NITA STRAUSS Says PAUL STANLEY And GENE SIMMONS Were 'Very Nice To Work For'

October 25, 2018

Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, has spoken to KNAC.COM about her onetime gig as the in-house guitarist for the LA KISS, the now-defunct arena football team owned by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS. Asked how many people she beat out for the job, Nita said: "I'm not sure that they looked into anyone else. I just remember going into a couple of meetings with Gene and Paul where they were discussing who was going to play the national anthem at the games. I'm not sure that they looked into anyone else. I just got a call asking, 'Are you interested?' And my response was, 'Absolutely! Just tell me when and where to be!' [Laughs] As a lifelong sports fan, especially as a lifelong L.A. sports fan, I was born and raised in L.A., to get the opportunity to play the anthem for an L.A. sports team is a dream come true. Also, did I mention it was also doing it for Gene and Paul? That was simply icing on the cake. [Laughs]"

Asked what was it like to have Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley as her employers, Nita said: "I didn't work directly with them, though I was little starstruck the first time I met them. I mainly worked through the talent department. I didn't work directly too much with Gene and Paul, but they were very nice to work for. When I was leaving and the last half of the season, I had a great conversation with Paul. I had just landed the Alice Cooper tour and had to make a decision to do one thing or the other. I had to let them know I was having to leave. but I had a good reason. [Laughs] This was the MÖTLEY CRÜE farewell tour with Alice Cooper supporting. Gene and Paul were extremely understanding. On the last day, Paul pulled me aside and said, 'Listen, if we have to lose you to anyone, I'm glad it was the Alice Cooper organization because they are going to treat you really well.' I have a lot of respect for him because of that. He didn't have to do that, but he did, and that was really, really cool of him."

Nita will release her debut solo album, "Controlled Chaos", on November 16 via Sumerian Records.

Photo credit: Larry Dimarzio

Find more on Nita strauss

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).