Alice In Chains Facelift and Dirt producer Dave Jerden recently discussed Layne Staley and Mike Starr on the Dean DelRay podcast ‘Let There Be Talk.’
“The day we started recording [Dirt] was the day that the LA Riots started. We come in there, we all show up, we’re going to start tracking, we set up all the drums and all that stuff. I think the first day we got a song down, I think we did “Rooster.” Layne is in the other room watching television, he goes: ‘Do you see this shit that is going on?’
That’s when the L.A. Riots started, and the next thing they have a curfew, and we couldn’t go to the studio for a week. So we got all set up ready to go, and then stopped. From what I understand, Layne was running downtown during the riots scoring. So we’re worried about Layne and all this stuff, he was staying down at the beach. So he’s making that run on the 10 back and forth.”
Jerden also said that Jerry Cantrell is one of the most talented musicians he’s ever worked with, and he doesn’t understand why he isn’t seen as a legend like Jim Morrison. He also discussed being addicted to heroin himself from 2001 to 2008, revealing that he actually went to rehab with late Alice In Chains bassist Mike Starr. Starr even told Jerden he didn’t think he was going to make it.
