Everclear’s Art Alexakis on New Album, Tour Life
by Tim Wenger
Portland, Oregon’s alt-rock superstars Everclear plan to drop their first album since 2012’s Invisible Stars next spring. They have fashionably dubbed the new record Black is the New Black. CMB spoke with front man and long-time band leader Art Alexakis about the album, where he is as an artist, and a documentary in which he was a major player.
Everclear hoped to touch new ground with this new album. Alexakis wanted to make a record that was strictly rock and now filler and feels that this is it. “It’s just a badass hard rock record that I love listening to,” Alexakis says. “I haven’t felt this way about a record since Sparkle and Fade (1995) to be honest with you.”
For Alexakis, it gave the band an opportunity to make a statement about the lost state of society and begin a search for answers. “There are no ballads. I wanted to make a contemporary sounding rock record that didn’t go over the same ground but still pushed all of the buttons that a rock record could push. I’m kind of playing in the darkness a little bit more.”
His songs strive to tell a story, some aiming to get a firm point across. With the record as a whole, Alexakis sought to find an explanation, or at least some kind of standing ground, for the common person observing the current socio-political landscape. “Something I’ve always said about my songs is that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and there still is with this record. Things are so fragmented right now politically, and most people are somewhere in the middle just wondering what the fuck is going on. I think a lot of the songs on this record, a lot of the characters that I created, it feels like they are trying to make sense of this darkness. It seems like everyone is throwing their hands in the air and there is this darkness that is just taking over, and I’m not okay with that.”
One song in particular from the record stands out to Alexakis on this point. “There’s a song called “American Monster.” The perspective of that person, that’s every evil person that ever lived. That’s like the embodiment of Satan, but I don’t believe in Satan. I believe that there’s nothing more scary than human beings when they want to be, and also nothing more beautiful and uplifting as well. There’s the juxtaposition of that, so I think this is a record that really takes American culture and looks at the darkness of it, and tries to make sense of it.”
Everclear has been making music since 1991. Alexakis is the sole remaining original member, having watched bassist Craig Montoya and drummer Greg Eklund leave the band in 2003 following the release of the album Slow Motion Daydream. He found new members and the band recorded Welcome to the Drama Club in 2006 and Invisible Stars in 2012, with numerous tours in between including the now annual Summerland Tour, which each year showcases Everclear along with other bands who saw commercial success in the 1990s. Alexakis, through all of this, has never lost his will to keep playing and determination to progress his music. “I’m 52 years old, I make no bones about it, I’m actually proud of it,” Alexakis says. “I love playing rock and roll. I love playing music. I have the passion for it, I have the fire for it, I still have the health for it. I go out and I leave blood on the stage every night. That’s rock and roll to me.”
Pledge towards the making of the album and keep up on news at pledgemusic.com/projects/everclear.
Category: Buzzworthy
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
 |
 |
