Jerry Cantrell: “Aún no hemos hecho nada mierdoso”
Jerry Cantrell: «In my opinion, we haven’t done anything crappy»
Sacado de // From: http://www.jimdunlop.com and http://portalternativo.com
Contestando a como intenta no repetirse y encontrar nuevas melodías:
La mitad de la batalla es encontrar tu propio sonido, o tu huella dactilar musical, que la gente pueda reconocer. Pero, realmente, es como de natural suenas por lo que no tienes que ir pensando en ello porque sueno como sueno. Eso está bien y ahí es donde quieres estar: quieres sonar, naturalmente, como tu. En cuanto a la variedad de composiciones en las diferentes áreas de la banda, creo que es bastante aparente en todos los discos que hemos hecho. He estado en una banda realmente grande que ha sido capaz de moverse en muchas voces variadas y ha incorporado muchos elementos de diferentes clases de música, haciéndola suya, desde acústica hasta heavy, y todo lo que hay en medio.
Pero tienes que confiar en el hecho de que vas a sonar como vas a sonar, y la manera de mantenerlo fresco y que siga adelante es olvidando lo que has hecho en el pasado. Pero realmente no necesitas pensar en es y, en ese aspecto, he tenido mucha suerte, no solo conmigo sino con mi banda. Confío en que nos va a ir bien y que lo que hacemos está bien. En mi opinión, aún no hemos hecho nada mierdoso, lo cual mola y es lo máximo que puedes pedir. Además, hemos tenido una larga carrera, hemos hecho muchos discos y cada disco es diferente del anterior. Que la cosa se mantenga fresca significa hacer otro disco y componer nuevas canciones. ¿Mantener tu sonido característico? Bueno, eso es simplemente quien eres.
Su inspiración:
Cuando empecé a tocar, me inspiró cualquiera con el que disfrutara escuchando y algunos de ellos no eran ni guitarristas. Pero sabes, empiezas emulando a tus héroes y para mi fue aprendiendo canciones de AC DC, UFO, Black Sabbath, Van Halen – esa es una pequeña porción de bandas que me influyeron – pero también muchos amigos que tocaron en bandas de covers y eso me hizo darme cuenta de que no era eso lo que quería hacer. Quería componer mis propio material, como todos esos músicos y bandas hacían. Así que no solo me inspiré para aprender a tocar la guitarra sino también me inspiré a aprender a componer canciones como esas bandas hacían. Supe que eso era el camino, más que no tocar tres sets de material de otra gente en una banda de covers.
Al final, encuentras inspiración donde sea. Para mi no es un rollo artístico-pedorro, de flores y etéreo, es más algo de entrañas y pasa cuando pasa. He aprendido a entrenarme a lo largo de los años para saber si una idea es lo suficientemente buena como para seguirla y también para aprender a grabar cualquier idea porque mi perspectiva sobre ella quizá cambie y entonces hacer lo que sea para que esa idea cobre vida. Tienes que sentarte y grabar y seguir haciéndolo hasta que ocurre.
Sus hobbys:
Durante un tiempo fue el poker y aún me encanta – es una bonita actividad para no pensar en nada más que en lo que estás haciendo. Me dio por pescar un tiempo, cosa que últimamente no he hecho tanto como debería porque me encanta estar al aire libre. Una gran parte de ser música es pasar tiempo en sitios cerrados con mucha otra gente así que es realmente bueno salir de ese ambiente y salir afuera. Sabes, estás en un estudio, en una habitación de hotel, en una furgoneta, en un camerino, en un local – son todos sitios cerrados – así que cualquier cosa que te haga salir fuera está bien. Por eso me encanta pescar, sobre todo pesca en mar adentro. El golf es otra actividad genial. Soy malísimo pero me encanta jugar y es más por estar fuera y tener algo en lo que concentrarme y es un poquito saludable y divertido y competitivo, y eso me encanta también.
