- Music
- 19 Sep 02
Kittie not kat
Three parts female and heavy to the nth degree, Kittie are still battling for metal credibility
They may be young, but they sure ain’t stupid. Being an all-girl group in a boy’s world poses its share of difficulties, and metal, moreso than any other genre, has a pretty well defined code of practice which, though being gradually eroded, still kicks up dust in the face of those who oppose it too strongly. One band who’ve lived to tell the tale are Canadian trio Kittie. Three parts female and heavy to the nth degree, the seven years since their inception have been fraught with difficulties. Their debut album Spit was released when the girls were in their mid teens (a lot of the material was crafted when they were only 12), and went on to sell gold. Two years of touring saw the band re-enter the studio for Oracle, released last summer, and after a swift line-up change, they’re back on the road for another year.
“A lot of people who look at us” says Morgan, “are guys that work for Rolling Stone and Spin magazine who are 30 or 40 years old and are really not in touch with the younger generation no matter how much they think they are. They sit there and think ‘I don’t know what to write about this!’ Those initial reports set the standard for what a lot of people thought of us. Even today, with the new album, people are saying ‘Oh, I won’t put this on the radio because I don’t like the sound of the woman’s voice’ or ‘We don’t have female programming’. People have said that to us – they won’t play our songs because they don’t have a ‘women’s hour’. It’s so stupid. Music is genderless, boundless, ageless and timeless!
“People should listen to it on the strength that it’s good and decide from that. Some people can’t get over the fact that I scream, but they listen to Papa Roach, Linkin Park and Andrew WK on the radio. The new record speaks for itself. You can tell that it came from the heart. And it’s one of the heaviest fucking records out there.”
Contrary to the popular “I hate my parents” routine, family plays an important role in Kittie – Morgan and Mercedes are sisters, Dad is their manager and their parents’ taste in music directly influenced their own.
“I grew up with bands like AC/DC, Van Halen, old Ozzy,” says Mercedes. “Our parents used to listen to it in the car. Bands like that were a big ‘up’ for us and I listen to those bands to this day.”
Morgan concludes, “We started getting involved in music at a young age. It’s something that I think was always meant to happen. We’re going to be around for a while yet.”
