# Talena Atfield

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**Talena A. L. Atfield** (born January 14, 1983) is a retired Canadian bass guitarist and Indigenous persons historian of the [University of Waterloo](/source/University_of_Waterloo), best known as a former member of the [heavy metal](/source/Heavy_metal_music) group [Kittie](/source/Kittie).[1]

## Early life

Atfield grew up in [London, Ontario](/source/London,_Ontario), the elder sister of two children. At age 14, she received her first guitar as a Christmas present from her parents, inspiring her to play music later on. She cites [Bon Jovi](/source/Bon_Jovi), [AC/DC](/source/AC/DC), [Kiss](/source/Kiss_(band)), and [Guns N' Roses](/source/Guns_N'_Roses) as influences,[2] as her parents introduced her to their music at a young age. Throughout her youth, she would float around memberships with various bands as a guitarist and drummer, but none would persist past a few gigs.[3][4]

## Career

### With Kittie

In September 1999, after receiving a phone call from Mercedes Lander, the drummer for Kittie, Atfield was asked to replace Tanya Candler as their bassist had departed. Talena had been a supporter of Kittie and was happy to join them, so she learned how to play bass guitar in two weeks to go out to [New York](/source/New_York_(state)) and film the video for their hit song, "Brackish". Atfield plays bass on the re-recording of "Paperdoll" on Kittie's debut album *[Spit](/source/Spit_(Album))* (1999),[5] which was reissued with new artwork featuring her in place of Candler in 2000.[6] Atfield performed on their second album *[Oracle](/source/Oracle_(Kittie_album))* (2001) and the band's accompanying live appearances.

During her tenure with Kittie, her primary equipment consisted of an *[Ampeg](/source/Ampeg)* SVT-CL amp (Spit and early Oracle era), an Ampeg B5R amp (later Oracle era), and an Ampeg SVT-810E cabinet as well as an *[LTD](/source/ESP_Guitars)* F-205 bass (early) and an LTD B-205 (later) during the Spit era, and a custom *[B.C. Rich](/source/B.C._Rich)* Widow 5-string bass during the Oracle era.[7] These pieces of equipment would be revoked after quitting the band. She initially used a pick, but switched to fingerstyle picking shortly before the Oracle era.

On March 18, 2002, Atfield left Kittie, and was replaced by ex-Spine member Jennifer Arroyo two days later.[8] Atfield was involved in early photoshoots for the documentary film *[Kittie: Origins/Evolutions](/source/Kittie:_Origins/Evolutions)* (2017), but ultimately declined to appear in the film.[9]

### After Kittie

Atfield was also a member of [Fallon Bowman](/source/Fallon_Bowman)'s Amphibious Assault [industrial music](/source/Industrial_music) project, and made contributions to album *District Six* and EP *On Better Days And Sin-Eating* in 2003 and 2006, respectively.[10]

Atfield served on a judging panel for *[America's Hot Musician](/source/America's_Hot_Musician)*, a reality talent competition for instrumental musicians, alongside Duke Ellington Orchestra alumnus Gregory Charles Royal and [National Symphony Orchestra](/source/National_Symphony_Orchestra) violinist Marissa Regni. The show was to air on the [Oxygen Network](/source/Oxygen_(TV_network)) in July 2007. An attorney representing the current incarnation of Kittie served American Youth Symphony (producers of *America's Hot Musician*) a cease-and-desist letter for their use of clips from the band's video "What I Always Wanted" in the opening sequence of the show.[11]

After retiring from the music industry in 2009, Atfield would go on to receive a [doctorate](/source/Doctorate) In Anthropology at the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto), and currently specializes in Indigenous relations and history.[12] In a July 2022 interview with [Media Relations](/source/Media_Relations), it is revealed that she is a member of the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River, an Indigenous peoples society primarily based in Canada.[13]

## References

1. Popoff, Martin (July 19, 2007). ["NEWS > Former KITTIE Bassist Talena Atfield On Judges Panel For America's Hot Musician"](http://www.bravewords.com/news/70360). *[Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles](/source/Brave_Words_%26_Bloody_Knuckles)*. [Toronto](/source/Toronto): Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. [ISSN 1705-3781](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1705-3781). [OCLC 57191652](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57191652). Retrieved February 24, 2011.

1. ["TaLeNa"](http://www.elfjesland.freeservers.com/custom2.html). *www.elfjesland.freeservers.com*. Retrieved 2025-02-22.

1. ["Talena's Bio"](https://talenaandryknow.tripod.com/id1.html)

1. ["Fun Facts About Talena (2001)"](https://www.angelfire.com/biz6/talenagoddess/facts.html). *www.angelfire.com*. Retrieved 2025-02-22.

1. Hefflon, Scott (2000). ["Kittie"](https://archive.org/details/juggernaut-3-2000/page/32/mode/2up). *Juggernaut*. No. 3. Orlando: Implosion Publishing Inc. pp. 32, 34–37. [OCLC 858943196](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858943196). – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

1. Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). ["Kittie"](https://archive.org/details/metaldefinitiveg0000shar/page/470). *Metal: The Definitive Guide*. Jawbone Press. pp. 471–472. ISBN 978-1-906002-01-5. – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

1. ["Talena Atfield"](https://equipboard.com/pros/talena-atfield). *equipboard.com*. Retrieved 2025-02-22.

1. ["Prick Magazine - Kittie Feature"](http://www.prickmag.net/kittiefeature.html). 2003-02-03. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20030203064741/http://www.prickmag.net/kittiefeature.html) February 3, 2003 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-02-22.

1. ["Biography"](https://kittieonline.com/bio/). *Kittie Online*. Retrieved February 23, 2024. The trailer promising never seen before footage saw the return of Jenn, Fallon, Tanya & Talena, though Talena ultimately decided that she didn’t want to take part in the documentary.

1. Gausten, Joel. ["Surviving 'Spit:' Fallon Bowman on Life after Kittie"](http://www.joelgausten.com/2018/03/surviving-spit-fallon-bowman-on-life.html). Retrieved 2025-02-22.

1. Blabbermouth (2007). ["KITTIE Attorney Serves 'America's Hot Musician' Cease-And-Desist Letter – May 21, 2007"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090330160007/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=72988). *roadrunnerrecords.com*. [Roadrunner Records](/source/Roadrunner_Records). Archived from [the original](http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=72988) on March 30, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2007.

1. ["Talena Atfield | History"](https://uwaterloo.ca/history/profiles/talena-atfield)

1. MediaRelations (2007). ["Q and A with Talena Atfield: Reclaiming Indigenous histories – July, 2022"](https://uwaterloo.ca/indigenous/news/q-and-talena-atfield-reclaiming-indigenous-histories). *mediarelations.io*

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Talena Atfield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talena_Atfield) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talena_Atfield?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.