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IT STILL BURNS KITTIE GUITARIST AND vocalist Morgan Lander that all some people can remember about her band is the fact they were high school students at the group's inception.
"The name 'Kittie' conjures up images of a band of teenagers," says Lander, who formed the group in 1997 with her sister Mercedes on drums. "We were so young when we started, and we were very aware that many people didn't think we deserved our success, and felt that we weren't worthy as musicians. I understand the teenage girl-band appeal, but if we solely relied on that as a gimmick, we would have died out long ago. We wouldn't be here today if there wasn't any substance to what we do, and we've outlived most of our contemporaries from the so-called nu-metal movement. Whatever people's ideas of the band were-well, that's history."
The Canadian band recently added second guitarist Tara McLeod (along with bassist Irish Doan), and released its fourth full-length CD, the metal-coremeets-pop Funeral for Yesterday [X For Infamy Records].
The new record is very riff oriented, as opposed to the droning cacophony of the past.
Lander: The early stuff was a lot more one-dimensional. I was the only guitarist in the band, and I gradually realized I wasn't diversifying my playing the way I wanted to, because I was too busy trying to keep the rhythm and vocals together. All those things changed when Tara entered our life. She has a different stylistic background-the speed thing was an issue for her at first, for example-but our strengths and weaknesses really complement each other. She's great with solos, and that's the area I was looking to expand with another player. Having another creative mind and an outside point of view in the band is key, because...