Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez was asked about the types of fans in comments section who are pissed the band moved on after Layne Staley’s death in a LA Weekly interview.
The article states, “When any band loses a member, and particularly a frontman as key as Staley, there will be murmurs of discontent from fans and critics if that group “dare” to carry on with a new guy. Just ask Van Halen, or AC/DC, or Iron Maiden. Shit, Queen and The Doors.” It also mentions how there are many fans now though despite the backlash who have fully embraced William DuVall.
“We kinda live in a bubble,” Inez says. “We don’t sit there and look at the comments section or anything like that. We just go about stuff. We keep things very simple for ourselves. We just walk into a studio, plug our old guitars into our old amps, and what comes out of it sounds like Alice In Chains.
Even before I joined the band in ’93, the bones of the machine were well in place. It works for us. We go in and make a bunch of racket in a room, and try to get it on tape as best we can, then go and try to do the same live. We play hundreds of shows a year, and at this point we’re a well-oiled machine. I’ve never seen a singer prepare more than William, out of all the guys I’ve jammed with in my career. The way he does his warmups, really takes care of himself, gets up there and puts his chin out to everybody. Leaves it all on the field.”
