In a new interview with Rick Beato, Jerry Cantrell shared the Alice In Chains riff that gives him a seasick feeling.
“It’s slightly out of tune, not quite full bend,” the rocker said of the main riff from ‘Check My Brain.’ “A lot of my [songs] have big, bendy riffs. It’s something I’ve kind of made part of my signature. I probably get that by listening to [Black] Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, and Ace Frehley. [Frehley] was a big bender, and I was a big fan of his when I was a kid, too.”
Cantrell continued, “I remember stumbling across that [riff], and I thought it was weird, and I liked that. It makes me feel the same way every time, kind of sick; a little bit seasick [laughs]. Try playing it live and singing in key over that, it’s pretty tough.”
‘Check My Brain’ was released in 2009, and it marked Alice In Chains’ comeback after 10 years. The track topped the rock charts and appeared on their album ‘Black Gives Way to Blue.’ The lyrics talk about Cantrell’s struggles with starting a new life in Los Angeles after dealing with drug addiction.
“There’s a certain aspect of sarcasm, I guess, being a guy from Seattle who lives in L.A., ex-drug addict who lives in the belly of the beast and doesn’t partake, and being totally cool with that…,” Cantrell previously talked about the song.
He added, “It’s like being the bad gambler and living in Vegas. It’s right there. It’s just the irony of that and a little bit of sarcasm. And it’s not putting this place down at all. It’s just kind of like, ‘Wow, you know, check my brain, wow.’”
Alice In Chains first performed ‘Check My Brain’ on August 1, 2009, in Dublin, Ireland. They played it again the next day at Sonisphere Festival in the UK and two days later in London. It’s a regular part of their shows.