History
Vocalist Layne Staley, guitarist Nick Pollock, bassist Johnny Bacolas, and drummer James Bergstrom began performing in what would become the last lineup of Sleze in 1986 when founding member Bacolas rejoined after a brief stint in another band called Ascendant and took up the bass slot for the first time; originally he played guitar. After his return, Bacolas says the band began to discuss changing their name to Alice in Chains due to a conversation he had with someone named Russ Klatt, who sang in a band called Slaughterhouse Five:
| “ | (W)e were talking about different concepts for backstage passes. It would say, like, 'Sleze: The Welcome to Wonderland Tour.' That ended up turning into a discussion - we were talking about changing the band name. And we were saying, 'Alice in Wonderland? How about this, how about that? Maybe...Alice in Chains? We could put her in bondage stuff!' I liked the ring 'Alice in Chains' - I remember I came back to the next band rehearsal and I told the guys. The issue was the reference to bondage, which our parents would not go for. Layne's mom was very hardcore Christian. So we ended up changing it to Alice 'N Chains, which made it more like 'Alice and Chains. | ” |
However, Staley's mother Nancy McCallum has said she still did not approve of this at first:
| “ | I had a sense of humor about the name Sleze. But when he came home and said they were changing the name to Alice 'N Chains, I was not happy. I said, 'Honey, that is female bondage. You don't want to choose a name like that - it's going to push your female audience away. I really feel strong about this.' He was adamant and I was adamant. For the first time in my life, I didn't have much of a conversation with him for about two weeks, because I was concerned, and also offended. How could my child possibly choose a name like 'Alice N' Chains? | ” |
According to Staley, the reason they chose this name because they "dressed in drag and played speed metal". The band performed around the Seattle area playing Slayer and Armored Saint covers.
Read more about this topic: Alice N' Chains
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