IAmA Alice In Chains, an American rock band formed in Seattle, WA. New album out today get it on iTunes smarturl.it/BuyAIC AMA.

What sort of advice can you give to a new band?

Just quit now. Save yourself before it's too late.

If you are dedicated enough to do it there's nothing that's going to stop you. Remember it's your thing and make yourself happy - that's your only shot to do what you want to do. You have the freedom to do that. There's many people that will try to turn you into something else. Do your own thing and make something unique and different. Feel free to let yourself be influenced by a wide variety of things - the more that you incorporate the more influences that don't even have to musical. You can make music influenced by any form of art.

One of our fears is there's a kid as good as good as Cobain that isn't in music. The fact that we are here means you can do it - you just have to be do it. No 1/2 measures. Open wide and be prepared to eat alot of shit.

We would love to hear a black metal version of Saturday Night fever. Send it to us!

Jerry Cantrell, you are a badass. Have you ever had the opportunity to colab with Tom Morello? He's the only person on the planet that can hold a fucking wee flame to your shred skills.

Tom is great. We met those guys at Lollapalooza and have been friends ever since. I jammed at prision with Tom and we played some nightwatchment gigs as well. Playing at Sing Sing with Tom was pretty great. He's a good egg and a good guitar player.

Thanks for doing this.

William – what's the hardest song to sing live?

Jerry – how about the hardest song for you to sing live?

William: Let's see. Man in the Box, Last of My Kind, Love Hate Love and Phanthom Limb.

Jerry: There's alot of stuff that what doing with your hands that is different than what you are singing. Again and check my brain - both are kind of drone.

Hey everyone. Alice In Chains are all here live from Seattle to answer your questions. Their new album is out now smarturl.it/BuyAIC

AMA!

What were the members of AIC listening to during the creation and recording of The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here?

Thanks for doing this. Hope to see Alice in Chains make their way across the Atlantic Ocean to Russia one of these days.

We were listening to ourselves and the new record! When you're making a record your in lock down mode - the focus is all on that process. It's pretty exhausting - all you want to do after recording is get something to eat, get some sleep and go back into the studio.

You guys sound like you downtune your guitars alot. What do you tune it to?

We don't tune them! We have techs for that!

William: The band normally tunes 1/2 step down from concert pitch. Our standard tuning is that and we have another tuning that drops the low string down 1/2 step. Tuned to d sharp or c sharp.

Thanks for the AMA guys! What band or artist would you most like to collaborate with that you haven't had the chance to work with yet?

Kimbra would be great to work with and any remaining beatle.

I would like to do alot of featuring things - Jerry

Your new album is called "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here." What was it that inspired you guys to call it that?

Also, just wanted to say I've been a fan of you guys since I was little, and you kicked ass in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. Keep doing what you're doing!

The darrel put dynomite was taken. It's an interesting song and kind of a WTF title about a WTF subject. We tossed around some ideas and discussed the fact that the title would ignite some discussion and thought that was a good thing.

Is it harder or easier to be around each other as you guys spend more time on the road?

Sean: Surprisingly it's not hard at all. I miss it. Week 5 we are all tired of ourselves. If I'm away from everyone for a couple weeks I miss it. Jerry: Not a whole lot of Mystery. William: It's all about routine, it's a perverse thing even if you are experiencing hardships like sensory overload you know feeling cramped being in close quarters. When a run ends you do miss it. You get into a routine that becomes your whole life. You miss each other. Even the things you hate about it like the bus rides you miss it. Jerry: At least you have a routine.

Sean: People can pull you out of your funk. You have to do it. William: It's the simplicity of it that is very powerful. Your only focused on one thing - the show and everything has to focus to do that. Life outside of that can get complicated. Mike: Some of the favorite moment are the inside jokes. There are no funnier Fuckers on this planet than these guys.

What are your favorite venues to play at?

The garden was awesome! It really matters about the audience and you. If you're both on together and lined up it really works. Doesn't matter if it's a club or a huge venue. It's really cool when that happens. Alot of the things that make things cool are fucked up. Like when we went to Brazil - it was a Monsoon and we were being rained on. Everytime sean hit a drum water would explode over his head. But it was one of the more memorable gigs. If everyone is on a shared experience it works really good. Some of the huge shows are some of our least favorite because we are so far from the audience.

William: There's a few venues that are consistent. The Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee - one of those places that shouldn't work but it does. It's always a great audience.

Will there ever be a Alice In Chains documentary?

If we have our way we'll get it done. We're in the process still of doing our thing. It's an odd place to exist being a public person and out in the public but we're pretty private. Out stuff is for us. Thats how we have always been. What's on the inside always stays on the inside. We're still writing our history. -Jerry

I've heard a benefit concert is being organized for OK. Did the DoubleJ ranch suffer any tornado damage and would AIC consider playing in a benefit concert?

