 Before the formation of Alice in Chains , then @-@ drummer Layne Staley landed his first gig as a vocalist when he auditioned to sing for a local <unk> metal band known as <unk> after receiving some encouragement from his <unk> Ken <unk> . Other members of this group at that time were guitarists Johnny Bacolas and <unk> <unk> , drummer James <unk> , and bassist Byron Hansen . This band went through several lineup changes culminating with Nick <unk> as their sole guitarist and Bacolas switching to bass before discussions arose about changing their name to Alice in Chains . This was prompted by a conversation that Bacolas had with a singer from another band about backstage passes . Due to concerns over the reference to female bondage , the group ultimately chose to spell it differently as Alice N ' Chains to <unk> any parental concerns , though Staley 's mother Nancy <unk> has said she was still not happy with this name at first . 
