Hello,
In 1987 I was in a band called Dead Ranger. For about 6 months, we
practiced at a 24 hour rehersal space in Seattle called the Music Bank.
There were around 40 rooms, and Jerry was one of the "key guys." His
job was to carry around a huge ring of keys and let bands into their
rooms. Before the technology of electronic card swipes, like most
rehersal studios have now, you had to have someone on staff 24 hours a
day to let you into your room. I don't think I went to practice one
time where Jerry wasn't there. He was always letting us in our room,
helping people get their money back from broken vending machines, or
lost quarters in the video games. Jerry would do ****fts with other
musicians at the rehersal space, and this job enabled his band Diamond
Lie to have one of the larger rehersal spaces rent-free. Diamond Lie
consisted of Jerry, Sean, and Mike (Starr). Then after Jerry and Layne
met at a party, they started jamming togeather, and soon Diamond Lie
changed their name to Alice 'N Chains. I'll never forget one day we
were in between songs during practice, and hearing guys running up and
down the halls yelling, "Alice 'N Chains, Alice 'N Chains, Alice 'N
Chains" This was 1987, and we didn't know what they were talking about
:) Soon we started seeing Layne working around the rehersal space -
cleaning up, opening doors to rooms, etc. He even let me in my room
once. I always thought there was something very special about Layne and
Jerry. You couldn't put your finger on it, there was just something
there. Seeing them literally living at the Music Bank with such a
hunger to be rock stars, you just knew they were going to be famous
some day. Layne wasn't around as much as Jerry. He was always very
mysterious. I saw Mike wondering the halls a few times, and I don't
think I ever saw Sean.
So when Facelift came out, it seemed to take a really long time to
catch on. The We Die Young EP did well in the underground metal scene
in Seattle, and bands like Mudhoney and Soundgarden were content with
their college radio following, but it was obvious that Alice wanted to
break more into the mainstream rock scene. They had this huge rock
sound, but yet their vocal styles, time changes, and overall gritty
sound, made them different. And I know its hard to believe this today,
but back then the radio stations didn't really know what to do with
them. KISW was a station that really embraced Alice from the beginning.
If you look at almost every guitar Jerry plays that has stickers on it,
you'll see a yellow and red "Rock" sticker which is KISW's logo -
obviously a cool sticker, as well as a tribute to a station that always
believed in the band.
Alice would do regular radio spots promoting Man In The Box. Onc of
these promotions was Layne stuffed himself into an ACTUAL cardboard box
outside some record store to promote the single. What I don't remember
is why he was doing this. Was he going to stay in the box until a
certain number people bought the single? Was he himself handing out
singles from the box?
I was just hoping someone out there remembers this and could help me
out. Its obviously not im****tant. I just thought about it today while
listening to We Die Young, and thought I would post it to this group
and see what comes up :) It was fun to write this little bit of history
that happened in my life, and about a band that has had such a huge
impact on me in so many ways. I truly miss Layne like so many of us do,
and anyone who has positive memories like these is welcome to share.
Thanks,
Aaron
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