Alice In Chains singer/guitarist Jerry Cantrell discussed William DuVall taking over for Layne Staley in a new Eddie Trunk interview.
“William was willing to take on that challenge, and we never looked at it as a part of somebody is replaceable, because Layne Staley is not replaceable, Mike Starr is not replaceable. Their period of time with us in the band on those records is indelible, and completely unique. When Mike [Inez] joined the band, and when William joined the band, those were new eras, and important additions, and equally as important.
So trying to celebrate all of that stuff, and make it work. We just do things the same way we’ve always done them, whatever feels right, and it felt right at the time. We all talked to each other, and said, ‘Hey, do you want to take this on?’ William had a huge challenge, obviously he was going to take a lot of shit from some people upfront, and he did.”
DuVall chimed in, “Still do (laughs).”
Cantrell said, “Us too. (In mocking tone) ‘No Layne No Chains.’ Shit like that. This is our band. It’s just like the troll shit. But this is our band, this is our music, these are our friends, and we’re lucky enough to have worked through those challenges and continued to move forward and create a new chapter for this band. We’ve created three new chapters in this book that is Alice In Chains.”
