Nita Strauss

“The important thing to remember is you control you. Nothing else can control you.”

“There are no apologies for being a female in heavy metal and especially not in 2019.”

“All my real heroes made instrumental albums. All my own career has been spent playing in bands, but I never forgot that dream of what inspired me to pick up the guitar in the first place.”

“When you're your own business, and my business is called Nita Strauss Incorporated, and I am my business, so it's not like I get to stop working at 5 p.m. and go home and do other things. It's a full-time job.”

“I think the WWE Universe have really accepted me, because they know I'm one of them.”

“I think in a new relationship it's really important to at least respect each other's interests, even if you don't get super into everything.”

“Me personally, I've had really great experiences. I'd be lying if I said it was all roses and perfect, but, by and large, the metal community is so incredibly supportive.”

“I was definitely not one of those kids prodigy guitar players.”

“Every band wants to play in every city. We all do.”

“So, really, I just try to be the best guitar player I can be - not the best female guitar player, not the best 'X amount of years' guitar player, or whatever - just the best guitar player.”

“The first riff that I totally mastered was 'Come As You Are' by Nirvana. I remember sitting there, plunking along, I remember thinking 'How do they even do this?'”

“I didn't start watching wrestling until 2015.”

“I will champion this forever - that the rock and metal scene is absolutely the most inclusive, amazing, supportive community that I've ever been a part of.”

“I might come across like kind of a show-off onstage and stuff, but I like collaborating with people.”

“To put my name on a track as a solo artist was a big deal to me. There was no band to act as a buffer.”

“The thing that I don't like is the selfie when people turn their back to the stage. I'm playing my heart out, I put everything that I have into my performance. If someone turns their back to me like a zoo animal... that drives me absolutely bananas.”

“I started playing guitar because of instrumental guitar music.”

“But when I started playing in bands, everyone would just have a couple beers at rehearsal, at the shows, or whatever, and alcohol is a great equalizer. It's a great way to make friends and interact with people.”

“I love my regular job playing with Alice Cooper, I love doing my solo stuff, I love doing guest spots and guest tours. So I just love to play, and I'll play with anybody that'll have me, just about.”

“And I was a kid from L.A. and I just wanted to play thrash metal.”