“I had one gig where I’d go to a hip-hop studio and play guitar riffs that they’d turn into beats and try to sell to rappers”: Nita Strauss on making ends meet before her big break
Long before she was shredding onstage with Alice Cooper and Demi Lovato or making waves as a solo artist, Nita Strauss was – like many struggling musicians in Los Angeles – grinding through gigs and odd jobs while chasing her dream.
Determined to keep her career moving forward, the guitarist took whatever came her way, whether it was playing in small local bands, backing singer-songwriters, or working retail to make ends meet.
READ MORE: “You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a big rock electric guitarist playing rhythm in tune”: Steve Vai says he’s “admired” this guitar player “for quite a while”
“I was working at the MAC make-up counter at the mall and taking any gigs I could get my hands on,” Strauss reveals in a new interview with Metal Hammer. “I’d do shows around LA with little bands or play with singer-songwriters who needed an accompanist.”
“I had one gig where I’d go to a hip-hop studio and play guitar riffs that they’d turn into beats and try to sell to rappers.”
“I put this band together called Kill Slowly,” she adds. “I’d always wanted a female metal supergroup. I’d done it with Lia-Fail. I’m still trying to do it today.”
Strauss explains that her first serious attempt, Lia-Fail, found early success, winning a Battle of the Bands (“we did a lot of them,” says the musician) that earned them “four or five shows” on the Warped Tour.
“So, in our infinite wisdom, we thought, ‘Well, we’re already borrowing a van and trailer – we should go on and do our own tour.’”
Though the harsh realities of being on the road soon hit them, says Strauss: “It was rough. We made no money, we were hungry and thirsty and tired. Two of the girls were old enough to drive, so they took turns while the other two of us navigated. We had no crew members, it was just four girls slugging it out on the road. We were eating food from gas stations, cramming into hotel rooms, outrunning tornados…”
And while she eventually made a name for herself as one of the leading guitarists in rock and metal, Strauss didn’t start out on the guitar.
“My first instrument was the drums, then the bass, but when I was about 13, my dad showed me a movie called Crossroads, where Steve Vai played the Devil’s guitar player,” she says. “That completely opened my eyes, how he was emoting and telling stories through the guitar.”
The post “I had one gig where I’d go to a hip-hop studio and play guitar riffs that they’d turn into beats and try to sell to rappers”: Nita Strauss on making ends meet before her big break appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