Algún placer culpable:
No sé si lo es pero siempre he sido fan de aprender, y siempre he tenido curiosidad y me ha interesado en quien somos y donde estamos. Siempre me ha interesado la geología, astronomía y todo ese rollo. No soy ninguna lumbrera pero me gusta ver Discovery Channel y el Science Channel y leo el National Geographic y la Scientific American. Estoy interesado en la panorámica de lo que hay ahí afuera y la increíble cantidad de conocimiento que tenemos disponible desde los últimos cientos de años sobre la realidad del planeta en el que vivimos y el sistema del que es parte. Estoy interesado en el ciclo vital y todas las cosas relacionadas con la realidad de la existencia.
La anécdota más divertida que le haya pasado en un escenario:
El tipo de la silla de ruedas encima del escenario la otra noche… Eso fue raro y recuerdo ver un mapache en el escenario la pasada gira. Pasan locuras por ahí. Es como un circo o un barco pirata, y cuando entras en contacto con otras bandas piratas, nos juntas a varios de nosotros y pasan mierdas. Hay muchas bromas en el escenario, es como una tradición que unos puteemos a otros al final de la gira, especialmente las bandas teloneras. Recuerdo que los chicos de Van Halen nos pillaron como cuatro veces en un set allá por el 91, al final de aquella gira. Cuando salimos del escenario, habían pegado grandes tiras de cinta adhesiva en el suelo así que ahí andábamos arrastrando por ahí rollos de cinta. Contrataron a unas strippers, no demasiado atractivas, que estuvieron ahí durante una canción entera. También sacaron a uno de sus técnicos, creo que se llamaba Zeke, disfrazado de Little Bo Beep con una oveja. Y al final de nuestro set, estábamos tocando “Man in the Box”, y su equipo salió y empezó a desmantelar todo nuestro escenario – dejaron a Sean con un pedal y un bombo, a mi con un ampli, desenchufaron a Mike Starr. ¡Y eso solo en un set! Creo que nadie ha superado ese objetivo de putear a un telonero.
Por otro lado, hay una foto que creo que alguna gente ha visto pero no creo que sea de conocimiento público… Van Halen tenía un paso característico en el escenario y en ese momento tenían esas bragas cortas que vendían a las chicas del público. Realmente cortas. Así que cogimos algunas de esas y nos las pusimos – por supuesto que no nos cabía el tema ahí así que tuvimos que girarlas con la parte del culo delante para que el tema estuviera ahí – y nos pusimos unas botas de camuflaje y nos disfrazamos como strippers e hicimos ese paso característico detrás suyo y nadie se estaba dando cuenta excepto por Alex. Hay una gran foto de eso, tomada justo cuando Eddie se gira y ve lo que está pasando y como se parte de risa. Es uno de esos tíos que nunca la caga. Le he visto tocar en tantos estados diferentes y siempre lo clava pero oírle fallar un par de notas mientras se reía de nosotros, fue genial.
IN ENGLISH
Eric B. asks… I’ve always been a fan of your tasteful and well-phrased leads. Do you write them out before you record them, or just hit “Record” and go for it a few times?
I’ve never been an off-the-cuff solo guy. I’ve always approached solos as a part of the song, so just as I write other parts of a song to make sense with each other, I generally like to work solos out before I record them. Sometimes I make stuff up on the fly, but mostly I like to work them out. A solo is a special part of a song, it’s kind of a vocal line and a unique performance, so it’s gotta say something, it’s gotta sing, and it doesn’t have to be too long either, not for what we do.
Doug W. asks… I noticed that you’ve got the Talk Box back in the mix after going a while without using one. How did you decide to start using it again?
On most of my records, there’s at least one song that I use a Talk Box on. But it’s something can easily be over used—there are few signature Talk Box guys who can use it as much as they want, the obvious one being Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh is another, and one of my favorite guitar players—and I think that’s why I put it away. I just don’t use it throughout a whole show, and I had been replicating that sound, especially on “Man In A Box,” with a Cry Baby. But it’s a good thing to have in there, it sounds killer and it’s fun to play.
