Nita Strauss has opened up on her issues with alcohol and substance abuse in a brand new interview with Metal Hammer.
Speaking to Hammer writer Dave Everley in their new issue, out now, the Alice Cooper and Demi Lovato guitarist explains that while her problems with addiction weren’t always obvious to those around her, they still took their toll.
“I wouldn’t say I hit rock bottom, she says. “I’m not like Nikki Sixx, but I was a dangerous addict, because whether I was doing drugs or drinking, I was very highly functional. I was doing all these things that could have got me in trouble, but I never played a bad show, I was never falling-down sloppy. But it was really insidious, because it was bleeding into my personal life. Some of the guys in the band had noticed it, but it took my partner Josh, who is now my husband, saying to me: ‘If you’re gonna be like this, I don’t know how long I’m going to be with you. I can’t watch you destroy your life like this.’ This was the highest point of my professional career so far, and it just seemed unfair – I couldn’t understand why I was getting picked on, and why I had to be boring and go to sleep early.”
Strauss goes on to say that she was “too shy” to go to Alcoholics Anonymous and “just white-knuckled” her way to sobriety, but explains that staying sober on the road is still a big challenge.
Read the full story here.
Nita Strauss will open for Apocalyptica on their North American “Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2 Tour”. Confirmed dates are listed below.
Tour dates:
February
6 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
7 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
8 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
11 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
12 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
13 – Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
14 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center
15 – Chicago, IL – Athenaeum Center
16 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
18 – Minneapolis, MN – Uptown Theater
19 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
20 – Saskatoon, SK – Coors Event Centre
21 – Edmonton, AB – Midway Music Hall
22 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre
24 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
25 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
26 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
27 – San Francisco, CA – Palace of Fine Arts
28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Orpheum Theatre
March
1 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
3 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre
5 – Austin, TX – ACL Live – Moody Theater
6 – Dallas, TX – The Majestic Theatre
8 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center