 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 glam metal band known as Sleze after receiving some encouragement from his stepbrother Ken Elmer . Other members of this group at that time were guitarists Johnny Bacolas and Zoli Semanate , drummer James Bergstrom , and bassist Byron Hansen . This band went through several lineup changes culminating with Nick Pollock 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 allay any parental concerns , though Staley 's mother Nancy McCallum has said she was still not happy with this name at first . 
