Nita Strauss on silencing the doubters

Nita Strauss says being the best guitarist she can be has helped her win over the doubters.

Strauss is part of Alice Cooper’s touring band and she’s also played with The Iron Maidens, Jermaine Jackson and LA Kiss. The 28-year-old has worked as a musician since her teens and says life as a female guitarist isn’t always easy.

But proving herself as a more than capable player has helped her win over any sceptics.

She tells MetalLife: “It’s nice to not be a teenager on the road any more. It’s hard being a female on the road, it’s even harder being a young female on the road. But I’ve been really lucky, people have always treated me with a lot of respect.

“The only thing you can do is go out there and make sure your playing leaves no doubt. People are always going to talk but if your playing makes them doubt you then you’re never going to get out there. Just make sure you get out there, take no prisoners and leave no doubt.”

Strauss features in the upcoming documentary Hired Gun, which gives some exposure to the unsung heroes of rock music. She previously said of the film: “There’s been a lot of movies about backing singers and showing different sides of all different professions.

“This gives us a chance to show what we do. Everyone knows who Billy Joel and who Pink is and who Christina Aguilera is but this gives us a chance to show those fans a little bit about what we do to make the show happen.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.