In a world where music trends come and go, it's not often that a band thought to be dormant for years suddenly reemerges and captivates audiences like never before. But that's precisely the story of Canadian metallers Kittie. In an exclusive interview with Joshua Toomey of Knotfest.com's Nu Pod podcast at the recent Louder Than Life festival (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Morgan and Mercedes Lander opened up about the resurgence of their band and the remarkable journey they've embarked upon.
"We are as surprised as yourself and as many. There have been a number of years in the past 10 years, I guess, that Kittie was not an active band. We never broke up, but it was just nothing happening. And we were resolved that the world didn't really care too much. And it's been a really cool couple of years to see people respond to the music and rediscover the band and to be invited to cool stuff like this." Morgan revealed.
Mercedes Lander added to the conversation, shedding light on the catalyst behind this renaissance. "I think the big thing is the rediscovery. We started to notice around when we released the documentary that, you know, we started to notice music going viral on TikTok and we were just kind of, like, 'What's going on here?' And then we started getting offers, which is fantastic."
The tale of Kittie’s resurgence didn't start overnight. In an interview with The New York Times two months ago, Mercedes revealed that the band decided to reunite, initially for a couple of festival appearances before venturing into the creation of new music. Bookers began reaching out in the fall of 2021, driven by the renewed interest sparked by Kittie. Their triumphant return to the stage at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September 2022 marked a turning point.
"It did take a little bit of talking into. When we stepped onstage, I was, like, 'Oh, yeah, this is how it's supposed to be. This is what I'm supposed to be doing.' This is a fantastic feeling." Mercedes confessed.
But what is it about Kittie's music that continues to resonate with fans, both old and new? Mercedes offered insight, "It just kind of proves that teenage angst is timeless." The songs she and her sister, Morgan, wrote as teenagers still strike a chord with listeners today. Morgan echoed the sentiment, confirming that their music still carries that raw energy, stating, "That's not to say there isn't still a fire and anger in us now — yeah, we're still pissed."
Will we get new music from Kittie anytime soon? According to Morgan, seems likely: "We are gonna be focusing on, I guess, possibly making people's Kittie dreams come true, I guess you could say. I can't really put this into too many words, but we are definitely really excited about the future. We're working towards the future."
