In a recent interview with WDHA’s Reconnect With Rockers, William Duvall talked about his solo career and experience in Alice In Chains as the lead vocalist. The musician described the first stages of his attendance in the band as a challenging process.
Duvall joined Alice In Chains to replace the former vocalist Layne Staley after his death in 2006 and has been with the band ever since. In the interview, he expressed his pride in being a part of the band but added that the first time with the band was a stressful experience.
To articulate his current feelings about being the vocalist of the band, he said:
“In some ways, it feels like seven minutes, and in other ways, it feels like 37 years. It’s really interesting — time, your perceptions of time. But, yeah, there are certain memories that feel like three lifetimes ago, and then there are certain things that happened maybe 15 years ago, but it feels like yesterday. It’s really weird. But it’s great. And I’m really proud of everything that we’ve been able to accomplish in that time.”
The musician also recalled that his first performance with Alice was for VH1 Decades Rock Live and stated that he did not have time to get used to being at the front of the stage. He explained that he had to work on his performance while on stage and focus on giving a show he wanted to see if he was in the audience.
Duvall recounted the time as follows:
“There wasn’t any time to come into it gradually. It really was sort of trial by fire in many ways because we started when Alice reconstituted the group, and we were going out, doing our thing. At first, it was – The very first thing we did was on television and in an arena for the VH1 Decades Rock Live presentation for Heart. We’re being honored. That was our first appearance, so it’s like no pressure there, right? You’re in an arena in New Jersey, and it’s being televised. Then, from there, we started playing relatively smaller shows and clubs on the East and West Coast, but then, I think our sixth or seventh show was a festival in Portugal in front of thirty thousand people.
So, you really had to get it together on big stages, small stages… You just had to be able to work wherever you were. So, a lot of things that perhaps had been dormant in terms of influences that I’d observed over many decades of playing shows, attending shows just sort of had to be brought to bear right there in the moment on stage. I had to become who I would want to see if I was in the audience.“
Replacing Layne Staley in Alice In Chains started as a stressful and pressuring experience for William Duvall as he had to learn and get used to it while moving. And yet the musician caught the harmony with the band and is now happy to be a part of the group.
