Nita Strauss says there’s less “gatekeeping” in pop music than rock and metal
The guitarist shares one takeaway from her recent tour with pop icon Demi Lovato.
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Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss recently claimed that there’s less “gatekeeping” in the world of pop music as compared to rock and metal circles.
Speaking to Loudwire about her recent tour with popstar Demi Lovato, Strauss said, “It was an amazing experience working with Demi. Obviously I come from the rock/hard rock/metal world and I am so used to fans being up in arms anytime something changes.”
“The cool thing that I found is that Demi changed her entire style. She changed her clothing, her musical style and she reworked all her huge hits. She has a song ‘Cool for the Summer’ that has billions of Spotify plays and she did a full-on rock version with a little Metallica thrown in there for good measure.”
“And the fans loved it. The fans supported her and absolutely screamed their faces off until the end of the show,” Strauss added. “There was no pushback. There was no, ‘This is not what you’re supposed to sound like. This isn’t what we signed up for. We want the old Demi back…’ type gatekeeping that we see in the style of music that we’re more used to.”
“It was beautiful to be a part of this evolution. Demi was so happy on the road. You can really tell this is where she wants to be as an artist and to get to be a part of that along with such a great band — an all female band, so many women on the crew (lighting director, production assistant, wardrobe, Demi’s day-to-day manager) — there are so many women in high positions on that tour as well, which was so unique.”
The guitarist, who has since rejoined Alice Cooper’s touring lineup, will also be releasing her second solo album later this year.