Alice in Chains has a new album out Friday called Rainier Fog. The band got its start in Seattle back in the late 1980s and rose to fame as part of the grunge movement.
The group stopped recording about 12 years later when Layne Staley’s drug use became out of control. He was the lead singer at the time and died in 2002.
Three years later, the band re-grouped with a new co-lead singer, William DuVall. Rainier Fog is the group’s first album in five years, and parts of it were recorded in Seattle. It's been two decades since the band has been in the city to record.
Drummer Sean Kinney sat down with KNKX Morning Edition producer Ariel Van Cleave to talk about his comfort level with his “rock star” role and how it felt being back in a Seattle studio with the band.
Interview highlights
'Seattle has the best vibe': "Everybody was a little more relaxed, and I think it kind of helped in some ways. Last time we were in that studio was the last time all the members were in the studio and made a record and Layne was still here."
How to be a rock star: "I wish I could get a little drunk on my 'awesome sauce,' you know? Just take a little pull on it when people say, 'You're awesome. I can't believe I'm meeting you.' But I don't know. I always just feel like kind of a jerk. It doesn't fill me up. It makes me wanna feel like I wanna apologize. I don't know why. It doesn't fuel me. It fuels some people and I'm slightly envious of that and I'm humbled by it."
The changing landscape of Seattle venues: "There's always live music, but it's not the same thing. There's other things to do. You can watch it online. You can do all these things, so people aren't going out as much, I don't think. I have a hand at the Crocodile. We tried to keep that going because those size places are where 99.9 percent of the musical acts on the planet survive. That's where music's really happening. That's where you saw somebody before they were huge. That's where you saw somebody coming up. That's where you saw somebody that is popular. There's not a lot of people that can fill the 'enormo dome.'"
The band is also hosting a pop-up exhibit at The Crocodile on Aug. 23 and 24.
