{"id":12538,"date":"2012-10-08T07:30:54","date_gmt":"2012-10-07T20:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=12538"},"modified":"2012-10-07T13:14:39","modified_gmt":"2012-10-07T03:14:39","slug":"art-alexakis-of-everclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2012\/10\/art-alexakis-of-everclear\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Alexakis of Everclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect time to come back now, I\u2019ve got a killer band, most of us have been together for nine years, this is the right time, this is the right record and we\u2019re coming back to a pretty much sold out tour, it\u2019s gonna be great, it\u2019s gonna be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everclear are back, even though they never went away. You may of course know of Everclear from songs like \u2018Santa Monica\u2019, \u2018Volvo Driving Soccer Mom\u2019, \u2018Father Of Mine\u2019, \u2018Wonderful\u2019 and many more but the sudden 90\u2019s music resurgence has come at a perfect time for Everclear who in case you didn\u2019t know, have released a new album this year and also founded and been part of the hugely successful \u2018Summerland\u2019 tour in the USA along with Sugar Ray, LIT, The Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground.<\/p>\n

About to embark on their first Australian tour in fourteen years, we had a great chat with Art Alexakis , the musical genius behind Everclear about their upcoming Australian tour, their new album \u2018Invisible Stars\u2019, reworking old songs and a great story about their most well-known hit \u2018Santa Monica\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n

Over to you Art.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time between visits to Australia and your last trip here I\u2019m sure you want to forget about, so thank you for coming back some fourteen years later, what was it that finally got you back here?<\/strong>
\nWell I\u2019ve always wanted to come back I think we pissed off our promoter because we cancelled shows and yeah that whole tour, I was having a good time but certain people they just wanted to go home, the whole thing blew over two weeks later, we got back together and toured and did the \u2018Father Of Mine\u2019 video and everything was groovy.\u00a0 It was just case of people being together too many shows, too little days and just when you get four guys together it\u2019s like seeing America with four people , it just kinda sucks.\u00a0 It\u2019s a perfect time to come back now, I\u2019ve got a killer band, most of us have been together for nine years, this is the right time, this is the right record and we\u2019re coming back to a pretty much sold out tour, it\u2019s gonna be great, it\u2019s gonna be awesome.<\/p>\n

What can we expect to hear set wise at the shows down here?<\/strong>
\nYou\u2019ll hear mostly older songs and some new songs off \u2018Invisible Stars\u2019 our new album and some obscure songs, one song that we\u2019re definitely going to play when we\u2019re down there is a song called \u2018Local God\u2019 which was a big hit for us there as it was on the soundtrack for \u2018Romeo and Juliet\u2019 but up here it just never got played on the radio, so we went down there and the president of EMI was looking at the set list and said \u201cHey mate, where\u2019s \u2018Local God\u2019?\u201d I say, \u201cI don\u2019t play that song, that was a soundtrack song\u2026\u201d he said \u201cYou better play it, they\u2019re playing it on the radio\u201d so I was like \u201cooh\u2026\u201d\u00a0 So we\u2019ve been playing it at shows here and it\u2019s going over well but I know when we play it down there it\u2019ll be a lot of fun.\u00a0 We\u2019ll play all the hits and we\u2019ll play some new songs and we\u2019ll play a lot of songs that haven\u2019t seen the light of day for a while, it\u2019s gonna be awesome.<\/p>\n

Speaking of your new album \u2018Invisible Stars\u2019 it\u2019s great, we loved it<\/a>, now it was six years between full studio albums, was this a planned length of time or did it just end up playing out that way?<\/strong>
\nIt ended up playing out that way; I wasn\u2019t ready to make a record.\u00a0 I think bands get in the cycle of writing, recording, touring, writing, recording, touring you don\u2019t take time off to actually get some living done and have something to write about, some perspective to write about and it wasn\u2019t even a conscious thing like that, in reality I just wasn\u2019t ready to make a record.\u00a0 I had a new baby, my Mom passed away, my daughter graduated High School, there was just a lot of live being lived and it was really cool, played a bunch of shows with Everclear, but for the most part just writing and concentrating on my family.\u00a0 Then about two years ago I started writing songs to get buzz in my belly and to go make a record, that\u2019s why you\u2019ve got a band (laughs).\u00a0 I love the record, I\u2019m glad you like it too, it\u2019s a rocker.<\/p>\n

