Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

IN APRIL 1997, an entity known as the Larusta Trust bought a three-bedroom, fifteen-hundred-square-foot, fifth-floor condominium at a building in Seattle’s University District for $262,000. A review of the property records, when cross-referenced with Alice in Chains’s album liner notes and other public records, shows that the Larusta Trust shared the same Bellevue address as VWC Management, a business management and accounting firm that has counted Alice in Chains among its clients in the past. Larusta is named for John Larusta, the alias Layne was using at the time, according to Ken Elmer. The property was acquired through this roundabout mechanism, presumably to keep Layne’s name off any public records associated with the transaction. This condo would be Layne’s home for the final five years of his life.1

At some point after Layne moved in, Toby Wright set up a home-recording studio for him. Wright described it: “I think he had some [Alesis Digital Audio Tapes] up there, a small console. I set up guitar paths. I set up a couple of vocal paths, and I think I had a keyboard path as well and some multiple things where he could just go in, hit a button, and record … He had a little drum machine and that kind of thing he used to do demos.”

Jerry seemingly confirmed the existence of Layne solo recordings or demos during a 2010 interview, saying, “I’d fucking go over to his place and he’d be playing me shit he’d be writing all the time. I would, too. He’d play me stuff, I’d play him stuff, vice versa.” He did not specify the period when he heard these recordings, if they were from the period when Alice in Chains was still active, or if they were from Layne’s later years. Jerry also said in the same interview that there are no more unreleased Alice in Chains recordings with Layne’s vocals, although Sean did not entirely rule out the possibility. “If there is, it’s nothing that we would want, or he would have wanted released.”2

Jamie, Jim, and Ken Elmer are unaware of any solo demos Layne might have recorded during his later years, though he had the means to do so. The one person who would know for sure is his mother, who declined to be interviewed for this book. Layne did at least one confirmed guest recording from this period. His friend Jesse Holt—known as Maxi when he was the singer and guitarist of Second Coming—was working on a new project under the moniker the Despisley Brothers—the name presumably a play on the R&B group the Isley Brothers. Layne rerecorded his guest vocal for the chorus of the song “The Things You Do,” which is musically different from an earlier version he recorded with Ron Holt in 1988.

There are at least two recorded versions of this song, the first from the spring or summer of 1996, the second dated November 3, 1997. Musically and lyrically, the two later versions are the same. Stylistically, Layne’s vocals sound very different from any of his previous work. The difference is that in the 1997 version, he sounds indifferent, with no real power or feeling in the performance. Jason Buttino, who has recordings of both versions, attributes the change to the fact that the second version was recorded more than a year after Demri’s death. Buttino also said Jesse Holt—who declined to be interviewed for this book—had to boost the level on Layne’s vocals in the 1997 version because his voice was so soft and quiet.3

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Soundgarden broke up in spring of 1997 amid rising tensions. The band played what at the time was their final show in Honolulu on February 9. Chris Cornell decided to call it quits shortly after. Susan Silver Management and A&M Records issued a joint statement announcing the split.4

In October 1997, according to a report in The Seattle Times, Susan was a panelist during a discussion about rock management at North by Northwest Music and Media Conference. Susan responded to a question about whether her gender ever blocked her progress, saying, “It didn’t even enter my sphere of reality.” The report also notes, “She also hinted, with a sigh, that Alice is about to ‘self-destruct.’”5

That fall Susan announced she was closing down her management business. The news was mentioned in the Lip Service section of The Rocket, which also made the sarcastic comment, “Sources within the company report that Silver will close up the shop near the end of December. Sure, Soundgarden don’t need a manager anymore, but who will burp and change Alice in Chains?”6

At some point after that edition was published, the magazine received a package containing a jar of urine and a bag of feces. It also included a note, which read, “Wipe and change this, motherfuckers!” The assumption is it came from Layne.7

Susan Silver Management organized a Christmas party that year, held at a bar in the U District. Randy Biro went to the party, along with his former roommate, Kevin Shuss, who had worked with Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam over the years.