ART ALEXAKIS

The tenacious Everclear frontman/guitarist discusses the music, moments and "dangerous" amps that changed his life and maybe ours - in the Nineties and beyond

- Andrew Daly

BY THE TIME the sessions for 1993’s World of Noise began, Art Alexakis had reached the end of his rope. A raging punk-rocker at heart, the then 31-year-old songwriter had reached an impasse, leaving him in a make-or-break situation.

“God, if Everclear didn’t hit, man, I was fucking done,” Alexakis says. “I’d spent years trying hard to make it work, but nothing was happening. My back was up against the wall, and I knew I had to try something different. My kid was on the way, and life was staring me in the face, telling me, ‘Get this done, or get out.’”

Luck shined down on Alexakis as the underground success of World of Noise laid the groundwork for a major label deal with Capitol Records. Still, no one could have anticipated the breakneck triumph of Everclear’s follow-up records — Sparkle and Fade (1995) and So Much for the Afterglow (1997) — leading to fame and fortune via platinum-selling success.

“That was the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to all the doubters,” Alexakis says. “No one believed in Everclear or me, at least not in the sense that we would go platinum. I don’t know what it was, though; it’s not like you can plan for that. Years of angst and upset built up, creating a storm of creativity that no one saw coming.”

In the years since, Alexakis had soldiered on. There have been more hits and the inevitable downturn that all aging artists face. But none of that deters Alexakis; the West Coast native is still defiant, boundlessly capable of spinning off angelic pop tunes on a whim.