Dominic M. asks… How did you find your signature tone? Did it just come to you, or did it take a lot of time experimenting with gear?
I remember reading stories about this in old magazines, but I figured out for myself pretty quickly that it doesn’t really matter what gear you’re playing on—you’re gonna sound how you sound. Gear can color it—I mean a Les Paul sounds like a Les Paul and a Strat sounds like a Strat, so there’s two different tones there, and you can alter some of your tones by your gear—but mostly your tone is in your hands and that’s just the way it is.
I remember hearing stories of Van Halen opening for Ted Nugent, and Nugent going out to watch Eddie, saying, “What is this guy playing through?!” Then he went and plugged into Eddie’s stuff, and he sounded like Ted Nugent. I have first hand knowledge of that: When we toured with Van Halen, sometimes I’d be late getting to sound check and Ed would be on stage playing with my band, plugged into my stuff, and he sounded like Eddie Van Halen. And when I played through his stuff, I sounded like me. So gear can only get you so far with tone and sound adjustment, but basically at some point, you are who you are, and that is literally in your flesh. You know, it’s not the car, it’s the driver.
Tim H. asks… Which do you prefer to play: rhythm or lead guitar? Does one dictate the other in terms of writing new material?
I’ve always approached guitar playing from a rhythm guitar standpoint. I grew up being heavily influenced by guitar tandems, and one guy was generally more of the rhythm player. Malcom Young to Angus Young, Rudolf Schenker to Michael Schenker, Smith and Murray in Maiden, Tipton and Downing in Priest… So I always start with the rhythm, and the music always starts with the rhythm, because if you don’t have the rhythm, and you don’t have the riff or the groove, you’ve got nothing to solo over. Soloing is important, but for me, rhythm is always first and foremost.
Shane C. asks… When you write a song, does the music come first, or is it the lyrics? Or a little of both?
Ninety five percent of the time it’s the music first. It’s about the riffs and the body of the sound that generally produces a vocal melody, and lyrics come last. You get the riffs first, you put the riffs together and you get the body of a song, which inspires a melody, and you sing nonsense lyrics to get the melodies right, and when you’ve got a good melody, then you decide what you want to write about. There are exceptions, like when you get a melody line and a lyrical phrase first, but usually it’s the music first and then the lyrics.
Quentin N. asks… After almost 25 years through AIC and solo projects, what do you do to stay original, innovative and keep your signature guitar style without being repetitive?
Half the battle is finding your own unique sound, or your music fingerprint, that people will recognize. But really, it’s just how you naturally sound, so I don’t have to think about holding on to that because I sound how I sound. That’s good, and that’s where you wanna be—you want to naturally sound like you. As for the variety of the writing material in the different areas of the band, I think it’s pretty apparent by all the records that we’ve done. I’ve been in a really great band that’s been able to move in a lot of variant voicings and incorporate a lot of elements from different kinds of music in making our own, from acoustic to the heavy stuff, and everything in between.
But you have to trust in the fact that you’re going to sound how you sound, and the way you keep fresh and moving forward is sort of forgetting about what you did the in past. But I don’t really need to think about that, and I’ve been really fortunate in that aspect, not only with myself but with my band. I trust that we’re going to be okay, and that we’re doing something good. In my opinion, we haven’t done anything crappy yet, which is cool—it’s the best thing I could ask for. Also, we’ve had a long career, we’ve made a lot of records, and every record is different from every other one before it. Keeping fresh just means making another record and writing new songs. Keeping your signature sound? That’s just who you are.
Justin V. asks… Where do you draw inspiration for the quality of your writing? The imagery is amazingly fantastic, and your work always inspires me to pick up a guitar and a pen.
