Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Katbite is a band born out of frustration. kat went to university and studies music in nz. then to music school, with intermmittant periods on the dole and in various jobs in zippys and midnight expresso. after lending equipment to salmonella dub members she realised that she would never be interesting enough to be cool as a female singersongwriter based in wellington. she undertook a propane-fueled trip through europe, america and and ended up in holland where the drugs were reasonably priced and the people were jaded enough to be friendly. there she has been, for the past 5 years. her little sister anna sings songs to introuduce the rugby in london and litle bro matt in busy in america with medieval music. kat has finally released her official album, with help from dominc bellekom and jeroen van der zeeuw. The lyrics are still as sarcastic as they ever were. genre descriptions always a difficultly. kat takes notes from bowie and morrissey though they are not obvious, the music is happy whereas the lyrics try and blow your sense of proportion. - Powertool Records
Katbite mag zich intussen een van de meest productieve bands uit Den Haag noemen. Sinds februari 2004 slaagde de band er liefst vier keer in een cd op mijn bureau te krijgen. Vacation is het meest 'volwassen' exemplaar tot nu toe. Niet alleen is de cd geperst en het artwork gedrukt, de opnames zijn ook iets meer uitgewerkt. Denk aan reverse-gitaarpartijen, denk aan gastoptredens. Een juweeltje in het steeds maar groeiende rijtje Katbite-cd's. Grappig is een waarschuwing op de hoes: Every year, hundreds of New Zealanders die in so-called 'accidents'. Don't become one of them. Vanuit de polder: bedankt voor de waarschuwing. - www.ramonaaa.nl
Een kattenbeet is allesbehalve leuk, je houdt er een nare wond aan over die naar alle waarschijnlijkheid flink gaat jeuken. Van de cd van Katbite krijg je ook jeuk, jeuk om te dansen! Zodra de vrolijke ska-achtige deuntjes van zangeres, gitariste en muzikaal brein Kat Leese je oren binnendringen, ontstaat er een onbedwingbare drang om je ledematen te bewegen. Wanneer ze ook nog eens hulp krijgt van een saxofonist is verzet pas echt zinloos. Bewegen zul je! Met deze cd leveren gitaarpoes Kat en haar mannen een lekker dansbare plaat af, die vele oortjes zal kunnen bekoren. Maar Katbite is niet alleen maar goed voor enkel vrolijke dansplaatjes, wie goed naar Kats teksten luistert komt erachter dat ze geen poesje is om zonder handschoenen aan te pakken. Rake teksten en hier en daar een welkome verrassing, bijvoorbeeld in de vorm van een onverwacht drum ’n bass ritme. Ook voor een gevoelige noot draait Kat haar klauw niet om. Wanneer ’s avonds nog steeds het nummer countryside door mijn hoofd spookt, besef ik dat dit wel eens een echte meezinger zou kunnen worden. Al met al een heerlijk luisterbare en vooral aaibare cd. - www.popunie.nl
Discography
2002 - Hey there/telling lies - "Hey There / Telling Lies" was the very first demo of Katbite as a band. It was intended to be only a promotional demo. When the band noticed the audience was interested in getting a cd of Katbite, the band decided to spread out a limited amount of this demo. This release is not for sale anymore, but can be ordered as a digital file.
2003 - Live and More - The band changed almost daily in the first 2 years of Katbite. This caused that the previous demo "Hey There / Telling Lies" wasn't a reflection of the sound of the band anymore. That's why Katbite had put together some live material in this new demo. Some fans have got this album, but it is not for sale anymore but the digital file can be ordered.
2004 - Live with overdubs - "Katbite Live -with overdubs-" was recorded at a live performance in September 2004 in Musicon (The Hague, NL), but they edited and shaped the recordings a bit in the studio before they released this album. The album can still be ordered.
2005 - VACATION - "VACATION" The debut album of Katbite, appearing on VAN Records in Europe and on Powertool Records in New Zealand. Contains 11 studio tracks with several guest musicians. The single coutryside has been playing on several radio stations throughout Holland for the past months. Other popular tracks are "Hey There" and "Telling Lies"
2005 - Promotional Demo - The Promo EP has been released because it was a waste to give away all the Vacation albums. This non-official release is made to get the name Katbite more familiar, and some other promo purposes. This cd is given away often during gigs, so you know what to do to get a free copy of it!
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Kat (Katherine Leese) was born in New Zealand and mainly grew up there. She started playing the piano when she was 5 years old. As soon as she turned eight, she started playing the guitar. At primary school, she started writing her own songs. This talent lead her to the Victoria University ( Wellington, NZ), where she was studying 20 th century composition. After two years, she went to the Nelson School of Music. In this period of her life, she was singing and playing guitar in several bands like: Vasalisa, Jellyboat and Orkid.
In the year 2000, she started touring around the world, which ended in The Netherlands. Soon, she joined the band “Indubio” where she was the bass player. At that point of time, Jeroen van der Zeeuw was the drummer of Indubio. Actually, Kat’s dream was to become a solo artist. During one of these solo performances, she met Dominic Bellekom. Katbite was born.
Just a few days before this gig, she got invited by producer Rob Abels. He offered her to record some of her songs in his studio. All together they dove into the studio, together with arranger Tom Spaapen… Except for some demo material, nothing actually happened with these recordings… For almost 3 years… In March 2005, Katbite put their heads together, to re-arrange the material, and turned into a professional produced album, called “Vacation” An album like a 11 course dinner, described on the menu as “Kiwisongs in a dutch sauce, followed up by lyrics marinated in sarcasm, on a dish with creamy melodies” The recipe tells us that it is served with funk, pop, punk-rock and jazz.
Kat is still the person who delivers the ready-made dish to the band members. At that particular moment, The lyrics are at least as important as the melody. When the song is still fresh and new, the band members stick their heads together. They start working on arrangements, fills, solo’s and more. That’s why every song goes his own way, and change from time to time. The songs are guiding the band which path to walk down, wherever that path will take them.
Katbite's debut album Vacation is available through www.cdbaby.com
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