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Goodbye, lo-fi: Everclear wins major label success

People have been making comments about the Pacific Northwest music scene for a while now -- and they aren't talking about Seattle. Portland, with a series of popular bands such as Hazel, Pond, Dandy Warhols and Thirty Ought Six, is lately being referred to as the "next Seattle," or even "Seattle's southern little sister." And, with Portland bands like Everclear getting heavy rotation on both radio and television, for once the public might know what they're talking about.

Though not all band members hail from Portland, Everclear is truly a West Coast band. "I moved to Portland about 4 1/2 years ago from Spokane, Wash.," said bassist Craig Montoya. "Art [Alexakis, Everclear's vocalist] moved up here about 5 1/2 years ago from San Francisco." But, even with their second album, Everclear proves that they aren't ready to leave their roots behind. Several songs on "Sparkle and Fade" are about cities on the West Coast, including "Santa Monica" and "Summerland," named after a little town right off Highway 101.

Alexakis began his musical career in California in a pop-punk band called Colorfinger. When Colorfinger fizzled out due to members with drug problems, Alexakis made the decision to move to Portland to distance himself from the drug scene and to start his own family.

"Art started getting odd jobs around town, was miserable, and decided that he should give music one last shot," Montoya said.

At this point, Montoya and Alexakis got together, along with drummer Scott Cuthbert, to form the first embodiment of Everclear and to record "World of Noise." After Cuthbert was fired due to drug use, current drummer Greg Eklund's talent and persistence won him a spot in the band . "Somebody told Greg that we were looking for a drummer, but nobody would give him our phone number. They didn't want Everclear to keep going or something," Montoya remarked.

"He finally got Art's number from a neighbor and he calls up and says, `I'm your drummer.' So, we went to go practice after-hours and we played one song with him, `Nervous and Weird.' And he hit so damn hard. He was so groovin' and such a nice guy that we didn't even have to discuss it."

When Eklund joined the band, he may not have realized the magnitude of the situation that he was entering. "We said, `Are you ready to sleep on floors and eat dog food and Taco Bell? Live like a bum?'" Montoya said. "He said `Yeah,' not knowing at the time that we were being courted by major labels."

"Sparkle and Fade" shows just how well the union worked out for both Eklund and the rest of the band. This latest release from Everclear was recorded at Butch Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wis. with additional recording at A&M studios in Los Angeles. "We spent two weeks rehearsing, two weeks recording and two weeks mixing, so the whole thing took about six weeks," the bassist said. "We recorded about 18 or 19 songs and a couple of them didn't turn out the way we expected them to, so we pulled them off. Then, when we stopped in L.A. on tour, we wrote two new songs and put them on instead."

Overall, Everclear felt that the record was a success, even with the minor changes. "When we finished with the album, we said, `Even if this album totally flops, we're totally happy with it.' This is the record we wanted to make our whole lives."

With "Sparkle and Fade," Everclear proves that they have made a total change since the previous "World of Noise." "I think `Sparkle and Fade' is a little more personal for Art, as far as the lyrics go," Montoya commented. "It's not so social as `World of Noise' is."

Although "World of Noise" didn't confront as many personal issues, it still had a unique sound. As Montoya mentioned, "People always say, `Hey, how did you get that lo-fi sound (on `World of Noise')? Were you looking for that for `Sparkle and Fade'?' The truth is that's all we could afford at the time. It was done in a basement at a friend's house with microphones duct taped together ... Art sold some of his guitar gear to pay for the bill. If we could have afforded better, I'm sure it would have sounded better."

So what's up next for this MTV Buzz Clip band? "We're going over to Europe for two weeks with Silverchair. I'm sure it will be good exposure for us, but I'm not sure if it's the best move," Montoya admitted. Despite the amount of time that Everclear has already spent touring this year, they still hold fast to the notion that they're not a big partying band.

"We don't drink fifths of whiskey backstage. No one does any drugs in our band." While they do admit to carrying around a six-pack occasionally, one has to wonder what else they do for fun. "We shoot pool, we watch movies, and we all get together in one hotel room, watch Spectravision together and eat snacks," Montoya quipped.

For now, the band plans on continuing to make music, though Craig Montoya isn't sure how long it will last. "I see Everclear making two or three more records and then going out on top. I might start my own band. Play guitar, do the vocals. In the last two years I've learned how to be a backup singer and a bass player, and I've even started to write my own songs. It's a learning process though."