KITTIE's MORGAN LANDER: 'We Hope Our Music Empowers Everyone, And Women Especially'

In a new interview with Ronni Hunter of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station, Morgan Lander of the Canadian metal band KITTIE reflected on how her group's initial success in the late 1990s helped pave the way for other young women to play hard rock and heavy metal music in the decades that followed. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "At the time, I really don't think that it struck us as something that was as monumental as, looking back now, it seems to be, but I know that people like Lzzy Hale [HALESTORM] have cited KITTIE as an influence. And we actually — I remember we played with HALESTORM very early on. They were very, very young. And it's amazing to see women like that hold power in the industry in that way. And we're all for it. We slugged it out and did it for everyone."

Speaking about the response from women in the audience to KITTIE's recent live performances, including at this past weekend's Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio, where the interview was conducted, Morgan said: "I can see that others see the power in it. I mean, there's the girls out in the pit holding the girl pit sign today when we were playing, and we were, like, 'This is amazing.'

"Yeah, we hope our music empowers everyone, and women especially, and we're happy — we're happy for it," she added.

KITTIE will release its long-awaited new studio album, "Fire", on June 21 via Sumerian Records.

"Fire" is available to pre-order now with a variety of merch bundles including exclusive vinyl colorways, t-shirts, a cassette tape, a sticker pack, guitar pick pack, laminate and two metal lunch box designs.

Last month, KITTIE announced an exclusive run of North American headline dates. The long-awaited shows will see the band perform in five cities across the U.S. and Canada this July and August, giving fans a very special and rare chance to see the band play a full headline set that will include their recently released singles "We Are Shadows" and "Eyes Wide Open" as well as classic hits and some deep cuts not played live since the band's early days.

Last November, it was revealed that KITTIE was working on a new studio LP with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Nashville's Sienna Studios.

Raskulinecz, who moved to Nashville from Los Angeles around 16 years ago, had previously worked with such acts as RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS, KORN, RISE AGAINST, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, SKID ROW and the DEFTONES.

KITTIE played its first concert in five years in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Joining Morgan and Mercedes in KITTIE's current lineup guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic.

Prior to Blue Ridge, KITTIE had 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".

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".

In January 2022, 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 "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.