Kitty Interviews Feminist Punk Trio Kitten Forever

Hey Cats,

I was lucky enough to interview an awesome band from Minneapolis USA. This bad ass female trio have a punk styling covering important issues like feminism and of course Ice cream. If you follow me on Twitter you would have heard me raving about these ladies before,

First of all Kitten Forever is an amazing name for a band! What other names were in the mix when you were thinking up names?

Originally we were going to call ourselves Drill Team! We were recently trying to remember other band names we’d kind of gone through but I think we came up with Kitten Forever very quickly and it just stuck. We’ve also had people refer to us as Kittens Forever, Forever Kitten, Kitty Time Forever, Kids Forever,...

I hear you have a new album coming out soon and brainstorm was released as a teaser and that song is such an anthem! What else can we expect from the new album?

We were pretty influenced by pop music on this album and think that comes across- the songs have a bit more melody and structure than in the past while still having the same punk rock, lo-fi, friends-making-music-together-in-the-basement mentality. 7 Hearts has a bit of everything- cheerleader jams, super short-n-fast songs, more anthems, ballads that will bring a tear to your eye... we think that it’s a pretty cohesive album that spans and expands our musical interests and abilities.

 Does this mean there will be a tour? Will you be coming to the UK?

We currently have two US tours scheduled for summer 2016 and REALLY want to make it to the UK soon. Any UK bands want to let us hop on their tour and borrow their gear? And maybe pay for our plane tickets over? ;)

Speaking of tours do you have any crazy or fun tour stories?

Tour can always be a little crazy and very fun! We played next to an empty swimming pool in a kids backyard in LA to like 5 people. We walked on the side of the highway with all of our gear in the pouring rain after our van broke down.

Who has been your favourite band/Artist to play with?

We’ve been super fortunate to open for some really awesome bands these past few years- we toured with Babes in Toyland this past October and that was an amazing experience. We’ve toured dozens of times but this was the first time we got to experience the more “professional” side of touring, with a schedule and riders and all that. We also got to open for early 90s riot goth band Jack Off Jill in North Carolina this summer for their one reunion show in the US and that was really amazing because Corrie and Laura were big fans of them when they were teenagers, so it was kind of incredible being able to open the reunion show in 2015.

We’ve really liked playing with our friends from Girlpool, Upset, Benny the Jet Rodriguez, Screaming Females, Peach Kelli Pop,…

What would be your ideal line up for a gig...with you ladies playing too obviously :)

We'd love to play with Grimes! Also we just really want to open for Taylor Swift.

Who would you say your main musical influences were in bringing the band to where you are now?

That has definitely changed since we started as a band. Initially Corrie and Laura joked about starting a raunchy, L7-type band but when Liz joined, she had this great whiny-cheerleader voice and the songs we wrote were just too… bouncy? to be raunchy. I mean, we had a song that listed flavors of ice cream. Due to the instrument configuration I think we were pretty heavily influenced by bands like Bratmobile, but also like, Crass and weird hardcore bands. I think we also listed our influences at the time as like, cake and our pets. Cake the food, not the band.

Now we feel like our influences again, are more pop-oriented, in that we use tricks commonly found in pop songs, and push the levels on our recordings up to what you’d more often see a pop album produced at. I think our influences now are more album-focused than artist focused as well- Sleater Kinney’s “The Woods”, Sleigh Bells’ “Treats”.

It would be a lie to say that we haven’t been influenced by bands like Bikini Kill and other riot grrrl bands, as well as grunge bands like Hole and Babes In Toyland. We also would say any R&B girl groups and pop musicians from the 90s.

What about guilty pleasures....c'mon I saw the documentary and I know theres a Hanson fan among you but how do you counteract that mmmbop?

You don’t counteract MMMBop… you just roll with it. I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, because you shouldn’t feel bad for thing things you love. However, unexpected pleasures include: Rihanna, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Miley Cyrus. There are a zillion more.

Are there any up and coming bands we should be listening out for?

From Minneapolis- Royal Brat, Lemonade, Channel Surf, Tony Peachka, Yoni Yum.

One of the unique and awesome things about Kitten forever is how you share everything out dabbling in all the instruments, Did you all learn together or did it start with you all favouring an instrument and teaching each other? What is your preferred instrument?

Originally we all had set roles in the band, Corrie played drums, Laura played bass, and Liz sang. Corrie taught herself drums to play in the band and Laura was already an excellent guitar player. We have all been in other bands over the years playing different instruments though. We decided to start switching it up in 2013 after having a period of ~*introspection*~ about ways in which we could continue to make the band more exciting for everyone. (By this point we had been a band for almost 6 or 7 years?) I think we are each most comfortable in our original roles, but comfort isn’t always preferred! We like to challenge ourselves to get better all the time on our non-primary instruments.

Loved the Beyonce cover set who would be next on the cover list?

Bawitdaba by Kid Rock

Do you have any advice for girls out there who want to be in a band?

We recently played at a benefit show for our local chapter of girls’ rock camp, and one of the things one of the organizers brought up was the tendency for women and girls to be hyper-apologetic and self-deprecating when they make mistakes. We’ve made SO many mistakes and we are still gonna make mistakes. Beyoncé probably makes mistakes. Being a creative person is messy and weird and dumb and sometimes boring so why not have fun with your friends writing songs and making a bunch of noise?

Also if writing songs or performing isn’t your thing why not get into sound tech, or recording and producing your friends bands? There’s no mystery, you don’t have to pass a secret cool test to get involved, and there is always more room for women in these roles! PLEASE! What are you waiting for??

When you're not making music what do you get up to? Any hobbies…

Corrie- I am passionate about Keeping up with Kardashians

Laura- I am passionate about Neko Atsume

Liz- I am passionate about the Mall of America

Anything else you would like to share with the readers?

Our new album 7 Hearts is out March 25th on Atlas Chair records! Yay!




If you haven't checked out them out already give them a listen and show some fellow grrrls some support! A huge thank you to Kitten Forever for taking the time to talk to us.

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