WILLIAM DUVALL: 'This Incarnation Of ALICE IN CHAINS Grew Up In Public'

Martin Bandyke of the Detroit Free Press recently conducted an interview with ALICE IN CHAINS singer William DuVall. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Detroit Free Press: And how difficult was it to step into the shoes of Layne Staley as a featured singer?

DuVall: Oh yeah, it was difficult to fit in, but that's understandable. Most of it was skepticism on the part of the audience, and that was to be expected. It was a daunting task, a tall order the moment we started playing shows. There wasn't a road map or grand plan to an album or tour, we just set off down this road with no destination. You start a debate once you go out again as ALICE IN CHAINS; fans are going to read a lot into every move you make. My way of dealing with all of that was to be myself, let the chips fall where they will, just go out with the purest of intentions. The more shows we did the more we dug it, and we were so honored and amazed at the audiences showing up that we realized this band had a life of its own. Some people were saying things that were untrue and inflammatory, but that's just part of the times we live in. We can grouse and complain but that's just what everyone deals with now. This incarnation of ALICE grew up in public, and has character, intensity and strength that it wouldn't have otherwise. In terms of internal workings, it's not dissimilar from the way most bands start up. Friendships came first; then we started playing music together. We came to rely on each other on stage, and that momentum led us into the studio to make "Black Gives Way to Blue". The fact that we get to play music together and pay respect to Layne Staley means everything to us.

Detroit Free Press: Did you grow up listening to any of the great Detroit rock bands from the '60s?

DuVall: Oh my God, don't even get me started! I am a lifelong fan of the STOOGES and the MC5, to say nothing of Motown. I'm also a great fan of everything that Jack White does. I actually fronted the MC5 in London at the Royal Festival Hall in 2008. That was one of the greatest moments of my life. I met Wayne (Kramer of the MC5) at one of Tom Morello's benefits that he does in L.A. He does these charity shows that are at a small venue, the Hotel Café. You run into all sorts of people there: Tim Robbins, Alanis Morissette, Perry Farrell. Slash has done them, (Jerry) Cantrell has done them. So I met Wayne backstage in 2007 between ALICE tours at one of those benefits. We got along great and we have a lot of commonality in our tastes. Wayne and I are rockers who love avant-garde jazz — Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, people like that. We both love music from all parts of the world, Indian, Pakistani artists and much more; we came together around that. At some point he passed the word through Cantrell about having me come over to play with the MC5 in London. Cantrell called me and I said, "Are you kidding me?" We did stuff off of all their albums, from "American Ruse" to "Over and Over" to "Black to Comm".

Read the entire interview from the Detroit Free Press.