Kitten is the kind of band that when you’re hearing them everywhere in a few months, you’ll remember fondly the first time you listened to them. If you haven’t already, make that first time sooner rather than later–though the vocals of 16-year-old Chloe Chaidez are enough to keep pretty much anyone in the immediate area transfixed, the entire band seems to be composed of prodigies. And though they’re young, they’ve been paying their dues and learning their craft for years. They’ve garnered comparisons to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blondie and Cat Power, but Kitten is well on their way to being the band all the new kids are trying to sound like.
It’s high time you’ve heard of (and from) them, so read on for lead singer Chloe’s thoughts on Karen O., doing backspins off amps, and touring at age 10.
RV: What are you up to right now, are you guys touring?
Chloe Chaidez: No, we’re not right now actually, we’re recording our album. We’re touring in September though.
R: Awesome, and where are you touring come September, just the U.S. or the UK too?
C: The U.S. It’s gonna be a really really long tour, like two months. So we’re just kind of going everywhere, we’re hitting the spots we didn’t hit with the Young The Giant tour.
R: Are there any cities you’re really looking forward to getting back to or seeing?
C: Upstate New York—everywhere in upstate New York was pretty great. But I really liked Baton Rouge, Austin, Texas. New York. It’s been cool in every city though.
R: And you guys have done the UK, right? How was that?
C: Really good. We were touring with a band called Funeral Party and I think a lot of their fans were kind of privy to our music as well, so that was nice. We were really well receieved.
R: And how did you guys come up with the name Kitten for a band?
C: Well, I was in New York City and we were talking about band names, and, Kitten just sounded staple and classic. Kind of like Blondie or something like that. So we went with it.
R: And what came first, the song “Kitten With a Whip” or the band?
C: Yeah actually that song did come first. It was actually based on an Ann Margaret movie. It’s a 60s film, in case anyone gets the wrong idea that’s where it came from.
