Music Business Survival Advice From Kittie’s Morgan Lander

If anyone knows a thing or six about survival in the eats-its-young music industry, it's Miss Morgan Lander, lead vocalist and axe for all-girl metal band Kittie, who've been tearing at the throats of metal fans since they were teens. The band has changed members as often as some people go to the bathroom and Kittie have also endured several label changes. But through it all, Lander and her little sister Mercedes keep their heads up and their music feral.

Lander offered Noisecreep readers and aspiring musicians some advice on how to survive in this vicious business.

Trust no one! "Just kidding."

Have confidence. "The most important is to be good at what you do and be confident. We were young and naïve when we started, and the one thing we had was that we thought we were pretty awesome. People may not have agreed at the time, but there was something there."

Practice. "Don't let anyone say you can't or you shouldn't. Follow the beat of your own drum. And practice as much as you can."

Don't give up. "We got so many rejection letters. We kept all of them. It's not even funny. If you are persistent and pester people enough, something good will come out of it. Be nice to everyone and network, since you never know 'who' people will become later on down the road. You might make a friend when you slug it out and play s---ty bars and someone you met during that experience might come back and help you. Keep the channels open. Work it, man! We came from nothing, with no experience, and there are a lot of bands, I know, who know people. We were were 12 and 13, made a demo, went on the internet and we bugged our dad about helping us get signed. And that's what he did, using the Web and emailing labels like Relapse and Roadrunner. And he was persistent till we got signed."