- We're in an interesting place right now. You don't expect to get to old age when you're a young musician, especially with the whole music and reality of live fast, die young, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. I mean, I'm in it until I blow up, don't get me wrong. It's pretty cool to stick around. I'm grateful to have made it through, and not ashamed of owning everything I did, good and bad.
- There's this dark, sarcastic humor that's there if you know the band ['Alice in Chains']. A lot of people don't of course, and that's completely fine. It's kind of comforting to have this separate public persona from the harsh lyrical content we're known for. Definitely there's not a lot of fluff in what we do.
- [on Alice in Chains' first album since the death of Layne Staley - Billboad, October 21, 2009] We had our hearts broken by losing Layne and losing ourselves. It took a lot to get through this process and to even take the chance, and stand-up and risk.
- [The Quietus - June 28, 2013] Both my parents were country music fans. That's what my house was filled with, not rock & roll, and I'm a big fan of country as well. I guess the first kind of rock & roll-type artist that I got into was Elton John. That kinda made me have an epiphany, like 'I wanna do that, I wanna be a musician, I wanna be in a band'. And when [I decided] I really wanted to be a guitarist was probably after listening to AC/DC...
- [on the collaboration with Elton John in the song "Black Gives Way to Blue" - Entertainment Weekly, October 1, 2009] Elton is a very important musical influence to all of us [Alice in Chains] in varying degrees, and especially to me. My first album was Elton John's Greatest Hits. And actually, we were reminded by Layne's stepfather that Elton was his first concert, so it was all really appropriate. So I wrote [Elton] an e-mail and explained what his music meant to us, and that this song was for Layne. We sent him a demo, and he said it was beautiful and he'd love to play on it. In the studio he was really relaxed and gracious, and he's got a great sense of humor. We were just trying to be cool: 'Oh, yeah, no big deal.' But we were excited. [Drummer Sean Kinney] and I had to walk out a couple of times to smoke cigarettes, like, 'Holy s-, this is killer.' It's one of those highlights you can't expect in life, and you're lucky to get them once in a while. And that is one.
- [Inked Magazine, October 2009] I think of anything off this record, obviously "Black Gives Way to Blue" is the most difficult song, without a doubt. Even cutting that song, you can hear it in my voice. You can't really hide that. I don't even know how I got through the recording of that, but I just kept fucking slugging away. It was producer Nick Raskulinecz, our drummer Sean [Kinney], and me in a room, and all of us are crying our fucking eyes out. Sean's having fucking anxiety attacks and I'm fucking just holding onto the mic stands, [trying to] get through the fucking thing. And it was very difficult, even on the writing of that song. There was a huge chunk of grief there I'd been holding on to for a long time-I think we all have. And by writing that song, it kind of puked it out. So that probably triggered a big part of a mourning process that probably didn't happen right at the time Layne passed away. And I think a big part of that, for me, was that I dropped a record right when he died and I had to go on the road, so I probably was carrying a shitload of stuff around. And probably still will. Like I said, it's never gonna be right.
- ["Taking a Solo Trip" by Metal-is.com - May 14, 2001] My career goal, at the end of the day, has always been to be an old motherfucker, sitting on a fuckin' porch with my kids, and my wife bitching at me and whatever - and being able to put on any one of the records I've done and saying "That did not fuckin' suck - that kicked ass!" So far, I could say that about everything I've put out. Once I've done that, I've got nothing else to prove, other than to just go out there and play it live as best I can. I ain't done bad so far.
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