Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

On September 24, Schenck flew up to Seattle to photograph the band and film what was originally intended to be a video press kit, which became something hilariously different: The Nona Tapes. Schenck called this “one of my absolute favorite experiences with Alice.” What began as a promo piece evolved into a Spinal Tap–style mockumentary showing how the band members spent their free time when they weren’t being rock stars. Schenck talked with each band member about how he wanted to be portrayed. Jerry is shown shoveling manure at a horse stable when he’s approached by an interviewer asking about the new Alice in Chains album. Jerry told Schenck’s producer Katherine Shaw he’s been working at the stable “since that music thing went sour a few years back” but that “Sony let us do another record, so I’m going back to that rock-and-roll thing.” Jerry also dressed in drag and played Nona Weissbaum, the title character, who is an aspiring journalist seeking Seattle rock stars for a story.

While cruising around Seattle, Nona stumbles onto Sean, who is standing on a corner, and she forces him into the car. Appropriately enough for his comedic nature, Sean is shown in his downtime dressed in a Bozo the Clown–style costume and rubber nose. Sean was later filmed at a bar drinking shots in full clown gear.

Mike told Nona he joined the band because they kidnapped his family and were holding his grandmother hostage until he did a few albums and tours with them. He is later shown at a hairdresser’s salon, with his hair in curling irons. He said since he read in a magazine that his band broke up, he stopped going to rehearsals and was running a hot dog cart on First Avenue.

Then it was Layne’s turn. Nona’s car is parked in an alley when they see him going through a Dumpster. According to Schenck, this setup was Layne’s idea. It was also Layne’s idea to have his lip and mouth movements not match up to the responses to the interview questions. He would say one thing during the on-camera portion of the interview and later overdub the video with an audio recording to an entirely different question.

There was a scary moment during filming in which a soundman almost died. They had spent several hours driving around in a convertible, with Schenck and his cinematographer in the front seat and the soundman in the trunk. When they stopped filming, Schenck noticed the soundman wasn’t responding to any of his questions. They opened the trunk and discovered he had passed out from inhaling carbon monoxide fumes.

“We ended up in a bar, quite drunk and having a great time. By that time, it was just me and my camera and the band. Sean, still in his Bozo outfit, stumbled out of the bar with a piece of toilet paper strategically attached to his foot as I followed him out onto the street. The evening continued to get wilder, but I decided that we had enough film for the project and stopped shooting.”10

On one of his trips to Seattle, Schenck went to Layne’s home with another band member and waited outside, but he never came out. As he was waiting, he wrote, “I experienced a variety of reactions and emotions—everything from frustration to anger to pity to compassion to empathy. The Layne I knew was such a complex conglomeration of diverse qualities, and I knew that if he had answered that door, I couldn’t have said or done anything that would have helped him or change the course of his life. He was determined to go down the road that he chose for himself, and nobody was going to change that.”

According to Schenck, all four band members could have been actors if they wanted to. He mentioned this idea to a few casting director friends, but nothing ever became of it. He also directed the video for “Grind,” which was shot at Hollywood National Studios on October 8–9, 1995, with the animated sequences filmed from October 11–21. “This was not an easy shoot. Layne was not in great shape during this period, and it was difficult to get him to come to the set to film his scenes. But, again, when he finally showed up, he was mesmerizing and unforgettable. This would be the last time I would see him.”

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Alice in Chains was released on November 3, 1995, and, like its predecessor, it debuted in the number 1 position on the Billboard charts. Rolling Stone’s associate editor, Jon Wiederhorn, gave the album four stars in his review for the magazine.11 Not long after his review of the album, Wiederhorn was approached by Keith Mohrer, then the editor in chief of the magazine, and asked if he wanted to write a cover story about Alice in Chains, an assignment Wiederhorn accepted.