When I first started playing, I was inspired by everybody that I ever enjoyed listening to, and some of them weren’t even guitar players. But you know, you start off emulating your heroes, for me it was learning AC/DC songs, UFO, Black Sabbath, Van Halen—those were a small portion of many bands that influenced me to start—but also had a lot of friends who played in cover bands, and I learned early on that it was not the move I wanted to be making. I wanted to be writing my own stuff, like all those great players and bands were. So not only was I inspired to learn how to play guitar, but I was also inspired to learn how to write songs like those bands were writing for themselves. I knew that was the ticket, rather than playing everybody else’s stuff three sets a night in a top 40 cover band.
But ultimately, you find inspiration where ever you find it. It’s not some big artsy-fartsy, flowery, ethereal thing for me, it’s more of a gut-level thing, and it happens when it happens. I’ve been able to train myself over the years to know at least initially if an idea is good enough to follow, and also to learn to record any idea—because my perspective on it may change over time—and then do what it takes to make that idea happen. You need to sit there with your guitar and hit record and keep doing it and doing it until it happens.
If you want to read all the answers:
http://www.jimdunlop.com/blog/dunlop-on-the-record-alice-in-chains-jerry-cantrell/
ALICE IN CHAINS – “No estamos intentando recapturar Dirt… ¡Ya hemos hecho esa jodida grabación!”
ALICE IN CHAINS – “It’s Not Like We’re Trying To Recapture Dirt … We Already Made That Fucking Record!”
Sacado de // From: http://www.bravewords.com
«Nosotros realmente no nos proponemos una misión demasiado grande», comienza el baterista Sean Kinney. «Tratamos de escribir unas cuantas canciones, canciones que nos gustan. De la misma manera en cada disco, escribimos canciones que nos gustan, probablemente guiadas por lo que somos como personas, por nuestra situación en la vida, es lo que es cada persona. Tratar de escribir canciones, tocar algunas canciones, y simplemente decidir cuáles son las que creemos que son los mejores en ese momento, y grabar y ponerlas en una secuencia en la que creamos que sea la mejor. En ese sentido somos algo egoístas, hacemos lo que queremos. Ya sabes, no hay pensamientos en nadie. Sólo hacemos lo que hacemos y lo enseñamos a los demás. Nunca te das cuenta hasta que llegua el momento. Oh, está bien, vamos a hablar de ello, ya que la gente empieza escucharlo. Uno siempre quiere que la gente investigue sobre lo que uno hace, pero es un poco como … no somos una banda diseñada para las masas, y lo hemos aprendido hace mucho tiempo. Así que tratamos de vivir de acuerdo con nuestros estándares y lo que nos fijamos nosotros mismos, y si no lo hubiésemos hecho, creo que no estaríamos hablando ahora. Nunca estamos en una posición donde tenemos que hacer un disco sí o sí, donde la compañía de discos tiene el control y recoge los singles. Nunca hemos estado en ese grupo. Nosotros siempre hemos escogido nuestros singles, todo el arte de los discos, lo hacemos todo, y luego trabajamos con el sello discográfico por su bien y su infraestructura, y conseguimos que la gente se interese por ello y quien quiera que lo coja. Así es como funciona. Quiero decir, no tenemos a ningún tío escogiendo los singles individuales .
—
«Pero no es algo que estemos intentando:» No tenemos que recapturar el Dirt! «Sabes, yo ya hice ese jodido disco. Y en lo que a mí respecta, me encantan todos los registros que hemos hecho, pero ya viví esa mierda. No quiero volver a vivir eso. No todos nosotros sobrevivimos. Hicimos eso hace mucho tiempo, y aquí es donde nos encontramos ahora, y esto es como sonamos ahora, y esto es lo que nos interesa. Es realmente mucho más fácil de lo que la gente probablemente piensa. Hacemos exáctamente lo mismo, más o menos, lo que siempre hemos hecho, creemos en lo mismo, hacemos las cosas de la misma manera, el cómo controlar las cosas y el cómo somos.
