The story of Everclear begins with the story of front man Art Alexakis. Art grew up in the projects of Santa Monica. Abandoned by his father and living in poverty, he was very troubled. Growing up in the "dark 70's" he was highly exposed to drugs, in fact he lost a girlfriend and a brother, due to heroin. Art himself almost died from a cocaine overdose when he was a teen.
Like many punk stars, Art refers to himself as having a bad attitude, when referring to his teens. He would have done any drug on the table and even tried to commit suicide at one point, by jumping off of a Santa Monica pier. Lucky for Art, he found the wonderful instrument we call the guitar, when he was 15. Eventually he quit drugs and threw himself into his music.
Art has much experience in the music industry, he has been in a few bands, including Colorfinger and The Easy Hoes. He also established a record label at one point called, Shindig which promoted "alternative/country." He loves old country music and you can sometimes here it in his tunes.
Shindig flopped in no time which led Art and his pregnant girlfriend, Jenny, to Portland Oregon. It was here that Art placed an ad in a local newspaper looking for band mates. The ad only generated two responses but luckily they were just what he needed. In '92, Everclear formed with members, Art Alexakis, Craig Montoya, and Scott Cuthbert. The band released to demo, to get club gigs but instead ended up with a record deal.
In '93 the band released an EP on Tim Kerr Records. Art was angered by how Tim Kerr promoted the EP and remembered an old aquaintance from Capitol Records he had met while in Colorfinger. He sent him his demo.
Everclear was signed by Capitol and the label distributed "World of Noise" a record that was recorded while the band was still with Tim Kerr Records.
In May of '95 the band released their breakthrough album, "Sparkle and Fade" which generated national attention from its hit "Santa Monica." This album began to break Everclear away from its punk roots and on to the now evident, pop/rock, Everclear is known for today.
In October of '98 Everclear release SMFTA, which still haunts the charts. Art describes his record's life on the chart as "an aunt that just won't go away. She comes for the weekend and stays for a year." That's alright for Art though, He enjoys life with his wife Jenny and daughter Annabella, who was born in '91.
Now Art is about the release a solo album. While Craig and Greg are enjoying the married life. But the band is ready for a come back and supposidly will begin to record a new Everclear album in the fall of '99.
