Art Alexakis Chats About Vinyl Reissues, Touring, Disinterest in Releasing New Records

During the late '90s/early 21st century, one of the most-played bands on rock radio was certainly Everclear, who scored an impressive twelve top-40 hits on Billboard's Alternative Airplay charts (including five top-5 hits). And they also crossed over to the Hot 100 charts as well, with their highest-charting single peaking at #11 in 2000, "Wonderful."

And the tune came from their platinum-certified Songs from An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile, which on September 13th, will be issued for the first time ever on vinyl via Intervention Records. Additionally, the Art Alexakis-led band will headline a North American tour kicking off that evening, as well – on a bill that also includes '90s alt-rockers Marcy Playground and Jimmie's Chicken Shack.

Shortly before the arrival of the vinyl release and launch of the tour, Alexakis spoke to AllMusic about both topics, as well as the stories behind a few Everclear classics.

Songs from An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile is being issued for the first time ever on vinyl. How did this come about?

"When that record came out in 2000, at the time, that was our fourth record that we put out on Capitol – because the reissued our first indie record, World of Noise. And in my contract for all records is that you had to do at least 500 pieces of vinyl. Because I was a vinyl freak. Even thought at the time – in the late '90s and early 2000's – no one was buying vinyl. It was basically, they were going to sit on most of it, or give it away to press. So, they did vinyl on the reissue of World of Noise, Sparkle and Fade, and So Much for the Afterglow."

"And when it came to the fourth record, I contacted them and they said they weren't going to do it. I called the president of the label, and I said, 'It's in the contract. You have to do it. You have to do 500 copies.' And he's like, 'Sue me. I've got almost two million dollars of your money in the pipeline…go ahead, sue me.' I was like, 'What a dick.'

"And when it came to the fourth record, I contacted them and they said they weren't going to do it. I called the president of the label, and I said, 'It's in the contract. You have to do it. You have to do 500 copies.' And he's like, 'Sue me. I've got almost two million dollars of your money in the pipeline…go ahead, sue me.' I was like, 'What a dick.' So then knowing that next year is the 30th anniversary of Sparkle and Fade, I'm actually working with Universal to work on a package of a remaster of that, and songs that no one's ever heard from that."

"This year, we're celebrating 25 years of Songs from An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile, and we're going to be playing songs on tour this fall with Marcy Playground and Jimmie's Chicken Shack. And we're putting out the vinyl on our own license, through a third party. I'm stoked about it."

Are you a fan of vinyl and what do you attribute to its rise in popularity over the past ten years or so?

Alexakis: "A huge fan on vinyl. I'm glad it's coming back. I just bought a brand new stereo and I'm getting it hooked up next weekend – with speakers all over the house. I love anything analog. I'm not a purist, because I like the ease of digital, but when you put vinyl on and use analog tape and you can just smash it – it sounds like nothing else."

What were some of your favorite vinyl records growing up? Favorite record store?

Alexakis: "Growing up, every record was a vinyl record, because they didn't have anything else. I didn't buy 8-track tapes – that was for rich people, to play in their car. Or cassettes. I bought vinyl. Man, so many. I was buying records from the time I was five years old. My very first record I bought was Sgt. Peppers, the second was the Animals' Greatest Hits, the third one was Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced?."

"I've been a music fan since I can remember – since seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966. Not the first time, but the third time they played, when I was four. So, that's all I ever wanted to do. And vinyl…I would read everything on it – every little note, every credit. I grew up poor, so when I got an album, it was a big deal. And I remember getting a Black Sabbath record, and I had to hide it from my mom, because she kept throwing it away! She thought it was 'evil'."

The song "Wonderful" was a big hit off that record. What do you recall about the writing of it?

Alexakis: "What's funny is I had the music for that and even the melody to a certain extent, but I didn't have the right lyrics. So, I kept going down different ways of explaining it. It was OK, but I wasn't happy with it. At the time, I was going through a divorce with my second wife – the mother of my eldest child, my daughter – and watching her go through that divorce reminded her of me and friends of mine…everyone that's ever gone through a divorce."