Si queréis leer la entrevista al completo (en inglés) pasaros por:
http://www.bravewords.com/news/204863
IN ENGLISH
“We don’t really have too big of a mission,” begins drummer Sean Kinney. “We try to write a bunch of songs, songs we like. The same way on every record, we write songs that we like, probably guided unintentionally by just where we are in life, and what people are kind of gravitating to or thinking about. Try to write songs, play some songs, and just decide which ones we all think are the best at the time, and record them and put them in a sequence that flows the way we want it to. Same goddamn selfish reasons we always do. You know, there’s very little… there’s no thought of anyone else. We just do what we do and just put it out, and you go through the hoops. You never realize it until you get to now. Oh, okay, talk about it, people start hearing it. You always want people to dig what you’re doing, but we’re kind of… we’re not a band designed for the masses, and we’ve learned that long ago. So we try live up to our standards of our bar that we set for ourselves, and if we don’t think we have it, I don’t think we’d be talking right now. We’re never in a position where we have to make a record on some timeline, where the record company has control and picks the singles. We’ve never been that group. We’ve always picked our singles, all the artwork we do, we do everything, and then work with the record label for their sake, and their infrastructure, and get it to people—if anybody wants it, then maybe they can get a hold of it. That’s how it works. I mean, we don’t have an A&R guy picking singles. Who’s in rehearsals hearing out records. They hear them when we let them hear them. Not like they have a right to hear them.”
—
“But it’s not like we’re trying to, ‘We need to recapture Dirt!’ You know, I already made that fucking record. And as far as I’m concerned, I love all the records we’ve done, but we lived that shit. I don’t want to relive it. Not all of us survived it. We did that a long time ago, and this is where we are now, and this is what we sound like, and this is what we are interested in. It’s really a lot easier than people probably think. We operate exactly the same, pretty much, how we always did, the same belief system, the same way of going about stuff, the same way, how we control things and how we’re presented.”
If you want to read the full interview:
http://www.bravewords.com/news/204863
Duff McKagan entrevista a Alice in Chains sobre The Devil Put Dinosaurs (Inglés)
Duff McKagan interviews Alice in Chains about The Devil Put Dinosaurs here
Sean Kinney (Alice In Chains): “Parece que ahora está bien ir a un concierto donde hacen playback” (Nueva entrevista)
Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell + Sean Kinney Talk Festivals, ‘AIC 23′ Mockumentary + Rock Hall
Sacado de // From –> http://portalternativo.com y http://loudwire.com
Hablando con Loudwire, el batería de Alice In Chains, Sean Kinney, se ha referido al estado de la música en estos tiempos que vivimos y como ello afecta a las nuevas bandas.
Es algo más difícil estos días por como se ha devaluado así que quizá la gente no está tan dedicada porque no fue a la tienda a por ello. Hay millones de excusas pero ha perdido ese encanto y la mística y es más y más difícil como banda nueva.
Los próximos Led Zeppelin están tocando en algún sitio y nunca lograrán (el éxito) porque no hay infraestructura para ello. Nunca tendrán la oportunidad. La gente probablemente nunca los soportará lo suficiente como para permitir que crezca y se convierta en la banda que debería ser y eso es triste, y todos vamos a pagar el precio de eso y probablemente será demasiado tarde antes de que la gente se dé cuenta.
Eso es triste porque me encanta la música, a ti te encanta la música, a todos os encanta pero damos cosas por sentadas. Está en el ascensor. Está en todos lados. Y cuando hacemos eso nos estamos disparando en la cabeza por no apoyar lo que amas. Eso me entristece. Yo quiero oír esa nueva banda.
Además, esas bandas de rock, el rock no tiene el lugar que tuvo en las listas. (El sitio) es para toda esa gente del playback karaoke pero se ha hecho normal. Uno puede ver como ha cambiado. Era un delito capital, no podías ir a un concierto y que sonara una cinta habiendo pagado la gente 100 dólares para verte ahí haciendo el falso, eso era un crimen. Ahora parece que eso está bien. Vale, así son las cosas.
