NITA STRAUSS: 'It's Nice To Get Out There And Blow People's Minds When They Think You're Not Gonna Be Any Good'

Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio recently conducted an interview with Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band. You can now listen to the chat below.

Asked what her overall experience has been as a woman in metal music, Nita said: "Me personally, I've had really great experiences. I'd be lying if I said it was all roses and perfect, but, by and large, the metal community is so incredibly supportive. And I would say that the main thing that I faced as a female in this industry was being underestimated. But being underestimated isn't always a bad thing. It's nice to get out there and blow people's minds when they think you're not gonna be any good. So it's been a good experience and really fun overall. And I wouldn't say that I have any super-negative stories about guys in the industry. I think that, by and large, men in this industry wanna see women succeed. I think as long as you're going out and treating everything with respect — you're not going in there acting like a helpless girl — as long as you don't go in there demanding special treatment, I think you won't receive any special treatment. I think you'll just be treated the same as anyone else that's there to do a job. Go in, do a great job, be super professional. Don't go in asking for special treatment or expecting special treatment because of your gender, and just work hard, treat people with respect and leave no doubt with whatever it is you wanna do — whether you wanna be on the management side or the musicians side or selling merch, or whatever it is that you wanna do in our industry, just go in with the attitude of treating it like a great job that you really wanna have. And I think that that's a recipe for success."

Strauss has been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker's former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.

Nita's debut solo album, "Controlled Chaos", was released in November via Sumerian Records. The disc was fueled by a Kickstarter campaign which generated over 600 percent of what Strauss was hoping to raise to help offset the costs around creating the record and touring it.

Last year, Strauss became the first female to have a signature series guitar with Ibanez. Nita is also the first female to have signature DiMarzio pickups.