NITA STRAUSS praises her 'fearless' touring singer KASEY KARLSEN: 'she really can do it all'
27-06-2023
Nita Strauss spoke to the 97.7 QLZ radio station about how she ended up recruiting a vocalist named Kasey Karlsen to join her onstage during the ongoing “Summer Storm”.
Karlsen has a half a million followers on TikTok where she posts vocal covers of such acts as SLIPKNOT, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, BRING ME THE HORIZON and ICE NINE KILLS.
Nita said: “I found Kasey on social media. She’s also on Instagram and Facebook and all the other places, but she’s very big on TikTok. I was looking for somebody that could do a lot of different voices.
“Of course I have so many different vocalists on (my second solo album, ‘The Call Of The Void‘) — from David Draiman (DISTURBED) to Alice Cooper to Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY) to Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM) and Dorothy and Anders (Fridén) from IN FLAMES and Chris Motionless (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE) — it’s, like, how can I have one singer do all these parts? I’d need six singers on the road with me. And that’s where someone like Kasey comes in that’s a truly a chameleon. She can a male vocal or a female vocal or a growl or a high-pitched scream or clean vocals — she really can do it all. She can sing all the parts, but she’s not parrot. It still sounds like her. She’s not mimicking. She’s singing everything and singing it right, but it still has her style to it, which I really love So we were very, very lucky to get her.”
Strauss went on to praise Karlsen‘s “fearless” stage presence, saying: “Last night in Wisconsin, she jumped off the stage during the PANTERA cover that we close the set with, and she started a mosh pit by herself in the middle of the room and got the whole center of the room in a circle pit. And then she left them there to pit by themselves and came up and finished the song with us. She’s absolutely fearless,” Nita repeated.
“The Call Of The Void” will arrive on July 7 via Sumerian Records. The LP features an additional guest appearance by former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman,
Regarding the album’s title, Strauss shared: “Have you ever been at the top of a high building and had the fleeting thought, ‘… I could jump right now?’ This feeling is sometimes called ‘The Call Of The Void,’ also known as ‘high place phenomenon.’ It’s not a suicidal impulse, rather the exact opposite — a subconscious decision to live your life, to step back from the ledge, and take control. As researcher April Smith aptly put it: ‘An urge to jump affirms the urge to live.’
“I wanted the follow-up to ‘Controlled Chaos’ to be exciting, new, and fresh, to take listeners to a new place and take myself somewhere new as an artist too. We have some amazing collaborations on this album with incredible musicians, as well as the instrumental guitar music that first inspired me to play.
“Some pieces of music come into the world gracefully and easily. This album is not one of them! ‘The Call Of The Void’ was born kicking and screaming, a labor of love for sure, but also of blood, sweat and plenty of tears. I couldn’t be more proud of the end result. Making this album helped me learn and grow so much as a musician and songwriter and I’m excited to finally unleash it on the world.”
In early December 2022, Nita told “The Mistress Carrie Podcast” about her decision to make the upcoming LP half vocal songs and half instrumental: “I did feel, and the label and everybody agreed, it’s still important for me to keep my identity as a guitar player and not just branch off too much and go, ‘Okay, well, now it’s just guests.’ Let me still have a little of what makes me me, which is the instrumental shred stuff. And the instrumental pieces that I’ve written on this record are, I think, better than anything I did on the first one — definitely more… I don’t know if it could be more emotional but they’re very emotional pieces of music and I think a little better crafted this time around. So I think all the songs in general are more well thought out, better put together this time around. And I do have some of my absolute favorite (singers guesting on it).”
Nita released 2018’s “Controlled Chaos” to mass acclaim from fans and media alike, with Metal Injection calling it “a great debut that — as its creator intended — leaves no doubt”, and Guitar World stating “‘Controlled Chaos’ is a panoramic view of Nita Strauss‘s many strengths”.
In March, it was announced that Nita would return to Alice‘s band for his 2023 tour.
The Alice Cooper North American tour, with an all-new show dubbed “Too Close For Comfort”, kicked off in late April in Michigan and will continue through late September, including a handful of August stadium shows with DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE, followed by a co-headlining late summer “Freaks On Parade” tour with Rob Zombie.
Nita spent eight years playing with Alice before joining Demi Lovato‘s band last summer,
Strauss played her first full live show with Demi in August 2022 at the Grandstand at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Illinois.
Nita made her live debut with Demi in July 2022 with a performance of “Substance” on ABC‘s Emmy Award-winning late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
Strauss had been playing with Cooper since 2014 when she replaced Australian musician and former Michael Jackson player Orianthi. She joined Alice in time for a mammoth MÖTLEY CRÜE tour. She was recommended to Cooper by the legendary rocker’s former bass player and WINGER frontman Kip Winger.
Nita also participates in health stimulation, with her Nita Strauss “BODY SHRED!” fitness challenge. From lifting weights to Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu and having her very own 90 day ‘Body Shred’ Fitness Challenge, she has built a community of support and accountability for music enthusiasts to get fit. She furthermore states she will never drink alcohol ever again, which she stopped in 2015. Nita was also the first ever female guitar player to have her own signature model at Ibanez Guitars.
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