REFUSE TO FADE AWAY

Blind Melon's lead singer, Shannon Hoon, was found dead on his tour bus in New Orleans almost two years ago. Over the previous summer he had gone through rehab, become a father and released a new album. According to a report from the Associated Press, a band spokesperson cited the cause of death as apparent accidental drug overdose. Hoon was only 28 years old.

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis stood at death's door himself just over a decade ago. After doing cocaine for what would be the last time, he collapsed from a sezure as his heart stopped beating. Alexakis would recover from this overdose and make the most important decision of his life. "Once I made a decision to live," said Alexakis in a recent telephone interview with Brainchild, "I quit drugs and never looked back."

Alexakis, now a clean and sober married father, is seeing his decision pay off. His band's second album, "Sparkle and Fade," has featured two hit singles; "Heroin Girl" which landed at number 33 on Billboard's Modern Rock Chart and the band's biggest hit "Santa Monica." Everclear's songs on "Sparkle and Fade" read like an autobiography of Alexakis, whether talking about the racism he discovered when he brought home a black girlfriend in "Heartspark Dollarsign" or his drug addicted past in "Heroin Girl." The singer now talks openly about his past, including the death of his girlfriend and brother due to drug overdoses, in an effort to "clean the slate" once and for all.

Growing up, Alexakis' father was "a birthday card with five bucks in it once a year" to him. The troubled teen eventually followed in his brother's footsteps and became a drug addict, sustaining his drug addiction by robbing throughout the projects of California. Following the overdose of his girlfriend, the then 13-year-old Alexakis tried to kill himself by jumping off a bridge in a weighted down army coat, an experience that still lives with him. "It's a part of me," said Alexakis. "You can never really shake off all of your demons."

With his father not around, his brother was the only father figure Alexakis knew. The band's first single, "Heroin Girl," touches on growing up with drugs around, including the death of his brother, which a policeman standing over the body referred to as "just another overdose" (a line in the song.) "I think the lack of not having my brother here influences me to this day," said Alexakis. "I still miss him."

Alexakis found relief through music, which he has loved his whole life. "As a child, I wrote to Santa asking for musical instruments like organs and guitars, not toys," said Alexakis with a laugh. With drugs out of his life, Alexakis has finally been able to concentrate on music. "I don't even think about doing drugs anymore," says Alexakis. "I just know they're a real road to nowhere."