David de Sola's Blog
August 15, 2025
Music City Mayhem
I’ll be attending the Killer Nashville writers’ conference next week. If you’re in town, stop by and check out the established and up and coming authors who will be there.
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March 12, 2025
Layne Staley’s Missing Journals Recovered
More details on my Substack.
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September 27, 2024
AI, Journalism, and the Dead
Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
I recently became aware of an Instagram account (which shall remain nameless) that is posting AI audio recordings of late Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley’s voice, based in part on information I reported in my book.
Like so many people, I have mixed emotions about the uses and misuses of AI technology. I am a fan of parodies, mashups, art, and other applications that are clearly intended for entertainment or humor.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have zero tolerance for AI used for deepfakes, deceptive purposes, or generally in poor taste. The aforementioned AI recordings of Layne fall into this category.
One of the many reasons I wrote the book was to gain a better understanding of Layne’s life and experiences, because he was such a recluse and because of his band’s general policy of not commenting on internal issues.
I interviewed dozens of sources and reviewed hundreds of pages of documents over the course of three years. The explicit goal was to create the most accurate account of Layne’s life and career that I could, based on the access and information I was able to obtain.
Because Layne and so many other people in the story died years before I started the project, it was especially important for me to get their stories right, because they weren’t around to tell it for themselves.
I am proud of the work that I did and stand by it.
I want to make absolutely clear: I did not give permission for the creator of these recordings to use my book to make fabricated AI audio recordings attributed to Layne, nor do I condone or endorse them.
I had to go through a seemingly endless amount of lies, rumors, innuendo, and misinformation to sort fact from fiction as I was researching my book. What this Instagram creator has done/continues to do is no better than Argentine “journalist” Adriana Rubio fabricating an entire interview with Layne that never happened.
Legally, there’s nothing I can do about these AI recordings. My first reaction was not to say anything, because I didn’t want to elevate this person’s account. Given the misuse of my journalism, I feel I have no choice but to write this.
My message about these recordings to Alice in Chains fans and people who read my book is to ignore them. Do not share, click on, or comment on them to give the creator the attention he or she clearly desires.
I’ll close with a quote about the risks of generative AI from McKinsey senior partner emeritus Bill Schaninger:
“Getting a better, shinier tool that’s faster and more expansive
doesn’t relieve you of the burden of thinking things through.”
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Stacked
I recently started a Substack account, where I will be doing some occasional writing here and there. Head over there and subscribe!
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August 12, 2024
Charles R. Cross Remembered
I’m absolutely devastated by the news that Charles R. Cross passed away. From Variety:
Charles R. Cross, a Seattle-based music journalist who edited the city’s preeminent alt-weekly, the Rocket, and penned bestselling biographies of Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and other major rock figures, died Friday at age 67.
“We are sorry to share that Charles Cross has passed,” the writer’s family said in a statement. “He died peacefully of natural causes in his sleep on August 9, 2024. We are all grief-stricken and trying to get through this difficult process of dealing with the next steps.” /
Charles was the dean of Seattle music journalists. According to his obituary in the Seattle Times, he bought the tremendously influential local music publication The Rocket in 1986. He was at its helm in the crucial years leading up to and during the grunge explosion.
Fun fact: The Rocket was the first publication to write a cover story about a little band from Aberdeen, Washington called Nirvana, which ran in the December 1989 issue. CNN’s Larry King famously called Charles after Kurt Cobain’s death and asked him to explain grunge.
As if that weren’t enough, he also wrote stellar biographies of Seattle music icons Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, both of which are well worth reading.
Anyone who has ever been a fan of grunge, or has written about the Seattle music scene or its personalities – Scot Barbour, Greg Prato, Corbin Reiff, Mark Yarm, myself, and so many others – owes Charles a great deal of respect and gratitude.
Isaac Newton – the genius who revolutionized our understanding of the universe and invented calculus – wrote in 1675, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Today, we all stand on the shoulders of Charles R. Cross.
Godspeed, Charles, and thanks for everything.
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July 12, 2021
New Project
Since February, I’ve been working on a project that can finally be revealed. The first episode of my new podcast Zero Hour: A History of 9/11 was released this morning. It is a narrative nonfiction limited series, with a new episode airing each week. For those of you who missed the trailer, you can listen to it here.
The series will look back on the people and events that led to the September 11 terror attacks and their consequences. It is based on a review of the historical record along with original interviews with more than 25 former government officials, journalists and experts who help make sense of it all two decades later.
Zero Hour is available on:
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May 24, 2021
Mia Zapata’s Killer Has Died
Rolling Stone published my story breaking the news on Sunday. It marks an end to one of the darkest and most tragic episodes in the history of rock music. To put Mia Zapata’s life and legacy into perspective, I interviewed Gits drummer Steve Moriarty, Gits friend and Evil Stig collaborator Joan Jett, and NPR music critic Ann Powers.
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August 13, 2020
What’s In a Name?
I’ve gotten a few emails from people thinking I am the screenwriter of the Netflix movie The Platform (also known by its Spanish name El Hoyo). As much as I enjoy receiving fan mail, I can’t accept praise or credit for something I had nothing to do it. (I may have to watch it now, though…)
Credit for the film belongs to my namesake of Barcelona, Spain. I’m sure he’s a terrific guy, but I’ve never met him and have nothing to do with him or his film. I have no idea how to get in contact with him.
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy in these times.
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What’s In a Name
I’ve gotten a few emails from people thinking I am the screenwriter of the Netflix movie The Platform (also known by its Spanish name El Hoyo). As much as I enjoy receiving fan mail, I can’t accept praise or credit for something I had nothing to do it. (I may have to watch it now, though…)
Credit for the film belongs to my namesake of Barcelona, Spain. I’m sure he’s a terrific guy, but I’ve never met him and have nothing to do with him or his film. I have no idea how to get in contact with him.
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy in these times.
The post appeared first on David de Sola.
February 19, 2019
A Piece of Alice in Chains History
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dave Hillis (@davehillisofficial) on Feb 19, 2019 at 4:32pm PST
Seattle musician and producer Dave Hillis (who was an engineer on Sap and who I interviewed extensively for my book) posted a picture of his 1/4-inch reel copy of the early Alice in Chains demos (circa 1988, before they recorded their first album Facelift)
If you aren’t doing it already, follow Dave on Instagram.
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