Three Decades Deep: ART ALEXIKAS From EVERCLEAR Gets Candid

Interview by Ali Williams
90’s alt-rock legends Everclear are heading back down under in
November, ready to kick off their 30-year Anniversary tour of their
debut album Sparkle and Fade. HEAVY Mag's Ali Williams caught up
with frontman and founder Art Alexikas to chat about the tour,
their huge success in Australia and what fans can expect when they
swing through in a few weeks.
Hailing all the way from Portland, Oregon, Everclear started making
a name for themselves in the early 90s when their debut,
independently released album World of Noise (1993) would gain them
credit on the home front and East Coast Alt Rock scenes. But that
was nothing compared to the epic surge they felt after signing to
Capitol Records. In 1995, Sparkle and Fade was released, and in
what felt like overnight, the world fell in love with them.
Australian audiences couldn’t get enough, with the album going
platinum soon after its release and reaching 9th place on the ARIA
charts of the same year. Their music has that Cali Coast grunge
vibe and lyrics that struck a chord with those who could
relate.
Singing about growing up left of centre, trying to make it in the
world, overcoming childhood trauma, teenage angst, underwritten by
the influence of recreational drug use and powered by the sex drive
of a young adult in top gear still learning the road rules, seemed
to resonate with young listeners, and their following albums had
the same effect.
For many Australians who were teenagers in the 90s, Sparkle and
Fade was the soundtrack to their misspent youth, cassette tapes
played on repeat, driving along the coastline, windows down, the
summer heat thick, mixed with the distinct pungent odour of leaded
petrol and dank kush being choofed in another bong hit billowing
out of their prized Datto 120Y in clouds of fury. Life was
good.
Art recalls the moment he realised that their track Local God had
become an anthem in Australia when the head of EMI Records asked
him before a show why it wasn’t on the set list. He couldn’t
believe it and from then on says “we can’t come to Australia and
not play Local God,” surprised that a song written as a soundtrack
for Baz Luhrmann's remake of Romeo and Juliet had struck such a
chord with Australian audiences.
Alexikas also shares some insight into what it’s like still touring
and battling MS, a debilitating, lifelong chronic illness. At 63,
Art is definitely showing no signs of slowing down, although he
admits he’s a little slower than the fast pace he’d once lived.
Tickets for Sparkle and Fade are available from
www.ticketmaster.com and www.everclearmusic.com


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