KITTIE: U.S. Dates Announced

Canadian all-female heavy metal band KITTIE has scheduled the following tour dates:

Sep. 27 - B.B. King Blues Club & Grill - New York, NY
Sep. 30 - Ground Zero - Spartanburg, SC
Oct. 01 - Jesters - Fayetteville, NC
Oct. 02 - Hooligans - Jacksonville, NCa
Oct. 03 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA
Oct. 07 - Scout Bar - San Antonio, TX
Oct. 08 - Trees - Dallas, TX
Oct. 09 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX
Oct. 10 - Flytrap - Tulsa, OK
Oct. 13 - Gator's - Farmington, NM
Oct. 14 - Rialto - Tucson, AZ
Oct. 15 - Key Club - Hollywood, CA
Oct. 17 - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ
Oct. 21 - The Rock - Maplewood, MN
Oct. 24 - The Machine Shop - Flint, MI
Oct. 28 - Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA
Oct. 29 - Northern Lights - Clifton Park, NY

Ken Brzezinski of Static Multimedia recently conducted an interview with KITTIE drummer Mercedes Lander. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Static Multimedia: Did you take lessons at all?

Mercedes: I only took lessons for three months. I had one really awesome drum teacher and one really not so awesome one. And after that, I just decided to teach myself and it's worked out a whole lot better that way. Also with us, Morgan [Lander; guitar, vocals] was learning the same time I was, so before we were a band, we still played together. It's a good way to learn your instrument because you always have somebody to jam with. Especially for a drummer because when you always playing with somebody, you have to keep good timing.

Static Multimedia: What was the music scene in Canada like when you guys first started playing shows?

Mercedes: London is a really small town, and we found it pretty hard to get shows. When we did start playing, we ended up playing with a lot of punk bands, because at the time there were only three metal bands who were in town, excluding us. They wouldn't play shows with us because they were elitist death metal bands. So we ended up playing a lot of shows with punk bands because the punk scene was huge. And now it's just the opposite — metal is huge here and there are only a few punk bands who are doing well.

Static Multimedia: Did playing with punk bands influence your style at all?

Mercedes: It was definitely different, but it didn't really influence us at all because that wasn't the type of music we wanted to play. I mean, we were just happy to play shows with anyone. We didn't necessarily like the bands we were playing with but we loved playing.

Static Multimedia: Have you guys had any "Spinal Tap" moments?

Mercedes: My whole fucking life is a "Spinal Tap" moment on tour. I've been lost going into my dressing room a hundred times. It's funny because I never had any idea what that movie was about. Then about 10 years ago I was watching it for the first time while I was on tour and I was like, "Wow...that is so me". Like we had just watched the movie and we were over in England and we all got lost going to the stage from the dressing room.

Static Multimedia: Have you ever opened for a band whose audience just didn't get KITTIE and was not hearing what you ladies had to say?

Mercedes: No. Well, we haven't opened for a band since 2000. And that's not by choice either; we really don't want to headline anymore. We want to broaden our fan base again. But really, you know, who fuckin cares?! I just want to play music and if you don't like it, too fucking bad.

Static Multimedia: Who would you like to open for if you could?

Mercedes: I think METALLICA, you know, because they are back being heavy again. I don't know, because I haven't heard that record, but yeah, METALLICA would be fun.

Static Multimedia: Do you think they sold out?

Mercedes: I don't think there is any kind of meaning to the word "sellout." Whatever, I'll sell my soul, I don't give a shit. Who cares, you know? As long as you have a good time, you make some money, and you aren't starving to death like a lot of bands at our level are, that's all that matters. So what if you make some money in the process. Who cares? I think "sellout" is cop-out for people to stop liking bands once they get too big.

Static Multimedia: Let's talk a little about "In The Black".

Mercedes: It's honestly my favorite album. I hate every other one! Normally I'm really, like super-hinky about production, and with the last few records, the production hasn't been very good. Sonically, they haven't sounded the best, but on this album, I have NOTHING to complain about.

Static Multimedia: What makes "In The Black" different from your other albums?

Mercedes: Honestly... we just took our time with it, and we did our best. We put forth our best effort, you know what I mean? It was really nice with the songwriting, because for the first time, we had Tara there and she put her two cents in. And it was really nice because, you know, we had another set of ears. And towards the end of the writing of this album, Ivy came in and she is just this amazing bass player. She has written some of the most wonderful bass lines. But I think, for the most part, this album is the most intricate yet sonically pleasing at the same time.

Static Multimedia: KITTIE have had a lot of lineup changes over the years; when you and your sister Morgan started the band, did you have the attitude of, "OK, it's gonna be us against the world?"

Mercedes: No, not at all. I mean, the thing is, people either grow up or they change, or whatever. You're not still friends with the same people you were friends with when you were 12, right?

Static Multimedia: Not really.

Mercedes: Well, there you go. People's opinions change. Also the road is not for everyone, and I realize this. The road can… it makes people crazy, I'll say that, and it makes people do crazy things. The reason Morgan and I are still in this band is because we kept a level head and we continued to keep focused on the task at hand. Plus dealing with women is COMPLETELY different than dealing with men. Women are… very different, I'll say that. But really, nobody gives a shit when someone in a guy band leaves. When someone from our band leaves, it's because they more focused on the aesthetic part of the band and not the music.

Read the entire interview from Static Multimedia.

Video footage of KITTIE performing the new songs "My Plague" and "Cut Throat" live on August 1, 2009 in Saginaw, Michigan can be viewed below. Both tracks will appear on KITTIE's new album, "In The Black", which will be released on September 15 through E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records).