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“If you’ve ever been in the studio with me, you’d think I had Tourette’s”: Jerry Cantrell says he can’t stop cursing when recording guitar solos
“I’ve got the worst gutter mouth in the world.”
Image: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
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Studio sessions with Jerry Cantrell are apparently not for the “faint of heart”.
The Alice in Chains guitarist has a reputation for channelling his passion and intensity into every note, and it turns out that the creative process often comes with an equally colourful vocabulary.
Speaking in the final issue of Total Guitar, Cantrell discusses his new solo album I Want Blood — which features some of his “best songwriting and playing” — and the way he simply can’t stop cursing when recording solos in the studio.
“Making music is a really joyous thing in the end, and the process is enjoyable too, but it’s a battle, man,” Cantrell explains. “You don’t have to travel very far to bump into the edge of your limitations. But that’s also part of the process and also part of the challenge.”
“If you’ve ever been in the studio with me, you’d think I had Tourette’s,” he says. “I’ve got the worst gutter mouth in the world. When I get frustrated or blow something, it erupts. It’s not at anybody, it’s just the situation.”
“If you’re faint of heart and can’t stand some blue exclamations from time to time, it’s probably not very fuckin’ peaceful to be with me in a studio. But it’s actually pretty funny.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Cantrell opens up about his lack of love for digital amp modellers and the reason he’s “reluctant” to adopt digital gear in his live shows.
“A lot of compatriots think that the technology is getting better. I understand that moving heads and cabs around internationally comes at an astronomical price,” he says. “A lot of my peers have turned to Fractals as a smaller and inexpensive way to get close to their sound.”
“I have looked at that but I’m not there yet. I’ve done a few gigs outside of the US with those things and it still feels like a fuckin’ electronic toy to me.”