"I was going through a tough time, everyone was, but that's what made the album stronger and more intense, I look back on that period of time as the longest four years of sex, drugs and alcohol we all went through," Cantrell said in a 2007 interview with The Seattle Times. Cantrell was also going through severe clinical depression from the deaths of his mother and his friend, Andrew Wood, and used Xanax, an anxiety medication prescribed by his doctor to ease his depression as well as his heavy drinking on tour. Staley was not the only one who went through heavy drug use Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr were also struggling with alcohol addiction. I'm not getting paid to be Layne's friend." And what's my job as a producer? To produce a record. Jerden said, "Apparently he got all mad at me. Jerden later said that he was told Staley felt animosity toward him dating back to the Dirt sessions due to Jerden repeatedly recommending to Staley that he get sober at the time. Cantrell had also agreed with Kinney's report, saying that Staley, Jerden and the rest of the band would smoke marijuana in the studio room, even saying that Staley would shoot heroin in front of everyone. Drummer Sean Kinney claimed in a 2005 interview that Staley had told Kinney that he was extremely high on heroin and marijuana during the recordings of "Down in a Hole" and "Angry Chair" as well as taking oxycodone for back pain. When recording the album, Staley had previously checked out of rehab in Portland, Oregon and quickly went back to using heroin. Dirt was recorded at Eldorado Recording Studio in Burbank, California, London Bridge Studio in Seattle, and One on One Studios in Los Angeles from March to May 1992. For the songs "Them Bones", "Rain When I Die", "Down in a Hole", "Dirt", and "Would?", Cantrell brought in his black Gibson Les Paul and an amplifier he had bought when he was seventeen which had much heavier distortion than any amplifier he had used in the past. He admired vocalist Layne Staley's lyrics and voice, and lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell's guitar riffs. Producer Dave Jerden, who had previously worked with the band on their debut, Facelift, wanted to work with them again. Each time i play Dirt, those memories kinda flood back, which was what prompted me to post this thread.Īnyone else got some A.I.The recording of Dirt began in the spring of 1992. I was really sad to herar of Layne's passing years later, but totally unsurprised. Layne kept bringing me shots, it was a hellavu night for an 19 year old. So, Layne sat at my right, Jerry at my left, Rocky George was trying to hit on a server, and Robert Trujillo (now in Metallica) was asking me koala related questions. It was really awful to hear, because, I was just a kid out of school, and hanging with a couple of guys who I thought just rocked! I remember his manager talking on the phone with someone, and overheard him saying, we gotta get back home, it will be a miracle if Layne arrives back alive, I think he's going home in a bodybag. Layne (R.I.P) was almost yellow looking, he looked really jaundiced, clearly from a serious sserious smack issue at the time. Just before heading in, Layne came bounding up to me, and says dude! I haven't seen you since Wyoming! (I had never been to Wyoming btw) He wraps his arms around me and starts dragging me in Springfields with him, Jerry Cantrell was in tow as well. A tour came through around October that year, it was A.I.C, Suicidal Tendencies, and a then popular Aussie band called The Poor.Īnyway, the gig was a killer, and afterwards a friend and I headed out to King's Cross (the red light district of Sydney) and headed to 'Springfields' (a popular pad back in the 90's for overseas bands to hit when they came through town) In 1993, I was living in Sydney Australia, studying music. Here is a story you may be interested in hearing. Ok, seems there are some great fans here too, very cool.