Song wise, I know you just mentioned you had a lot going on, but was there a specific inspiration that allowed you to write what became Invisible Stars?<\/strong>
\nI think the band just started to gel a few years ago, and I really wanted to take them in the studio, like when we\u2019re playing the old songs there\u2019s so much energy and passion there that I thought would fully translate to a record really well.\u00a0 There were songs I\u2019d started writing and sort of playing the guitar more downstairs at my Dad\u2019s and set up a little amp and headphone and just jamming with myself, playing on an electric guitar and not writing on an acoustic, I think that really helped push the record in that direction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In putting the album together with the band line up as it is now, how did that process feel compared to the making of previous albums and is this the quintessential line up of exactly how you want it to be?<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, for sure, I mean two of the guys that are in the band now were on the last record back in \u201906 and they\u2019ve been in the band for eight or nine years and one guy for four years but we\u2019ve been friends for fifteen, and I\u2019ve been trying to get him in my band for fifteen years and the drummer has been in the band for three and a half years, he\u2019s a hell of a guy, a phenomenal drummer.\u00a0 So when we\u2019re in the studio man it\u2019s such a tight regiment, there was no time for experimentation we had to go in for two or three tracks a day and everything on top of and the guys totally brought it, everybody brought it, I think the songs brought it, I think the performances brought it as well.\u00a0 So what you\u2019re hearing is not like the old days when we had a budget to go in and make things exactly right, this is like, well we\u2019ve played a couple of shows and we\u2019ve got money so I want to go in and record vocals for these songs (laughs) basically that\u2019s what it was, like we\u2019ve got to redo the bass so let me make some more money and we\u2019ll go in and redo the bass on these two songs, that kind of stuff. Seriously!<\/p>\n

What I love about the album is it\u2019s still instantly identifiable as Everclear, where many bands have \u2018changed their sounds\u2019 to suit the times. \u00a0It seems you adapted more than changed, was this what you consciously wanted to do which is stay true to the sound of the band?<\/strong>
\nI absolutely did.\u00a0 I really wanted to make an Everclear record, and I think bands sometimes to be fair try too hard to sound different and I think like you said, an adaptation is exactly what I wanted, I wanted that classic Everclear sound, I\u2019m not saying all our songs are classic but you know what I mean?\u00a0 What I do, but contemporise both in production and instrumentation and I think I hit it, I got pretty close to it.
\n Oh yeah, to me some of the songs sound like they could\u2019ve come straight off \u2018Sparkle and Fade\u2019 from back in the day\u2026<\/strong>
\nThanks man, I mean there\u2019s definitely that fire to it for sure, it gets better and we got the fire back now.<\/p>\n

Last year and along the way you\u2019ve reworked some of your biggest songs, what was it like to go back and revisit these tracks and release them in that manner?<\/strong>
\nReally, really bizarre but I think really helpful because it made me sing songs in a different light. I think when you play songs for fourteen years they evolve and through our years of staying true to it there are different inflections and different guitar parts and I had to go back and relearn some stuff and I guess that really helped me with perspective of where I was then and where I am now.\u00a0 It was bizarre but it was very helpful and I think they came out cool.<\/p>\n

Now, you have no idea how jealous many of us down here were of the Summerland tour, what an amazing line-up that was!\u00a0 How much fun was that to be a part of?<\/strong>
\nIt was so much fun man, I have some good ideas and I have some bad ideas and that was definitely one of my better ideas doing that tour.\u00a0 Doing it with Mark McGrath and all the other boys from all the other bands was just a blast, great friends and the fans were just digging it man, if you like 90\u2019s music that was the place to be this Summer for sure.<\/p>\n

Can you do us a favour and put in a good word with Lit, Sugar Ray and The Gin Blossoms to come down and see us too please?<\/strong>
\nI definitely will, as a matter of fact when you called I was just getting off the phone with Jeremy from LIT, I\u2019ll tell them that you guys want them to come down for sure.<\/p>\n

