Nita Strauss: You Don't See a Solid Right Hand on a Lot of Female Players

As we reported this spring^[1], Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss recently branched off with a new band, We Start Wars^[2].

The band—which also features Nicole Papastavrou (eight-string guitar), Alicia Vigil (bass), Seana—a.k.a. Shauna Lisse (vocals), Katt Scarlett (keyboards) and Lindsay Martin (drums)—prides itself on being a "chick band" that breaks down stereotypes while combining virtuoso playing with multi-layered songwriting and high-energy performance.

Strauss has always been fascinated by the idea of the female warrior, and admits We Start Wars^[3] is the band she’s been wanting to build ever since she first picked up the guitar.

Recently, Strauss sat down with Let There Be Talk^[4] to discuss We Start Wars—and female guitar players in general.

"[Nicole Papastavrou plays] an eight-string; it has a bigger neck than a 12-string, I can't even play her guitar," Strauss said^[5]. "I got an eight-string from Ibanez a couple of years ago, maybe five years ago when they first made one. I just gave it back the next day. I don't want it. [Laughs] I don't know what to do with it. It's like a baseball bat! And she plays it like...

"I picked her because she has a super-solid right hand, which is not something you see. I'm the last person to be sexist in this industry, but you don't see a solid right hand on a lot of female players. I don't know why, you just don't see it. It's not a common thing.

"I wrote a lot of tight rhythms, and I wanted somebody that could keep up with a really, really tight right hand. And Nicole's right hand is miles and away better than mine. Especially on those big strings, on the eighth string; the low string looks like a pinkie