Nita Strauss on her new solo album, being an In Flames megafan and working with Demi Lovato

For the best part of a decade, Nita Strauss has been shredding her stuff as part of Alice Cooper's band, while at the same time as becoming a significant role model for young women wanting to get into music. In 2018, she took her first steps as a solo artist through the release of her killer instrumental album, Controlled Chaos – an album funded through Kickstarter with fans at the heart of it all.

After a short time away from Alice's band, and a stint with pop icon Demi Lovato, the past few years have seen Nita set American rock radio ablaze with a string of solo releases. Her 2021 single with Disturbed's David Draiman hit the Number One spot on the Mainstream Rock Chart in the U.S. in a clear display of potential and huge things to come. Fast-forward to the end of 2022 and Nita dropped the frenetic The Wolf You Feed featuring Arch Enemy's Alissa White-Gluz, with Winner Takes All featuring her pal Alice Cooper dropping back in March.

And after months of teasing, Nita has finally announced her second-full length, The Call Of The Void, with the release of fiery new song Golden Trail featuring the In Flames legend Anders Fridén. We caught up with the woman herself to discuss the new record, the many incredible collaborations on there, touring with Demi Lovato and, er, receiving her very own Super Bowl ring…

Nita! How does it feel to finally be able to announce the full details of your second solo album, The Call Of The Void?
“I’m so excited! It's been a long process – much longer than my first record – and I think it's really just because the first record was just me. At the time there was no label, we did a Kickstarter and it was made by the fans, for the fans – I engineered it, I produced it, I wrote everything. With this upcoming record, it's a lot more involved; there was a lot of moving parts. There are guest appearances, vocalists, guest guitarists, producers, engineers… so a lot more people to work with. I'm so proud of the way it came out and so excited to finally unleash it on the world.”

You announced the record by dropping Golden Trial with Anders Fridén from In Flames. How awesome is it to have him on this song?
“In Flames are my Beatles – they were my first favourite band. So, to write a song that has that classic In Flames vibe and then hear Anders' iconic vocal-style on it is beyond a dream come true. One day in the studio, my boyfriend Josh said, 'Why don’t we reach out to the singer of In Flames?’ So we reached out through Mike Plotnikoff – who mixed my first record and works closely with In Flames – and he made the connection. Anders recorded the vocals in Sweden and sent the tracks over, and we were completely blown away.”

Seeing as In Flames are your first favourite band, how much does this song mean to you?
“It has a bit of a double meaning for me. Lyrically, you have the themes that we all relate to: yearning, searching for something more, never knowing what lies ahead. But on a personal level, this song is like a ‘rock star’ movie moment. I was a kid that grew up with In Flames posters on my walls – I still have a signed one in my studio and today we are releasing a song together!”

On top of that, you have guest appearances Chris Motionless, David Draiman and of course your good friend Alice Cooper to name but a few. How was it working with so many awesome musicians?
“Chris is such a pro – he was a joy to have on and he has such a phenomenal voice. It was totally different working with Alice in a creative capacity. Usually, it's me saying, ‘Hey, what do you want? How can I execute this to your vision?’ whereas this was Alice coming in and executing something in my mind. I can't say enough good things about every single person on this record; every single musician was a complete and total pro. There were no divas, there was no attitude, there was no issues.”

We know you thoroughly enjoy playing guitar in other bands, but how does it feel knowing you can also do this in a solo capacity?
“Oh, it's wild! I've spent most of my career as someone else's guitar player. Let’s say we played a sold-out show at The O2 – which is a place I play with Alice – and we come in and play and it feels great. But at the end of the day, it's Alice Cooper's name above the door. So, to then move onto the solo career and have it be my name, that’s where that sense of ownership and sense of pride comes in.”

You’re back with Alice Cooper now, but what was it like touring with Demi Lovato’s band?
“Demi was a blast to tour with; it was great being around so many women. I think it was an exact 50/50 ratio of men to women on tour, which is unheard of – we had an all-female band. I think there were 12 girls on our bus on this tour, which I have never had during my 21 years touring. It was fun to be on a tour where sobriety was a big part of it; there's no alcohol backstage, which is nice for me as somebody who is sober.”

You’ve been a huge champion of encouraging more women into the scene. Do you feel there’s now a more visible female presence now?
“It's incredible! When I was in my first few bands, I didn't know any other girls in bands, and now it's just so normal. You see a girl walk into backstage with a guitar case, and you don't automatically assume she's carrying her boyfriend's guitar. So, it's just refreshingly normal, compared to how it was, like 10, 15 years ago.”

Finally, you’ve managed to get your hands on a Super Bowl ring without being in the NFL. How did that happen?
“It's so crazy – I’m a huge NFL fan. And when the Rams moved to back to LA from St. Louis, I had to get involved. The first time that I played with them was when the team was still at the Coliseum. When the team moved to SoFi Stadium in 2020, we had work together again. Of course, it was the year the world went into lockdown, and we wound up playing the entire season to an empty stadium. The following year we had fans in for the first time and I think that just gave the guys a boost and, of course, it was championship season. It’s so wild, and owning that ring is a bucket list item.”

Nita Strauss' new album The Call Of The Void is out July 7 via Sumerian Records

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