Looking back at probably your biggest hit, namely \u2018Santa Monica\u2019 that still gets a spin today, what do you think it was about this song specifically that people attached to?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, it was just a song I think that was the right place at the right time, I don\u2019t think we sounded like everybody else at the time, we sounded enough like alternative music at the time to get played on the radio, get played on MTV, not just nationally but internationally. At the same time I think that there was a uniqueness to it and a lot in it that appealed to people, I don\u2019t know I just remember playing that song for my label guy and he was like \u201cOh yeah, that song right there, that\u2019s the hit, seriously, it\u2019s not quite right yet\u201d and I was like screw you, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about, fine wait until I record it, you\u2019ll get it.\u00a0 Then I recorded it and played it for him and he was like \u201cMan, I\u2019m convinced it\u2019s a mass hit song but I\u2019m also convinced it\u2019s not done yet\u2026\u201d I\u2019m like man, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about, do it yourself but here I\u2019ll remix, I mixed it, he listened to it and said again \u201cMan, I\u2019m convinced it\u2019s a mass hit song but I\u2019m also convinced it\u2019s not done yet\u2026\u201d so I was like screw you, I had full creative control, I wasn\u2019t going to let anyone tell me what to do and then because of it I joked with him and said \u201cOK, well so you know, just because of that, because of here, I wrote a new song called \u2018You Make Me Feel Like A Whore\u2019 how about that?\u201d I was just joking and then I wrote the song (laughs) and then I went back in to the studio and made the song longer and extended it by one more chorus and he was like \u201cPerfect\u201d and I\u2019m like OK, and we put it out. Whoever knows if he was wrong or right, but what are you gonna do?
\n The rest is history\u2026<\/strong>
\nPretty much yeah\u2026 we\u2019ve had songs that have gotten played more, like \u2018Father of Mine\u2019 and \u2018Wonderful\u2019 was a big radio song that sold a lot of records too, so we\u2019ve had a few hits, some sort of success.\u00a0 That first one though, there\u2019s no repeating it, it\u2019s like your first love, man, you can never get over it, and it\u2019s always there.
\n And I guess you\u2019ll be playing it until the day you die\u2026<\/strong>
\nAbsolutely, I even make jokes about it, I got a baby at forty five, I got a horrible five year old plus I\u2019ve got a twenty year old in college and I\u2019m going to be playing that damn song until I\u2019m ninety (laughs).<\/p>\n

Back to Australia, do you have any fond memories of previous tours down here?<\/strong>
\nI have pretty much nothing but fond memories like the time I went to play golf and almost got beat up by a Kangaroo (laughs) in the bush.\u00a0 We went to Fremantle and went and saw Bon Scott\u2019s grave, that was pretty cool, and just the time we showed up at the airport in Sydney the first time we came to Australia and there was almost 1,000 people waiting for us with banners and I\u2019m like so this is what it feels like to be a Beatle, this is cool.\u00a0 That never happened in the States, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not going to happen now, but that was a really special thing and I just love it down there. Australians are the one people that like Americans, the one place you can go in the world and be American and not necessarily get beat up (laughs), all joking aside, it\u2019s just a great culture and you like your rock and roll, man.<\/p>\n

Looking back at the last 20 years, in your career is there anything you would\u2019ve or could\u2019ve done differently?<\/strong>
\nWell\u2026 I don\u2019t know if I would\u2019ve done it differently, but I wasn\u2019t very good at playing the game, still not, I didn\u2019t got to big parties, I got invited to them but it wasn\u2019t my thing man, still isn\u2019t, I don\u2019t know if I would\u2019ve done it differently but I think I would\u2019ve had a different career if I\u2019d been more political about it, but I don\u2019t know, I am who I am.
\n And we love you for it\u2026<\/strong>
\nThanks man. (laughs)<\/p>\n

Catch Everclear in Australia at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday 10 October Cooly Hotel. Coolangatta<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>With Special Guests Strangers
\n<\/strong>Tickets: www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 11 October HiFi. Brisbane<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>With Special Guests Strangers
\n<\/strong>Tickets: www.thehifi.com.au<\/a> \/\u00a0 www.moshtix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 12 October HiFi. Sydney<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>With Special Guests Strangers
\n<\/strong>Tickets: www.thehifi.com.au<\/a> \/\u00a0 www.moshtix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 13 October HiFi. Melbourne<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>With Special Guests Strangers
\n<\/strong>Tickets: www.thehifi.com.au<\/a> \/\u00a0 www.moshtix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 14 October Capitol. Perth<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Tickets: www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Portland, OR, USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Art Alexakis – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Davey French – Guitar, Vox, Freddy Herrera – Bass, Vox, Josh Crawley – Keyboards, Vox, Sean Winchester – Drums, Percussion, Vox<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> www.everclearonline.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Invisible Stars (eOne music) check out our review here<\/a>
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