When they’re starting out, most bands are happy to do a bunch of press, because they obviously want to get their name out there and let people know what they’re all about.

However, as time goes by and they gain a level of fame, it gets harder and harder to get a band to do press, unless it’s something major.

Why?  

Because they don’t need to.

And at least with Alice In Chains, it’s not because they’re unwilling to do the work or put the time in, it’s just that after a few decades of talking about yourself, you tend to get bored with it.

But a new record is on the way, and it’s kind of mandatory to promote it, which means that there are a ton of interviews and photo shoots to do over the next few months.

It all helps to get the word out, it get’s the band’s name back in the headlines, and it hopefully generates interest in the new record and tour.

So yeah, we’re in the middle of doing an assload of press, and there was a bunch more today in Berlin.

I help facilitate and coordinate the press schedule on tour.

The operative word there is “schedule”.

Dictionary.com describes a schedule as: a series of things to be done, or of events to occur at or during a particular time or period.

Press is prepared and approved and scheduled, and then it falls on me to expedite the final part of the equation; getting the band members to their interviews.

I’ve written about this before.

Getting a band member into an interview is oftentimes like taking a dog to the vet.

Everything is all fine and good until he realizes where I’m about to take him, then he gets all uncomfortable and scared and starts running in circles and gnawing on his hind quarters.

So this means that we get off to a late start, which makes the subsequent interviews start later, and pretty soon soundcheck has been pushed back, which then means the opening band has to wait longer for their own soundcheck, which sometimes results in the doors being held longer, which ultimately means you have to stand in line longer.

Damn, how about that?

The butterfly effect of the band’s press starting late is more wide ranging than anyone would have thought.

And the irony of it all is that a lot of times when the interview is going well, a band member will suddenly be hard to shut up.

So something that they began begrudgingly becomes something I have to fight to pull them out of.

It can all be a giant pain in the ass, but ultimately they all do their required press, I add another layer to my developing stress headache, and eventually you get to read about what William thought of spending the summer of 2017 in Seattle making a record.

(Spoiler alert: he liked it)

So the next time you read an article about Alice In Chains, just stop and picture for a moment the beleaguered bald guy scurrying around the backstage area of a venue desperately trying to get a band member to stop talking to our lighting tech long enough to go sit on a couch and answer some damn questions about his favorite color.