Portland, OR · alt-rock

Everclear

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'Santa Monica' and Art Alexakis's survivor's-eye alt-rock — hard-luck autobiography set to some of the '90s' stickiest guitar hooks.

Art Alexakis's childhood shaped the band before it existed: he was abandoned by his father at five, lost a brother to a drug overdose at twelve, and lost his girlfriend to suicide the same year, before nearly overdosing himself in his twenties. Getting clean pushed him toward music, first through country-leaning projects like the band Colorfinger and the cowpunk outfit Easy Hoes.

He moved to Portland, Oregon with his girlfriend and placed a local ad for bandmates, recruiting bassist Craig Montoya and drummer Scott Cuthbert. He named the group Everclear after the potent, colourless liquor, liking the idea of something that looked harmless but wasn't.

Everclear formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 around Alexakis, who has been its only constant member. They emerged during the post-grunge period with loud, hook-driven guitar rock, and the lyrics drew openly on his own life: addiction, poverty, a father's absence and divorce.

After the independent debut World of Noise in 1993, three albums on Capitol Records went platinum: Sparkle and Fade, which produced 'Santa Monica'; So Much for the Afterglow, which produced 'Father of Mine' and 'I Will Buy You a New Life'; and Songs from an American Movie Vol. One. The next two records sold less well, and Montoya and drummer Greg Eklund left the band afterward.

Alexakis kept the Everclear name going with new members through Welcome to the Drama Club, Invisible Stars and Black Is the New Black, and the band has toured steadily since, including repeated runs of its own 1990s nostalgia package tour, Summerland. A new studio album is scheduled for 2026.

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