Alice Cooper / ex-The Iron Maidens guitarist Nita Strauss recently spoke with Music Radar Following is an excerpt from the interview.

On being the first woman in Ibanez history to have a signature guitar

Nita: "I will never tire of hearing the words 'first female Ibanez artist.' Because I try to stay away from the whole gender thing - male versus female, girl versus guy, what’s the difference, etc. I try to be the greatest guitar player I can be. But to be the first female signature artist and see my name up there with Vai, Satriani and Gilbert - that’s what I’ve dreamed of since the very beginning. And the same goes for my signature DiMarzio pickups. I hope I’m the first female of many… but I’m glad I was first!"

On what she learned from her years in the ultimate all-female Iron Maiden tribute band

Nita: "Adrian Smith has always been a huge influence on me, which is funny because I actually played Dave Murray in The Iron Maidens. They approached me at a NAMM show and asked if I wanted to come and audition. I actually said, ‘Can I be Adrian?’ and they told me no, so I thanked them and said I’d pass. It was only until a year when we’d become friends that I started playing with them.

Learning Dave’s parts was a huge education because, while Adrian is the more ‘shred’ player of the two, Dave’s effortlessness and smoothness rolling from note to note in bluesy patterns ended up being a huge influence on my playing. That whole experience helped me think of phrases I wouldn’t have thought of."

Read the complete interview here.

Nita's new solo album, Controlled Chaos, is out now via Sumerian Records. Order the album here.

Says Nita: "Producing and doing the majority of the engineering on this record myself was a challenge for me in so many ways and I learned A LOT about myself in the process but I am beyond overjoyed with how it came out!"

Tracklisting:

"Prepare For War"
"Alegria"
"Our Most Desperate Hour"
"Mariana Trench"
"Here With You"
"The Stillness At The End"
"The Quest"
"Hope Grows"
"Lion Among Wolves"
"Pandemonium 2.0"
"The Show Must Go On"

"Mariana Trench"

"The Quest":

"Pandemonium 2.0"

"Our Most Desperate Hour" video: