Craig Montoya, Art Alexakis & Craig Eklund
Biography
ART ALEXAKIS (Vocals & Guitar)
Art was born on April 12, 1962. He grew up in Santa Monica, California. Alexakis was a drug addict before kicking the habit after anear-fatal overdose. Before creating and also co-managing Everclear, Art moved to San Francisco where he joined the band the EazyHoes. He later formed Colorfinger, which branched out of a solo project. While at San Francisco, Alexakis also founded the Shindigrecord label. Within a month after the release of Colorfinger's Deep in the Heart of the Beast in the Sun, the Shindig label went
bankrupt, and Art's girlfriend, Jenny, became pregnant. Alexakis then moved to his girlfriend's hometown of Portland, where he currentlyresides. There, he married Jenny and had a daughter named Annabella. Four days later, Everclear had its first rehearsal.
Craig Montoya (Bass & Backing Vocals)
Craig Montoya was born on September 14, 1970. He dealt drugs during his teens while living in Spokane, Washington, and played with a band called Soul Hammer. After a couple nights in jail, he decided that he never wanted to return there. He soon got a job washing boats, and moved to Portland to join his band. They later disbanded, and did not release any albums. After the band split apart, Montoya joined Everclear. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is engaged to his girlfriend, Crystal.
Craig Eklund (Drums & Backing Vocals)
Greg Eklund was born on April 18, 1970. While living in Eugene, Oregon, he played with a band called Jollymon. Greg left Jollymon after their release of the album "Sailing" to move to Portland. After his stint with Jollymon, Greg played for a short time in the band Nero's Rome. He then joined Everclear after Scott Cuthbert was kicked out. On July 6, 1997, Eklund married his longtime girlfriend Ellina. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Band History.......
Though Everclear's Northwestern grunge-punk style was hardly revolutionary when the band became popular in 1995, the band's superb songsand Art Alexakis' us-against-them lyrics were taken to heart by bored Gen-X teens. Also elemental to Everclear's success is their obsessive touring schedule and aggressive self-promotion. Art Alexakis (b. Apr. 12, 1962, West Los Angeles, CA) was raised lower-middle-class by his mother in Santa Monica. The death of both his
brother and girlfriend by drug overdoses convinced him to kick his own cocaine habit in the mid-'80s, and he later formed a country-punk band named Colorfinger in San Francisco. The group released one LP on Alexakis' Shindig label, but the album (and an EP) became out of print after distributor Rough Trade folded. The band imploded, and Alexakis moved to his girlfriend's hometown of Portland, Oregon. In 1992, he met Craig Montoya (b. Sept. 14, 1970) and Everclear's first drummer, Scott Cuthbert; the trio recorded a demo EP (for $400) that was released on Portland's Tim/Kerr label. Alexakis grew frustrated with the company's lack of promotion, so he hired an independent promoter to push the EP
and personally mailed copies to media outlets and distributors. Everclear then added several songs to the EP and released it as World of Noise in 1993 on Fire Records. During 1994, the group toured relentlessly, replaced Cuthbert with Greg Eklund (b. Apr. 18, 1970), and signed to Capitol in June. Second album Sparkle and Fade appeared in
1995, and alternative radio quickly picked up on the singles "Santa Monica" and "Heroin Girl." Everclear's third album, So Much for the Afterglow, was released in October 1997.
--by John Bush, All-Music Guide
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Everclear formed in 1992, in Portland, Oregon. The original members were: Art Alexakis (vocals & guitar), Craig Montoya (bass & backing vocals), and Scott Cuthbert (drums). Art had found Craig and Scott by placing an ad about the band in a local newspaper. They recorded a demo titled World of Noise for $400. In fact, budget was so tight, that Art didn't even have enough money to buy a matching set of tubes for his amplifier. Although the demo was intended to give to clubs so that the band could get gigs, it was later released as their debut album. In 1994, Scott Cuthbert was kicked out of the band for violating the band's no-drug policy. He was later replaced by Greg Eklund, who first appears on the band's 1995 breakthrough album, Sparkle and Fade. 2 years later, the band released their latest, titled So Much For The Afterglow. In the tour following the release of SMFTA, Everclear added Steve Birch as a second guitarist, in order to get a sound more like the album. However, Art has said that Steve is not officially a member of the band, although
he appears in the video of "Everything To Everyone."
--from Pale Green Stars
Wav Sounds
Fire Maple Song
Heartspark Dollarsign
Santa Monica
Mp3 Sounds
Everything to Everyone
Fire Maple Song
Heroin Girl
Like a California King
Loser Makes Good
My Sexual Life
One Hit Wonder
Summerland
Twistinside
AU Sounds
Chemical Smile
Everything to Everyone
Fire Maple Song
Heroin Girl
Like a California King
Loser makes Good
My Sexual Life
One Hit Wonder
Summerland
Twistinside
Movies
Everything to Everyone
Fire Maple Song
Heartspark Dollarsign
Heroin Girl
I Will Buy You a New Life
Santa Monica
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