While recently appearing in an interview with Metal Global, guitarist Nita Strauss addressed some of the online criticism aimed at her. Admitting that it felt “hurtful” at times, Nita also explained her very simple method of dealing with the harsh words online.
During the interview, she touched upon the topic and even revealed that her new album “The Call Of The Void” will feature a song inspired by this issue. Talking about the matter, she said (transcript via Blabbermouth):
“I wrote a song about it. There’s a song about it on [my upcoming] record [‘Call Of The Void’] called ‘Digital Bullets’ with [guest singer] Chris Motionless [of Motionless in White]. And it really talks about these trolls online firing the ‘digital bullets’.”
She then added:
“They’ll never come to you to your face and say, ‘You suck,’ ‘You whore,’ ‘You money-grubbing whore,’ or whatever. No one has ever said that to my face, but you go on social media and it’s, like, ‘I hope you die in a fire.’ [Laughs] It’s just people being tough on the Internet. It’s not new. It’s not going away.”
As Nita also explained, these things did manage to affect her and they did feel “hurtful.” But just a slightly different angle immediately helps. As she added:
“My boyfriend said it to me personally one time… And it was hurtful — I can’t lie and say that it was not hurtful. Of course it was hurtful. But he said, ‘You know, no one’s coming and spitting on your face in the street. People aren’t coming to you, being rude to you. It’s just fake. It’s just online.'”
Nita seems to hold no grudges. However, her “revenge” is in for of her success. Touring with Alice Cooper and Demi Lovato, as well as her solo work, speak for themselves. She concluded by saying:
“People will talk online. And they have a saying, ‘Living well is the best revenge.’ So those people can keep spending their time on Facebook, talking their shit.”
“I will keep touring the world, eating fabulous food, staying in nice hotels, playing guitar with some of the biggest stars in rock and pop and metal. And I think that’s a good compromise. I’m happy with that. [Laughs]”
As of this moment, Nita Strauss is promoting her upcoming album “Call of the Void.” The record is planned to include 14 new songs, most of them with some of the biggest names in the metal world. There’s Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy, Chris Motionless of Motionless in White, David Draiman of Disturbed, and even Alice Cooper. The closing track called “Surfacing” also features ex-Megadeth guitar player Marty Friedman.
During her recent chat with Ultimate Guitar, Nita also discussed her gig as a member of Demi Lovato’s live band. However, as opposed to what many of her usual fans might think, this wasn’t your usual mainstream pop gig but a regular live rock band. She said:
“I got so lucky with the Demi gig because she wanted to do a rock tour. She put together an all-female rock band and we did a rock show. So I wish I had more of that pop, I wish I had a good story about being in the pop world to tell everybody like, oh, it was so different and it was so regimented or this or that, but we really just went out and did our thing.“
“We had a good time, we threw it down every night and we had a blast. We all in that band got very lucky because we were hired because she liked us.“
“She liked our personality and our performance style. So there wasn’t like, you know, [any directives like] don’t go too far here or don’t play like this. We were there to be ourselves and create this rock show with her. So that’s what we did.“
During the same interview, Nita also discussed how you’ll never be able to please everybody. When asked what she defines as success as a musician, she said that it’s about ” doing the things that you love to do on your terms and being content and happy with it” and then added:
“I put out a song with David Draiman and I put out a song with Alissa White-Gluz. And you look at the comments on these two songs and on the Draiman song, people were like, ‘Oh, this song sucks. You should do more songs like the song with Alissa.‘”
“And then I put out the Alissa song and people would comment like, ‘Oh, this sucks, I hate all this screaming stuff. You should make a whole album with David Draiman.‘”
“There’s always gonna be people telling me how I should be Nita Strauss, and what Nita Strauss should do next. I think as long as I’m happy and content with the way that my career is going and the people around me are happy and content with the way that things are happening, a rising tide lifts all boats.“
“Everybody should come up together. I think as long as you’re doing your thing on your own terms, remaining true to who you are, that’s success.“
Photo: Frank Schwichtenberg (Nita Strauss – Wacken Open Air 2017 36)
