Back in the Chains Gang

“Alice In Chains was never any one person’s band,” states Jerry Cantrell, guitarist and main tunesmith with the grunge pioneers, who are about to release their first album since the death of original vocalist Layne Staley.

Featuring new singer William DuVall, Black Gives Way To Blue is drenched with the band’s trademark dark, textured sound. It runs the gamut from heavy metal to down-tempo balladry.
“Layne not being here is a huge loss for us artistically and personally,” admits Cantrell. “To lose somebody that you care about and are that close to is a huge challenge. We chose to attempt to continue and see if it lives up to our own standards. It means you have to dig deeper within yourself and see what else you can bring to the table.”
DuVall, formerly of Comes With The Fall, has worked extensively with Cantrell since 2000 and joined the reunited band in 2006.
Says the guitarist: “William is doing great. It’s a huge challenge for anybody, to be judged against Layne’s memory. The reasons that he has done so well are down to the type of person he is and the fact that he respects our history and respects Layne’s legacy. We have all gotten used to playing with each other and have gelled as a band.”
Listening to the latest incarnation the similarities between Staley and DuVall as vocalists are striking. No surprise, then, that a slew of glowing reviews followed their recent performance at Marlay Park with chums Metallica.
“They are really supportive of the new album,” says Jerry of the metal uber-lords. “We did a couple of years touring beforehand and they have been really supportive of us throughout this whole process. James [Hetfield] actually joined us on stage a couple of times here and there. He got up and did ‘Would?’ with us at one of the festivals.”
“He and Robert and Sean and myself sometimes gig together under the name Metalicea,” he adds laughing. “The set is half Alice In Chains songs and the other half Metallica.”
One of the remarkable aspects of the recent Dublin visit was that the new songs were as well-received as the old.
“It’s always interesting when you play new material because you have basically been hidden away in the recording studio for a good period of time,” muses Jerry. “I think the tracks went over really well and the crowd seemed pretty interested which is a good sign for us!”
The album was produced by Grammy-winning Nick Raskulinecz, who has worked with Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson and Velvet Revolver.
“Nick’s great. We met him through Dave Grohl, a good friend of ours,’ he explains. “I think a great producer is someone who doesn’t mess with the band too much but finds a way to let the band come through. He certainly achieved that.”
The opus also features a guest appearance by Elton John. A strange combination one would think – but Jerry disagrees.
“He’s a huge influence on all of us,” he enthuses. “I can pretty much cite him as THE influence that gave me the bug to become a musician. Involving him was one of those special things that just happened. We wrote a note to him and explained the significance of the track and sent him a demo of the song. He listened to it and it meant something to him so he agreed to play on it. Being able to collaborate with him was amazing.”
“Coincidentally Elton John was Layne’s first concert,” he adds. “I was just reminded of that recently so that really connected a lot of dots.”
And what was Mr Dwight like to work with?
“He’s such a great musician and he still really cares about music today,” Cantrell points out. “I was so impressed that someone who has had that career and made that impact still has a vital hunger for music, not only his own but other artists as well. He still keeps up to date. He was telling me about the amount of new releases he listens to every week. He’ll talk hard rock, he’ll talk metal and he’ll talk pop. That is very inspiring as a musician. You strive to be that inspired.”
The album has garnered for the most part gushing reviews. One vocal supporter of the band, who has written glowingly about them in his Seattle Weekly column, is Gun 'n Roses/Velvet Revolver man Duff McKagan.
“Duff was always a big champion of us continuing on,” notes Jerry. “On many occasions he has just turned up at shows and jammed with us.”
“It’s really cool to be around other guys that you respect, that have made music that you respect and they are still making great music,” he adds.
Cantrell’s guitar prowess has also been acknowledged separately. In 2006 he was bestowed with the rather grand title of Riff Lord by a UK magazine.
“That was pretty cool,” he laughs. “The guys still tease me about that one to this day.”
“I actually have a funny story about that,” he says. “ I had to fly in to get that award and on the flight back from London we experienced a lot of turbulence. The captain informed us that one of the cargo doors hadn’t retracted properly and was catching wind, so not to be concerned if we saw police and fire trucks as we land. Me and my buddy Val who was sitting beside me were like ‘What!?’ I just buckled up and reached over and shook Val’s hand. Val turned to me and said in deadly seriousness, ‘Well, at least if I’m going down I’m going down with the Riff Lord!’”
The Riff Lord also makes time for charitable endeavours. Last year he and host of other luminaries played at the 10th anniversary of the Road Recovery Foundation, established to benefit young people battling addiction.
‘It’s really cool doing that show because it gives kids that are struggling a chance to have a creative outlet,” he notes.
“The day after that we actually got to go to Sing Sing prison and do a smaller version of that show for the inmates. It was me, Wayne Kramer, Perry Farrell and Tom Morello and a bunch of other folks. It was a little sobering I have to say.”
Part of the set featured Jerry on lead vocals for Thin Lizzy’s ‘Jailbreak’. Is he a hardcore fan?
“Of course!” he exclaims. “Every time we are in Ireland we always go to see Phil. We saw his statue this last time too.”
As time is running out I mention that talking to Chris Cornell earlier this year he highlighted the early days of grunge as his favourite of that era.
“I have to agree with Chris,” he says. “There was something special about it when it was our little secret. But all of that music speaks for itself and it's still as valid today as it was then.”