Eso es terrible, sabes. Y eso deja a tipos como nosotros que si tocamos todo de verdad en gran desventaja (risas) Nosotros tocamos y tal pero luego tienes a esa otra gente que sale, le da al play y es como, “Baila monito” y cantan y hacen ver como que (tocan).
Es chocante que sea aceptado porque pone a bandas como nosotros y Foo Fighters y la gente en contra pero eso es otra cosa que me da fuerza y me hace seguir adelante. Llevaremos la antorcha pero lo triste es que cuando todas esas grandes bandas para las que ahorrabas e ibas a fumar hierba e ibas a ver, esos conciertos de grandes recintos desaparecerán. Nadie puede con esos recintos porque están devaluando la música.
Ahora la única manera de juntar a esos fans es hacer un festival, es como el CostCo del rock y eso es triste. Los días de una banda que realmente te gusta y que se acompañe por un par de bandas guays que te pueden gustar, esos que moldearon nuestras vidas van a desaparecer.
Recuerdo esperar en conciertos y esperas ver un destello de la banda cuando entra el concierto y parece que esos días pasan a la historia y jode un poco.
IN ENGLISH
Alice in Chains are back with the new album, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs’ here and co-vocalist and guitarist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney recently took the time to speak with Loudwire.
In the first part of our interview, we went in-depth on the new album and its current singles. In the second portion of our conversation with Cantrell and Kinney, they talk about the humorous ‘AIC 23‘ mockumentary they shot to promote the album and their heavy presence on the festival circuit this spring and summer. In addition, Cantrell speaks specifically about being part of Heart‘s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction festivities and his annual fantasy football league. The interview can be read below:
The ‘AIC 23′ mockumentary was pretty awesome. How much fun did you have shooting that and who had the best time with their character?
Sean Kinney: [laughs] It’s probably one of the greatest marketing tools of all-time. And by tools, I just mean it’s us making tools of ourselves. But that was fun.
Jerry Cantrell: I think we all had a great time with our characters. It was a great job. That came out of about five or six conference calls of, ‘What the f— do we do [to promote the new record]?’ and we all just started riffing, flushed s— out , made up our characters and a loose idea of what we wanted to do. We did that same thing with the NONA tapes. That’s all ad-lib s—. You get a great idea and just f—ing go.
Same thing with this. We zoned in our characters and there was a couple of changes early on, and we zoned in on what we should do. We got Peter involved and he’s a very creative guy and also Earl, my buddy Earl Brown, who’s a great character actor. He played a great part in wrangling us all together too. So it was a pretty fun thing to do. And the f—ing makeup guy, wow!
SK: Trying to pull that off in real time without people who cared, you couldn’t afford to do these things. These aren’t like amateur guys coming around.
JC: Yeah, nobody made money on that. It was just kind of a labor of love and we got some cool and talented people to help us make it. [I remember] those EPKs became a marketing tool back in the ’90s and we were early in on that and I remember the record company saying, ‘It’s an electronic press kit. Go talk about yourself.’ And we’re like, ‘I’m not gonna do that.’ So we got the money and told them we were gonna do that, and then told them, ‘Oh it’s heavy, it’s a departure,’ all this stuff that everybody says, and we went and took that made that ridiculous thing and gave it to them. They were f—ing pissed. They were livid, telling us we wasted money and what the hell did we do and we were like, ‘This is it!’ And it turned into like a little cult thing and then they rallied around it and were like, ‘We should sell this.’ Noooo. We were totally against it.
It’s just one of those things, we always get the, ‘You’re music’s so dark and you’re so depressed,’ but we’re just not. It’s an outlet and it’s a mirror of reality life stuff, but in general we’re pretty light guys for the most part.
