Everclear

Everclear biography

Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear consisted of Art Alexakis (vocals and guitar), Craig Montoya (bass guitar and vocals), and Greg Eklund (drums, percussion & vocals). Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994. Montoya and Eklund departed the band in 2003, but Alexakis continued the band with Dave "Davey" French (rhythm guitar), Josh Crawley (keyboards), Sam Hudson (bass guitar), and Tommy Stewart (drums, percussion). However all members except for Alexakis left the band in July 2009 to be replaced with a 4th lineup of Everclear.

History

Early years

Art Alexakis suffered through a troubled youth, beginning with his father walking out when Alexakis was a child. Financial hardships pushed his family into the slums of Los Angeles, where Alexakis fell to the lure of heavy drug use. During his teenage years, Alexakis was shuttled around the country between various family members (including a brief period in Houston living with his father's new family), but the drug addiction persisted. Eventually, Alexakis suffered a near-fatal cocaine overdose, which finally pushed him to clean up.

In the late 1980s, Alexakis played in a short-lived rock band in Los Angeles called Shakin' Brave, where he began to hone his songwriting skills. Frustrated by the inattention of the L.A. music scene, Art relocated to San Francisco, where he fell into the then-burgeoning cowpunk scene.

Art founded a label called Shindig Records, which attempted to document the SF cowpunk scene. He began recording material of his own for a solo album, but it eventually evolved into a group project called Colorfinger. Art Alexakis utilized the pseudonym "A.D. Nation" while writing/recording with Colorfinger. While involved with Colorfinger, Art wrote several songs which would later find success as Everclear songs, including "The Twistinside", "Heartspark Dollarsign", and "Why I Don't Believe in God".

In a single month in 1992, Shindig failed (when its distributor went bankrupt), Colorfinger broke up, and Art learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. Seeking a change of location, Art and his girlfriend moved to her hometown, Portland, Oregon. There, he placed an ad in local music weekly The Rocket, which earned two responses: bass player Craig Montoya and drummer Scott Cuthbert. The name Everclear was chosen as a reference to the infamous grain alcohol. In an interview with The Discovering Alcoholic, Alexakis called it "pure, white evil" for its deceptive nature. The new band began recording in a friend's basement, essentially bartering for recording time with musical gear and whatever limited funds they could scrounge up. The sessions culminated in two releases: the Nervous & Weird EP and the band's first full-length release World of Noise, both released by Portland's Tim/Kerr Records in 1993. Frustrated by Tim/Kerr's limited resources, Alexakis hired independent promoters to help push the album. Eventually, it became obvious that Everclear needed to find a bigger player to help them reach their audience.

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