‘I Was Just Really F—ed Up Back Then': The Album Jerry Cantrell Can’t Revisit Yet
Jerry Cantrell revealed that Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and Faith No More’s Mike Bordin have been asking him to arrange a tour around Degradation Trip, his 2002 solo album on which they both played. He also revealed he had an uncomfortable relationship with the work.
“I was just really fucked up back then to be honest with you, and you can totally hear it on that record,” the Alice in Chains guitarist told Billboard in a new interview. “It was done right before I got sober, and it was also done right when I was dealing with the death of my band, and then the unhappy coincidence of Layne [Staley] passing away right after I released that record. So it was not a good time in my life, and it totally comes across on that record.”
However, he added: “It does strike a chord with a lot of people. It’s a record I don't listen to a lot anymore because of all those things I mentioned. And I sobered up a year after Layne passed. But it's a record that's important to me, and I'll see Robert and Mike every once in a while and they’re like, ‘We should do some fucking shows, man. Some Degradation Trip shows.’ I tell him we'll do it someday.”
Alice in Chains just released new album Rainier Fog, which Cantrell said marked a continuation of the band’s move towards having two equal-level vocalists alongside William DuVall. “We started as and continue to evolve more into a two-singer band,” he explained. “Layne was a classic frontman in his own right, but he gave me the confidence to start singing more myself. … The band has a certain sound, so when we moved on we knew we weren't going to change much.” He added of his working relationship with DuVall: “it's a pilot/co-pilot situation, and either one of us could be in either seat at any time.”
Cantrell released the solo single "Setting Sun" last month. Alice in Chains are on tour until Nov. 11.