JC: You’ve gotta have a pretty strong sense of humor to go through life — period. And the stronger one you have, the better the life is. We like to have fun and the last time we got made up in Kiss makeup and went and did our laundry and s—. That was kind of a cool way to talk about some s— that was really hard to talk about and take the piss out of ourselves at the same time. You’ve gotta have a sense of humor, not only about the world, but about yourself, you know.
Getting out on the road this spring, ‘Phantom Limb’ sounds like that’s gonna be a great track live from the album.
JC: Yeah we’ve been running that.
What songs off the new record are you most excited to get out there for audiences?
JC: Well ‘Hollow’ and ‘Stone’ we’ve been running out there and ‘Phantom’ leaked, so we’ve been playing that too. You know there’s an element that really sucks, but because you have so little control over your s— anymore, you can’t even control the time your s— comes out. People rip it off and you lose all your impact. It’s hard, it’s really hard. And one of the lamer things is back in the old days, you could work new material live. And it would stay that way and it would be special and maybe someone would record it and it would get passed around in some basements, but now when you pass things around it goes worldwide and it’s usually a s—ty version of it, crappy little cellphone version of it, so unfortunately our hands are kind of tied.
We’d like to do more of it, but because things are not special anymore and things get out and there’s crappy versions of it, you’ve gotta hold onto as much as you can. So we probably won’t play a majority of that record until it gets leaked or is in people’s hands so they have the proper version of it to base the thing off of.
SK: Yeah, we’d like to play it all right now. I remember touring on ‘Facelift’ and we played most of ‘Dirt.’ We were writing ‘Dirt’ on the road and working it out, and it would leak out a little bit, but it wasn’t like it is today. It was like the tens of millions of people today just judging it and do what they do and then just disposing of it. So we have to wait it out.
JC: It changes how you operate and it kind of sucks.
I know there were festivals back in the day, but the sheer amount now is pretty astounding and I just wanted to get your reaction to not only playing a majority of the top rock festivals this year, but also being a headliner for them, as well.
SK: It’s a good way to do it. You have to realize, it’s an economy issue. The economy’s tough and people just don’t have the money to go to shows once or twice and month and see the bands. And the other thing is because of people taking your albums, you’ve got more bands touring as it’s the only way they can try to make a living. So there’s the same amount of venues to play, but more people trying to squeeze in there. So, for fan-wise, festivals are a great idea. It’s like the Costco of rock! [laughs] I’m not married and I don’t have kids, but I could save a lot of money if I bought five f—ing gallons of mayonnaise right now. I don’t eat the s—, but what a deal. So why turn down this deal?
But I think it’s a cool thing and Europe’s been doing that forever and that’s kind of how their model works and they have a long heritage of doing it. They do it well and they do it for days on end, where I don’t know if America is responsible enough to let people live in tents for three days without doing some ridiculous s—.
JC: Somehow they keep it together pretty well.
I just think it’s awesome the respect shown that you guys are top billed at every one of these events.
JC: Yeah, it’s nice, you know. It doesn’t suck and it’s not lost on us. We’re very proud of what we do and we know we’re lucky to do it and to have the opportunity to pretty much do it the way we want to do it and be able to continue the story.
The whole thing about doing this that I never forgot or Sean or the guys is that this is important to us. It’s important for us personally to do it because we were inspired by other guys who did this, so maybe by doing that you’re inspiring some other people to do it as well. While that’s not one of the main thoughts in the forefront, that is a by-product. It’s a cool and natural thing. As long as it feels good and we continue to make good music, we’ll continue to do it.
