Talena Atfield

Talena Atfield
Background information
Born	January 14, 1983
Genres	Nu metal, industrial
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Bass, guitar
Years active	1999—present
Associated acts	Kittie, Amphibious Assault

Talena A. L. Atfield (born January 14, 1983) is a Canadian bass guitar player, best known as a former member of Kittie.^[1]

Musical career

Kittie

Talena had just about given up on playing in a band when she received a phone call from Mercedes Lander. Talena was asked to take the place in local band Kittie as their bassist Tanya Candler had just left for "personal reasons". 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 to film the video for Brackish.

In 1999, Atfield joined Kittie to replace Tanya Candler on bass guitar. Although she did not play on Spit, the first studio album by Kittie, the cover art on later pressings was changed to represent her presence in the band. She performed on their second album and the band's accompanying live appearances. In 2002, Talena Atfield left and was replaced on bass guitar by Jennifer Arroyo.

Leaving Kittie

Regarding her departure, the band stated "We are so sad and disappointed that Atfield chose to leave the band. We wish she would have stayed with us, but we view it as an opportunity for a new beginning and promise our fans a more mature and ferocious band with the addition of Arroyo on bass."

The reasons for this departure have been a subject of heated dispute between Atfield and the Lander sisters. There are many rumors about why Atfield left, as with former Kittie member Fallon Bowman, but this is what has appeared on a MySpace supposedly (yet questionably) belonging to Atfield herself:

"I would like to clear something up, the money wasn't an issue for me and that was not the reason for my departure, they replaced me before I even left. They gave me an ultimatum, to sign something I was unable to sign because it did not benefit me in the least and did not give me control over myself, they said to sign it or leave because they had already found someone new to play bass. And that right there was enough for me to decide on, if they could replace me that quickly without even talking to me then they obviously didn't want me there anyways. They can state whatever reasons they want for me leaving. They don't even know why because they never even called me to talk to me about it, they had Jeff call me to tell me the news, and I am sure it makes them look better if I am a 'money grabbing whore' or so they have been saying." - Talena Atfield

According to Morgan and Mercedes Lander, they had called Atfield's house to set up band practice for the upcoming tour. Allegedly, her father told them that she did not want to be in the band anymore. According to the two sisters, they had no intentions of kicking her out of the band and were very surprised that Talena had gotten her father to tell them she was quitting the band.

Other sources state that a replacement had been in the works long before Atfield left, and that she had received a phone call from a band member stating that she had a limited amount of time to sign a contract offered to her to renew her status as a hired hand in the band, with no option to make changes to the existing contract, or she would be replaced.

Atfield was forced to return a B.C. Rich Custom Widow 5-stringed bass when she had left Kittie. More recently, she has shown a liking for the ESP-LTD bass line series, one of which she later sold on eBay to a fan.

After Kittie

Atfield was also a member of Fallon Bowman's Amphibious Assault industrial music project.

Atfield served on a judging panel for America's Hot Musician, a reality talent competition for instrumental musicians, alongside Duke Ellington Orchestra alumnus Gregory Charles Royal and National Symphony Orchestra violinist Marissa Regni. The show was to air on the Oxygen 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.^[2]

References

1. Popoff, Martin (19 July 2007). "NEWS > Former KITTIE Bassist Talena Atfield On Judges Panel For America's Hot Musician". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles (Toronto: Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles). bravewords.com/home. ISSN 1705-3781. OCLC 57191652. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
2. Blabbermouth (2007). "KITTIE Attorney Serves 'America's Hot Musician' Cease-And-Desist Letter - May 21, 2007". roadrunnerrecords.com. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved 5 December 2007. External link in |work= (help)

External links

• Talena Atfield discography at MusicBrainz