ALICE IN CHAINS Guitarist: 'WILLIAM Doesn't Sound Like LAYNE To Me; He Sounds Like WILLIAM'

MusicRadar.com recently conducted an interview with ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MusicRadar.com: You and William [DuVall] have this uncanny ability to match the vocal harmonies that you and Layne [Staley] established. Was this apparent to you early on — and did you think, "Isn't that weird?"

Cantrell: "Well, the style is the same, and that goes to how I write and how the band sounds. The three of us…you know, Sean [Kinney, drums] and I started this band 23 years ago, so we know how to sound like ourselves. Layne was, of course, a big part of that — and that's obviously the challenge.

"We're not gonna start sounding like someone else. William's a different individual than Layne, and having a talented guy like him who's willing to take the comparisons that you or anybody else will throw at him…he's willing to be himself, and that's the only way that would work.

"William doesn't sound like Layne to me; he sounds like William. I know what Layne sounds like. The writing style and the players are the reasons it sounds the way it sounds, and although we lost a big part of the band, there's a big part of the band that's still around."

MusicRadar.com: You're pretty much the co-vocalist in the band. You sing a lot of songs.

Cantrell: "I always have."

MusicRadar.com: And Layne encouraged that. He pushed you to sing - very much in a BEATLES kind of way. You guys always struck me as a Lennon and McCartney, in that there was no lead singer per se.

Cantrell: "Yes. That's a really great thing to use those two guys as an example — and of course, a band that's inspired so many musicians and continues to. I always admired that about them, and many other bands who not only had one great vocalist, but two.

"I was always amazed at the depth of bands that could do that. The cool thing is, you have two guys that can be individuals, but the combination of the two makes one. I always liked that about our band. Obviously, if we were going to continue, that's kind of interwoven in the blueprint. It's just the way it is. We would have to find somebody who could operate in the system, and yet bring what they bring to the table — and that person ended up being William."

MusicRadar.com: Before we get more into the new record, let me ask you, what is your fondest memory of Layne?

Cantrell: "I don't really have a 'fondest memory.' There's…there's so many of them. I spent a good portion of my life with him. He was our best friend and a brother and collaborator.

"The whole thing was good, even the tough stuff. Life's not always good, but even the parts that aren't so good are an important part of a life. I feel very lucky to have known him, and to have known him as well as I did."

MusicRadar.com: The lyrics on the new record are deeply personal. Do you keep a journal? [Cantrell laughs] I just can't imagine you sitting in the studio and coming up with these lyrics on the spot.

Cantrell: "ALICE has always been a band that spoke from personal experiences. That's really what works best, your personal perspective, and not only trying to create something that means something to you but translates to somebody else.

"That's not necessarily so tough, because we're not very different as human beings. We all go through pretty similar events in life. I've never been a big 'journal-er.' But I go through pretty intense writing phases, and when I do, that's pretty much all I do."

Read the entire interview at MusicRadar.com.

Jerry Cantrell interviewed by MusicRadar.com (click on player below to launch audio):