Artist: Nita Strauss
Album: The Call Of The Void (Sumerian)
Nita Strauss has been touring with Alice Cooper's band for almost 10 years. In 2018 she released her first solo album, Controlled Chaos, and the enforced time off from the road that occurred as a result of the pandemic gave her the time to write and record the guest-vocalist-laden follow-up, The Call Of The Void. We catch up with her during the US promotional tour for the new album.
A lot of artists say that recording a solo album is a learning experience and that they push what they learn onto their next project. Was this the case for you?
"I think that probably the biggest thing I learned from doing my first record - producing it myself, engineering everything myself - is that no one person is an army. And I think the approach on the second record, working with different people, whether it's engineers, producers, songwriters, writing partners or other guest artists, really helped me make a more complete, mature-sounding album, rather than just holding onto everything myself.
"I really wanted to approach this album as not only a more well-rounded songwriter but a more well-rounded guitar player, and so I utilised a lot of techniques that were maybe a bit out of my comfort zone. More of the quick hammer-ons, alternate picking type of stuff that I historically go more for, like the legato and sweeps and that sort of thing. I spent some time honing those chops and I'm excited that it came out as well as it did. Overall, it was a great growing experience."
What about the writing process? Did it come easily or was it a case of blood, sweat and tears all the way through?
This story is from the September 2023 edition of Guitarist.
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This story is from the September 2023 edition of Guitarist.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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