"So, I put myself in the child that was inside me, and created a character that was speaking as a child. And the lyrics came pretty quick. I was going down on a plane from Portland to LA that day in the morning, to sing vocals on three or four songs – including this song if I got the lyrics done. And I wrote all the lyrics on that plane in not even two hours."

"Then, I got to the studio, and sang it in two takes. Usually, when you're singing, you do five or six takes and they just take pieces and make a comp. This time, I sang most of it in one take, and did a few parts. I'm like, 'That's done'. It took a while to come easy. But once it came, it came pretty easy."

Also, "AM Radio."

Alexakis: "Once sampling happened, I had friends that were really into hip-hop and sampling stuff. I always wanted to sample the beginning of Jean Knight's 'Mr. Big Stuff' – which was a song I'd grown up with – and create a song out of it. This album, Songs from An American Movie Vol. 1, was going to be a solo record. I recorded it as a solo record – without Greg [Eklund] and Craig [Montoya]."

"I played almost all the instruments. I had guys that were in my crew that were really good musicians that played bass and drums and keyboards, and I played all the guitars and everything else. And I turned a rough of it into Capitol, and my A&R guy gave it to my manager, who gave it to my band, and all these people turned up on my doorstep without calling one day in Portland, and they asked me to make it an Everclear record. Which, I really didn't want to do. But I did."

"It was going to be a double album, but my manager at the time convinced me to make it two albums – to get out of our deal with Capitol and with our publishing, and we could get more money. Because that's the way managers think – managers want to get paid more. And I got suckered into it, and I wish I hadn't. I wish it would have been a double album – it would have been great. But, that's on me."

Before, you mentioned Everclear's tour in September with Marcy Playground and Jimmie's Chicken Shack.

Alexakis: "I'm really looking forward to this tour. It's selling really well. I think the '90s thing right now is just kicking in really hard. We get a lot of young people come out to the shows. But this tour is going to be interesting because we're going to play songs off that record that we've never played live before."

"A song people have been wanting to hear forever and ever, and I'd always say, 'No, I'm not going to play that song…'cause I don't want to play it!' But I'm finally going to – it's called 'Unemployed Boyfriend.' We'll do about seven or eight tracks off that record – whereas we normally do about two. But we'll still play all the hits from all the other records – all the fan favorites."

How would you compare the current line-up of Everclear to the one that recorded Songs from An American Movie Vol. 1?

Alexakis: "I think they're better musicians, technically. I'm sure the other guys don't want to hear that – but it's true. And we get along great – we're all older, so it's a different experience. But at the time, those guys were in the right place at the right time, and I'm glad they were – because the music was really special."

Are you still in touch with Craig and Greg?

Alexakis: "We just started to get in contact. Not real close – that's never going to happen. But yeah, we talk. Like, we're playing Portland and Craig's going to come out. And when we're playing Minneapolis, Greg will come out – because he lives there."

Next year will be the 30th anniversary of Sparkle and Fade. Any plans to celebrate it?

Alexakis: "Yeah, we're going to do a remastered 30th anniversary of that. We did that for the first album – which I still own, World of Noise. This will come out on vinyl, CD, and digital. I'm excited about doing it. I was going to do it through a third party, but people at Universal…a guy who was a big fan growing up, and he's now the head of marketing, said he wants to do it."

"But they're going back and forth with my manager on the deal. I'm just glad that it's going to be on Capitol. And also, that it's going to have a push that people will hear about it. So, we might do it as a double album – with a lot of extra tracks, on vinyl."

Will you be playing Sparkle and Fade in its entirety next year?

Alexakis: "Yes, absolutely – we will play it in its entirety. We did that in 2015, which was the ten year anniversary. The last time, we did a side and then we did a few songs, and then we did a side and then we did a few songs."

"I think this time we'll do three songs, some stuff from other albums, three songs, stuff from other albums. I think that will make it more interesting. But we'll definitely play the whole record here and New Zealand, Australia, and Canada were the record is really big. So, looking forward to that next year."

Future plans or projects?

Alexakis: "Nope. Nothing coming up. I don't plan on making any more records. I've got two or three new songs I want to record and put out – either on a single or just digitally, for fans. But not really into making an album. Who knows – I might change my mind. But I don't think so."

For more info, visit everclearmusic.com.