SK: People are up against it and it’s a little harder these days because of how it’s been devalued, so maybe people aren’t as personally invested in it because they didn’t go to the store to get it. There’s a million excuses why, but it’s kind of lost that luster and the mystique and it’s tougher and tougher as a new band. The next Led Zeppelin is playing somewhere and they’ll likely never make it because there’s no infrastructure for it. They’ll never get a chance. People will probably never support them long enough to let them grow into the band that could be, and that’s a sad thing, and we’re all going to pay the price for that and it’ll probably be too late before people realize it. That’s a sad thing because I love music, you love music, we all do, but we all take it for granted. It’s in the elevator. It’s everywhere. And when we do that we’re all just shooting ourselves in the head by not supporting the thing that you love. That really kind of saddens me. I want to hear that new band.
On top of that, these rock bands, rock doesn’t hold the place it did on the charts. It’s these lip-synching karaoke people, but it’s become okay. You can see how it’s changed. It used to be a cardinal foul, you couldn’t go to a concert and have a tape on and people pay $100 to sit there and watch you fake your s—, that was a crime. It’s totally fine now, apparently. Okay, that’s the way it is. That’s horrible, you know. And it makes guys like us who really play everything, we’re at a huge disadvantage [laughs]. We actually play and stuff and you have these other people come out, hit the play button, and like, ‘Dance monkey,’ and they sing and they act like it.
JC: It sounded like the record. That’s because it was the record. [laugh]
SK: It’s shocking that it’s acceptable because it puts bands like us and the Foo Fighters and people against it, but that’s another thing that kind of fuels me and keeps it going. We’ll hold the torch, but the sad thing is when Metallica and all these big bands put on these concerts that you would save up for and smoke weed and go see, those arena shows are going away. Nobody can hold those rooms, because they devalue the music. Now the only way you can get those fans together is to have a festival, have the Costco rock, and that’s sad. The days of a band you really like and they have a couple of cool bands they’re going to turn you onto, those shaped our lives and it’s going away. I remember waiting at shows and you hope to catch a glimpse of the band as they’re going into a show and it seems like those days are going away and it kind of sucks.
And I wanted to ask before we finish, I know you have an extensive history with Heart. Can you talk about what it meant to have a chance to play at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their induction?
JC: I’m just really happy for them. It’s about f—ing time. What a great band, an important band for so many reasons. First off, the straight-up musicianship-wise, the legacy of songwriting, and two women holding their own against any f—ing dudes in rock and roll and blowing them off the f—ing stage. They’re beautiful and they’re just great people and I’m just very happy to see that. I’m honored to even be asked to be a part of that.
And I’m surprised they weren’t in the first time around, so it’s definitely due.
SK: I don’t really know how it works, who picks it or what it means, but when you see people like Deep Purple, Rush, Kiss, you figured they should have already been in there. But it’s like Madonna is. What? I don’t know how it makes sense and I’m pretty sure most of these musician think the same way we probably do.
We didn’t get into this to win trinkets and awards. It’s not even in our mind. You received the Dalai Lama statue for the best whatever.
JC: But at the same time it is nice to be acknowledged that you did something.
SK: But that’s not really the focus. How do you win one of these? Well you have to write the right song. But if anyone deserves it, they do. And this year is really cool cause [Heart] and Rush got in. So that’s really cool.
Also, just wanted to throw this in, but love what you do with the fantasy football league each year.
JC: Oh thanks. Yeah it’s something that me and Mike [Inez] like to do and a lot of our friends help out with that. We come up with about 10-12 grand every year with the ten of us auctioning off some stuff. It’s fun. Mike got me into it and I didn’t really give a f— about it, but I am a huge football fan and Mike and I are the only guys in the band with any interest in sports at all and I’m pretty myopic. I’m really just interested in football, since we lost our basketball team to Oklahoma … but it’s something that was started doing with Mike and it turned into something we could do and actually have fun with and give to some charities, so that’s it.
Setlist del concierto de Alice In Chains en el Carolina Rebellion
Setlist of the show of Alice In Chains at Carolina Rebellion
Setlist:
Them Bones
Dam That River
We Die Young
Hollow
Check My Brain
Again
Down in a Hole
Got Me Wrong
Stone
No Excuses
Rooster
Man in the Box
Would?