Alice in Chains

ISSUE #26 MMUSICMAG.COM ISSUE #26 MMUSICMAG.COM Q&A a record. It’s been a little chunk of time since you nobody else has ever called a record what you do onstage for them? “Well, I want the last record, but we’re not on a schedule, that. There’s a lot of fear, hate and prejudice it to sound good, so I don’t mind paying and we’re not churning out crap. We make that goes on in the name of a belief. It’s somebody to lip sync and dance around in new music when we feel like making it and just about how bad we are to each other. front of me.” That’s BS. If you can’t play your take the time it takes to create music of the There’s room for everybody, and I’m not stuff, you shouldn’t be on a stage. quality we want. necessarily putting down faith in that song. The main line of the chorus is, “No problem Why has the band been so successful Describe that creative process. with faith, just fear.” and your fans so loyal? Sometimes we’ll come up with songs when We’ve been really lucky, and the thing you we’re jamming in a room, and sometimes it’s Are you fired up about the tour? can never gauge is people’s response to you alone at home working on an idea. Then Absolutely. I hear guys say, “I don’t get it. We’ve been through a lot as a band, you send it around to the guys and see what scared onstage” or “I’m totally at ease up and everybody knows that. The cool thing they think of it. They might add something, there.” But I’m not. It’s still exciting and is a huge portion of people never left us. or it might be good enough as is. As far as terrifying. But that’s what makes it good. They connected with the music and kept it arrangements, anytime anybody plays on it The exciting part is the potential train wreck alive. They kept playing it on the radio they’re going to put their thing to it anyway. It that can blow up or fall apart at any moment. and rocking it in their cars or turning their doesn’t matter if I don’t write a song because when I play on it I’m going to put my thing to it just like all of us. Why select Nick again to produce? All he wants is the best he can get out of you. He wants the best song possible and your best performance, but not in a demanding way. It takes work to do that. It doesn’t just happen by itself. Dave Ma What was it like in the studio? Making a record is one difficult thing. It’s funny because every time you do it, it’s Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, William DuVall, Sean Kinney usually years removed from the last time you did it, so you often forget. It’s like, “Was the last record this hard?” I remember Nick saying a couple of times, “Yep, it was.” I ALICEALICE ININ CHAINSCHAINS forget every time that it’s such a marathon Morena Brengola/Getty Images from ideas to writing to pre-pro to jamming to Setting the musical bar high and releasing no album before its time everybody’s input on everything. Then you’re recording it, and stuff is changing. It’s a long IN JULY 2011, ALICE IN CHAINS 2002 from a drug overdose), drummer Sean shared his enthusiasm about firing up the trek, and you’re constantly coming up against frontman Jerry Cantrell began working on the Kinney and bassist Mike Inez—entered L.A.’s Alice in Chains machinery once again. the wall of your own ineptitude. Onstage in Milan, Italy, 2009 band’s new record, but the process proved Henson Recording Studios in early 2012 to too painful—not artistically but physically. The complete what would be their fifth full-length How is this record unique? Bit hard on yourselves, no? guitarist was experiencing severe shoulder album. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is the All the records are connected, obviously, but Our motto has always been “Whatever it Some of the stuff we ‘Our motto has always pain and underwent surgery to remove follow-up to 2009’s remarkably successful they’re all very different. They’re all separated takes to make a great record.” It doesn’t play is difficult to pull bone deposits. A nightmarish scenario for gold album Black Gives Way to Blue, the by a period of time, and the record ends up matter what it costs or how long it’s going off live. You’re playing been “Whatever it takes to any guitar player, Cantrell wrote it off as an first Alice in Chains record in 14 years. being a time capsule of that period in your to take. We’re not putting something out one rhythm, singing occupational hazard. “It’s an annoyance. I’ve The band selected Nick Raskulinecz— life. You know, “This is where you’re at. This we feel is even remotely half-baked. We’ve against another—and make a great record.”’ been playing a lot of years and had cartilage who produced the previous record—to is what you sound like now. This is what always had a pretty healthy vision of what we we have two guys damage,” he says. “I had one repaired seven helm the new album. “Recording is a lot you’ve come up with this time.” want musically. While we don’t spend a lot doing that so we have multiple moving parts, friends onto it. That’s something you can’t years ago and had to do the other. It takes of dejection, missed marks, bad notes and of time listening to old records, we’re well and they all have to mesh. It’s tough, and plan on, and you’ve got to respect that. time, so maybe we might have recorded failed experiments,” says Cantrell. “Nick is Has your process evolved? aware of what those records are and the level it’s a tightrope walk with no net. We don’t While we’re concerned with reaching a sooner, but it just took what it took.” right there, willing to go through all of that How the band works musically hasn’t we achieved. In our minds we’re not dipping have any Auto-Tune or tracks. It’s live, so it level ourselves, people responded to our Recuperation complete, Cantrell and with you. He’s just like us and he loves music changed. We work up a body of material below that. If people don’t like it, that’s a gets weird once in a while, but it’s always music because we tried to achieve that company—singer William DuVall (replacing in that way. He gets so into it and excited together and start working on it. When we whole other thing. But if we’re satisfied to interesting to see how you get it back. level. So we have to keep doing that. We original vocalist Layne Staley, who died in about it that his energy is infectious.” Cantrell all feel excited about what we have, we make a certain level, then we win every time. I’ve have to keep hitting that mark for us, and been proud of every record we’ve put out. Do you embrace the onstage craziness ? then secondarily for anybody who digs the Every once in a while you have a complete band. We don’t want to let them down. If What’s the album title from? train wreck, and most of the time you can you’re letting yourself down, there’s a pretty ‘We’re not on a schedule. We make new music when We came up with the song first and started reel it in. But it’s live, and it’s not supposed good chance you’re going to let the rest we feel like making it.’ thinking about what to call the record. It was to be perfect. Since when did it become of ’em down, too. just an oddball, cool title. I can guarantee OK to expect people to pay so you can fake –Steve Rosen 24 25 M mag 26_cs6.indd 24 4/10/13 7:49 AM M mag 26_cs6.indd 25 4/10/13 7:49 AM.

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