Former ALICE IN CHAINS Members Say Now Is Right Time For Reunion

ALICE IN CHAINS members Sean Kinney (drums) and Jerry Cantrell (guitar) spoke to MTV.com about their upcoming "reunion" concert at Seattle's Premier club on February 18 as part of a benefit concert to aid the victims of the Southeast Asia tsunami distaster. Kinney and Jerry Cantrell will be joined at the gig by ALICE IN CHAINS bassist Mike Inez and DAMAGEPLAN singer Pat Lachman.

"We all saw what happened with the tsunamis in Southeast Asia. It was such an overwhelming tragedy," Kinney said. "So I called Jerry and Mike and they realized that we could really help some people out. So they were totally into it." "We'd been talking about doing something like this for a couple of years now, but we've never been able to work it out," Cantrell said. "I mean, we haven't been in a room together. But when Sean called and said he wanted to do a benefit, we were like, 'It sounds perfect.' And this was the right time to do it."

Regarding their decision to ask Lachman to fll the void left by frontman Layne Staley, who died of a drug overdose in 2002, Cantrell said that he had known the guys in PANTERA for a long time, so when former PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed onstage while performing with his new group, DAMAGEPLAN, "we were on a plane down to Texas the next day to lend our support," he recalled. "Myself, Mike and Pat were asked to play a couple of songs at Dime's memorial. And for Pat to do that so soon after losing his friend, it was amazing.

"It's been a couple of years now since Layne's been gone, and we know what it's like to lose somebody, so we were there to lend our support just like they were there for us," he continued. "So when the idea for this benefit came up — something positive — we knew Pat would be the perfect person to ask."

As to whether fans might see a new version of ALICE IN CHAINS hitting the studio eventually, "We're taking it on a step-by-step basis," Cantrell said. "We're excited to get together and throw down. Who can say what is going to happen in the future? I've been fortunate enough to have had success in this business and to play with people you admire. But it's not quite as cool as playing with these guys. It's a chemistry thing. It's unwritten. And it's bigger than all of us; it's a larger power."