Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss shared in a conversation with Renee Paquette how she has certain responsibilities in Alice Cooper shows for the audience.
Nita Strauss has been touring with Alice Cooper since 2014, besides her solo career. In 2018, she released her solo debut album which she played all guitar and bass parts, entitled ‘Controlled Chaos.’
Later on, the new single ‘Dead Inside’ came out in October 2021. The song featuring Disturbed’s David Draiman had lots of praise. As Strauss shared on her Instagram account, she became the first female solo artist who reached number 1 on Rock Radio.
During a recent interview, Strauss was asked about the difficulties of continuing her Alice Cooper and solo works. The guitarist indicated that she has huge responsibilities for his shows because of fans’ expectations of a classic rock star they have known for decades.
As Nita mentioned, these responsibilities have included playing Cooper’s songs in his style instead of reflecting her style. Because Strauss does not want the fans to leave the show thinking they watched a Nita Strauss performance, she plays the songs how they want to hear them. Her unique style comes into play when she’s on the road for her solo shows.
Nita Strauss explained in the interview:
“It’s a whole different level of heavy responsibility, if that makes sense. To play with a classic rock artist like Alice Cooper, you have to really deliver the songs the way the fans want to hear them. They’re not really there to hear Nita’s version of ‘I’m Eighteen,’ ‘School’s Out,’ or ‘Billion Dollar Babies.’
People want to come to a show to see us and to hear us perform, but I don’t want an Alice Cooper fan ever to leave the show and go like, ‘Man, I feel like I didn’t get the Alice Cooper experience. I just got a Nita show.’ That’s not what I’m here for. That’s ‘my’ shows are for.”
You can watch the entire conversation below.
