The aspiring rock star’s indispensable guide to surviving a life in music, with advice from those who know best.



This issue, Alice In Chains’ lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell lets rip with some nuggets of his knowledge and the lessons he’s learnt throughout the years.



BEING LABELLED ‘GRUNGE’



The frustrating part is getting tagged with a word. It’s just kind of a drag. That’s what the movement was called - it wasn’t called that by any of us! We were just playing rock and roll, man. Let’s put it this way, when we started out we were classified as metal, then we were alternative, then we were alternative metal, and then the grunge word hit and we were grunge, then in the last few years since we’ve been playing again I’ve seen us tagged as hard rock, metal, alternative metal, and now I just went to the HMV in London and we’re back in the metal section! So, I don’t know; you tell me!



CHERISH CREATIVE FREEDOM



The key thing there is to do what you feel is right. We were lucky enough to be able to have some success to be able to do some of the things that we felt were right, and then they worked too, so there wasn’t a lot to say to us, and that felt pretty good as a young man - and as a young band, to be able to have that kind of freedom - and I’m really glad that we were able to do that.



MUSIC IS A HEALER



Music has always been something to rely on, through good or bad. It’s always been something that you can turn to. Music has always been there for me, and continues to be, and I appreciate that ability to create - create out of situations that maybe aren’t so good, you know? It doesn’t necessarily always have to be that way, but I guess there’s enough love songs out there - and they’re all good, I dig that, it’s a good thing - but I’ve always kinda dug writing about things that are a little darker, I guess!



THE ROAD



Like most things in life, touring a double-edged sword. The good things are that you get to travel around and you get to see face-to-face people that your music has touched and have made a connection with it and that have supported you through thick and thin and are people that are dedicated to it. You get to go all over the world and play for these people and you get to earn a living doing that - not having a straight gig is pretty fuckin’ cool! Although it is very hard work and it’s very demanding and the longer that you do it you realise that and it takes a lot of work to keep your body together - travelling around, getting sick, eating bad, not much sleep... But, you know, there are plenty of tougher jobs, so I am very grateful to be able to do this. It’s just part of the thing - everything has got a price, and it’s a price that I’m continually willing to pay.



DRUGS



That kinda stuff is just shit that every kid goes through - I don’t think it’s exclusive to musicians per se, I think those things are around for everybody. Part of being a young person becoming an adult, you mess around with shit and it’s probably pretty innocent and fun for a while, and it was for us. But, you know, it’s just like your mom and dad told you: it’s not good for you! But you do your thing and whatever, and then unfortunately it’s usually got you before you even realise it. We’ve experienced the worst with that, especially losing our friend Layne [original AIC lead singer Layne Staley died of an overdose in 2002]. Maybe you’ll wise up; maybe you’ll learn that that’s not the way to go, or you just realise that maybe you’ve got a lot of life left to live and what’s more important. It’s a personal choice, I guess.



BE REAL



I think we all keep each other grounded - and we always have, even when we weren’t very grounded! Part of that decision to stop touring was to try to deal with some of that stuff, and unfortunately it didn’t work out too well. Try not to take yourself too seriously, try to have a laugh about it, but also try to take the work and the meaning behind what you do seriously. But you gotta have a laugh at yourself and the situation. You’ve seen Spinal Tap? That shit happens to you on a daily basis, so there’s plenty of shit to laugh at.



IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY



I guess the definition of success is doing what makes you happy against all odds. If you’re lucky enough to be able to connect with a lot of other people, connect with an audience, to have all of those things line up and take place, that’s pretty much the thing for me. But, before the audience came and before the album sales and before all of that shit, I just cared about the music that we made. And on top of that, we’ve had success. Doing what you believe in and doing what makes you happy first, that’s the definition.





