...Craig's Past...

Craig Aloysius Montoya was born on September 14th, 1970 in Spokane, WA where he spent most of his life. He grew up with an older brother named Dave, an older sister named Tami, a mother named Marge, and a father named Daniel. His brother had a big influence on him and where he is today. Craig went to Mead High School, a school where he didn't really seem to fit in. He wasn't rich, or popular, or into sports like most the other kids. "I was a total dork." He hung out with the stoners and musicians where he seemed to fit in most. His dad, brother, and most of his friends were playing the guitar, but Craig always wanted to play the drums. However, he couldn't afford a drum set, so the summer before he turned 16, he raised money by mowing lawns to buy a bass guitar since there weren't very many bassist around. His grandpa also helped him get his first bass and amp. Then, he sat around listening to the Motley Crue record learning it down pat! Him and his friends later decided to start a band and they played songs by Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, and Kiss. They decided to join a school talent show and wore tie dyed shirts, bell bottoms, and wigs to play "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix. "It was really funny, we were kind of outcasts but we had fun doing it."

Before leaving Spokane for Portland, Craig was working at a boat repair shop and got teased all the time from the guys he worked with for being in a band. When Craig told them he was quitting his job to move to Portland and have a career in music, they got a really big kick out of it. They didn't belive he'd make it at all and told him that he would be back in a year. He told them he wasn't coming back, except for tours and concerts when he goes through town.

Then in 1990, Craig moved to Portland, OR with his band Soul Hammer. Soul Hammer decided to try a new bass player but they did make a demo-tape with Craig in 1991. For more information on his previous bands, click here. By chance, Craig was looking through the want ads in the back of a North Western magazine called "The Rocket." This happened to be the ad that Art Alexakis wrote, asking for a bass player and a drummer! Craig read the ad and called Art up, and, with their drummer Scott Cuthbert, Everclear was formed. Scott was later replaced by current Everclear drummer, Greg Eklund.

Craig married his girlfriend of a few years Christel (pronouced Crystal) Bevins on October 24th, 1998. He met her at a show in Atlanta where she stood in front of him throughout the whole show. After it was over, she told him she really enjoyed the show and left. A couple weeks later he got a letter from her in the mail and called her the next day. They talked more and now they're married! They are living together in Atlanta and have a few pets including fish, cats, hamsters, and two dogs : Ceaser (boxer/pitbull. Craig found him on the freeway when he was puppy and took care of him) and Madison (rotweiler).

...Interesting Facts...

*Craig is a major AC/DC fan, and he also likes the Deftones
*Some people think he's Keanu Reeves.
*In Europe, Craig is protrayed as a sex symbol.
*He likes to cook and his favorite subject is history ;)
*The members of a Washington band called Huffy (Jeff and Jason Hamilton) were friends with Craig back when they were kids.
*There is an element called Curium, abbreviated Cm (yknow, like Craig's initials). It has an atomic number of 96 and an atomic mass of 247.0703. It is a solid metal at room temperature.
*Craig got his nick name "The Mallet" because back in 1996, he accidently bashed Greg Eklund's (drummer) forehead with a mallet for cracking open seafood. Greg bled alot and got a small scar
*During an Australia tour for Sparkle & Fade, someone stole Craig's acoustic guitar that he had used to record that album. 
*Craig was planning to make his own solo album. He was gonna get a band and maybe work with AC/DC, but he didn't think they were ever going to record anything. So perhaps it was a "just for fun" thing. Also, he couldn't find enough people who were interested.
*There were supposedly arguements between Art and Craig about Craig leaving their U.K. tour for "personal reasons"
*Craig was playing at a show and hit his bass so hard that one of his strings broke off and his hands started bleeding.


~This information was taken from the CMFC, many apologies.~

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