Jerry Cantrell has revealed that he has continued to write songs with Layne Staley in mind to sing from the 2000’s to 2020’s, even with Layne having passed away near 20 years ago in 2002. Layne’s voice singing his new songs can’t be a reality, but Jerry can hear it in his imagination.
Jerry told Louder Sound about writing songs today solo, “The method is the same, the players in the field are different. That being said, there are times when I’m like: ‘Layne [Staley, former AIC vocalist] is gonna kill this and Sean [Kinney, drummer] is gonna do a really cool thing here, and I bet Mike [Inez, bass] will come up with something for this.'”
You rely on the strengths of the band and the talents that everybody brings for some things. But mostly I’m always cataloguing riffs and recording stuff. I’m a collector of ideas, and I have a deep file of ideas and things that are unrealised.
During a recent interview with the “Everblack”, Alice in Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell was asked if he still likes dishing out some heavy riffs in between presenting a softer side of the rock genre. Dave Grohl Reveals Who Is Saving Rock In 2021
Here is how Jerry Cantrell responded:
“Absolutely. It depends on the mood. We had a metal night at my poker game last week. We haven’t been able to have too many of ’em over the last 18 years when we started having the fellows over for some home poker games. Usually somebody will DJ and we’ll take different turns. Well, last week was all metal. It’s great. It’s a big piece of the pie for me.”
It was back in 1996, when Cantrell told Guitar World magazine that Alice in Chains was “part of the metal thing. We’re a lot of different things, too. I don’t quite know what the mixture is, but there’s definitely metal, blues, rock and roll, maybe a touch of punk… The metal part will never leave us. And I never want it to.”
When asked about the fact that many metal bands at the time were preoccupied with making things heavy, at the expense of creativity or originality, Jerry said:
“I’ve always been interested in bands that make heavy shit without sounding so obvious. There’s something about having strength and not flaunting it. It’s not about coming out and mauling your ass, but easing in. Before you know it, you’re in a death lock, which you didn’t see coming because it was so smooth and seductive you didn’t know it until it had your face down on the canvas. To me, being heavy has nothing to do with how many speakers you blow or how many decibels you play at.”
Cantrell’s new solo album, “Brighten”, was released on October 29th.