We played prior a couple days after the tornado hit the city. It's heartbreaking. We are going to auction a guitar off for the relief fund. I have a family in that area - it wiped out my dad's home town and destroyed the school. The power of nature you know? On the positive side - seeing people come together to help out. We got back together to help raise money for the devistation of the Tsunami. It really motivated us to kick in and help out. That's a real positive way music can be positive to raise some awareness to give back. - Jerry

Jerry, I have always thought you write some of the best guitar solos. Do you spend a lot of time writing them, or do they come together later on in the studio?

I just try to make what's right for the song. None of us spend any extra time on stage doing solos. Whatever makes the song good. Solos should always be a brief vocal thing. Like a short musical part to make the song work. It's not for wankery. William: This band seems to compose solos which is why there is a tendency to do the solos live because they are a written part of the song like a lyric.

Any chance that you guys will play a small venue in Seattle anytime soon? I would love to see you guys at The Croc or The Comet.

The owner of the Croc is a cheap asshole. We'll be in Seattle at the Gorge, but not a small venue. We might go down to the Pike Place market and busk a little today by the pig in the market. -Jerry

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Jerry: It's a dunlap.

Jerry, where u get those super fashions new glasses?

There are just sunglasses man - Jerry.

Do you guys have any specific or odd demands when it comes to room and catering? (No brown M&Ms, that sorta thing.)

No we ask for very little. We like to be on the opposite side of the street from construction. Ever hotel we stayed at on tour one year had another building under construction across the street. Not alot of sleep on that tour - Jerry. Mike - I can't sleep unless I put a vacuum cleaner in my room. All Band: Housekeeping! Housekeeping!

A) What happened to ''the killer is me''? Any plan to release a new studio version of it? Because it's a great song.

B )Did you guys record 'Setting Down'' for the Tripod Session?

It's on the unplugged record. We might release a club remix but we don't know if the time is right. Daft Punk won't call us back.

How does The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here compare to Black Gives Way To Blue from your perspective? And what would you say is your favorite song from each of the two albums?

12 totally different songs and 300 gigs in between! The same production team and alot of work in the same building - but its the next record and it's pretty good! We all give it 4 thumbs up and a middle finger or two as well!

Are there any bands you'd like to tour with in the future? Will this be the last Alice in Chains album? You guys killed it at Rock on the Range also! I was in the front row, one of the best performances I've ever seen! Thank you for all this music and inspiration.

You never know. Take things as they come. one thing at a time.

If you could soundtrack any movie (past or present) what movie would it be?

William: As if you could do it better? It's usually one of the reasons I dig a Movie because it all works. Mullhalland drive is one of my favorites. Sean: David Lynch movies are creepy because he's not killing you with music.

Appocolypse now has a cool soundtrack too. Mike: We recorded that thing with Michael Kamen for Last Action Hero. Jerry wrecked his Dave Stewarts tennis court on that one. For us our one time trying to score something it was just a pleasure to sit in with Michael Kamen. Sean: We've been approached but it didn't pan out.

Jerry: I think that the melding of both artforms is pretty cool. We just had a song in Judd Appatow's film, those guys and Cameron Crowe are so plugged in as fans of music. It's a compliment to be part of that visual thing. When the soundtrack is great and the film is great it just makes it better and powerful.

Well now listen guyS Guys, let's be simple about thiS

1) Have you ever thought about playing Jerry’s solo stuff with the band? Or maybe Jerry could just go on a solo tour sometimes? Man those records are too good to be just left behind

2) What happened to “friends don’t let friends get haircuts”?

3) Would any of you marry me?

2 - Mikes Girlfriend put that on his base and the myth turned into a bigger deal.

What're you guys' favorite songs on the new album?

And the title track too! Mike: I like Choke. Sean: I like Stairway to Heaven. Jerry: I like Blood if you got it.

Jerry: All of them. Sean: We haven't played them enough yet to have a favorite. We like them all equally. William: It' all changes from time to time. I like Hollow, I like Phanthom Limb, I like Lab Monkey

Do you guys think there would be another huge musical and cultural explosion in the following years like in the 60's or 90's (which you were part of, of course)? If so, are there any bands you guys have an eye on?

Thanks!

Absolutely. We hope so. It' used to happen every 8-10 years. Kids are out there doing their thing. Those movements were so big they seemed to cross all platforms. Music doesn't hold the same place.

Thanks again and see you guys on the road!

Thanks so much. Sorry we couldn't answer all your questions Make sure to get our new album out today! smarturl.it/BuyAIC

How does it feel putting out new music that sounds new and fresh, and have it still sound like the Alice we know and love?

PS. It sounds awesome.

We're just continuing to be ourselves and make the best music we can for us. Just by getting together and making noise your going to sound how you do - your going to come up with new stuff. I don't think any of our records sound alike - the common thread is the band and how we do things. Sometimes we hire other people that were influenced by some of our other records.