy Vujic (bass). Kittie was formed in 1996, when Mercedes Lander and Fallon Bowman met in a high school gymnastics class. The lead singer, Morgan Lander, is sister to Mercedes. Their original bassist was Tanya Candler, who was forced to leave the band in the winter of 1999 due to health problems. She was replaced with Talena Atfield. In 2001, Fallon Bowman left Kittie without citing any official reasons, though it was alleged that it was due to disagreements with the band's manager, Dave Lander, and the musical direction their second album was taking. The band's guitar technician, Jeff Phillips, filled the vacant spot during tours, but he was never officially made a member. Bassist Talena Atfield left in 2002 and was the subject of much controversy for quite some time. She issued a statement saying the band had given her an ultimatum, although the validity of this is unknown. She was replaced by Jennifer Arroyo. In 2004 they added a fourth member, the second guitarist Lisa Marx who played for a total of 10 weeks on tour, and Jeff Phillips went full time to his side project Thine Eyes Bleed. Until March 2005 they 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 rumored for a long time. The only official sign of these problems was a settlement out of court for unpaid royalties in March 2004. On March 23, 2005, Morgan Lander made a post indicating that both Marx and Arroyo had left the band. Arroyo's split was amicable while Marx's was a surprise. Financial reasons were cited as well as, in the case of Arroyo, the desire to work outside of Kittie full time. Arroyo joined with Billy Graziadei of Biohazard, to form Suicide City. In 2005 Kittie added 2 new members: Tara McLeod, guitar; and Trish Doan, bass. Tara And Trish were the first official members of the band since the original 4 Morgan,Mercedes, Tanya and Fallon Most fans have stated that this is Kittie's tightest and most musically talented lineup yet. In 2006, vocalist Morgan Lander provided vocals for the song It Turns to Rust on Canadian metal band Kataklysm's album, In the Arms of Devastation. In May 2006 Kittie announced a joint venture to create their own record label, X of Infamy Records which will include major label distribution by EMI records. Their 4th studio album is entitled Funeral For Yesterday and was released on February 20, 2007. On March 4, 2008 Kittie announced the departure of bassist Trish Doan due to an eating disorder. Doan had been diagnosed with the eating disorder Anorexia nervosa, which she developed during the recording of Funeral For Yesterday. Doan has been battling the disease for nearly two years. She was replaced by Ivy Vujic. Please Note: - It is a common misconception that the song My Own Summer (Shove It) originally by the Deftones, was covered by Kittie. This is not true. The purported Kittie version is in fact My Own Summer (Shove It) sped up. - Another misconception is that the song This Town is done by Korn and Kittie, when it is actually Jonathan Davis of Korn and Human Waste Project. Official site: www.kittierocks.com