| Everclear: Remixes, ‘Racer,' and resilience |
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| Wednesday, 16 April 2008 | |||
Art Alexakis is nothing if not resilient. The Everclear frontman turned his dysfunctional family troubles and drug addiction into radio hits, including “Father of Mine” and “Wonderful.” He's been through divorces but he's ready to settle down for good with his fiancée, Vanessa Crawford, with whom he recently had a baby, Arizona Star, in November. All his original bandmates quit the group, but he found some new ones and released “Welcome to the Drama Club” in 2006. Now he's back with “The Vegas Years,” a new covers album released by Capitol, Everclear's former label. The album, which Alexakis produced, runs the gamut from the “Our Lips Are Sealed” by the Go-Gos to “Rich Girl” by Hall & Oates to the theme song from “Speed Racer.” Alexakis, 46, talked to 210SA by phone from his home in Portland, Ore., a week before his scheduled performance at the Fiesta Oyster Bake.
I've been wanting to do a covers record since '97. I don't feel like I have anything to prove as a songwriter. I think I've done that with seven albums. So I wanted to do something that was fun and fun to listen to, and something that was kind of an homage to my past. Not just my past, but the past of Everclear. There's older songs from the guys that used to be in the band, there's songs with the guys that are in the band now, and some songs that started with those old guys and we revamped some stuff and remixed it. It's a real mixed bag of songs. How'd you choose them? It's just songs I liked, and songs I had a connection with. Yeah, it is a weird potpourri. We had like 25, 26 songs, but these songs all seem to work as a record. “Speed Racer?” (Laughs) We recorded that for ESPN. They asked us to do that back in '96 for their NASCAR program. I grew up watching “Speed Racer.” I just kind of rewrote a couple of parts. That's kind of what I do when I do covers, like, I write extra parts if I feel they need that. That offends some people but to me, that's just my take on it; it's not meant to be offensive or saying the original isn't great. In the case of “Speed Racer,” that was like a 30-second theme from some Japanese guy back in the '60s. You know: (singing) “Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer.” I don't think he spoke a lot of really good English. Are you back with Capitol or what? No. We did this as a one-off with Capitol. They owned most of the masters. ..... We don't have any deals with them whatsoever. I don't think I'm going to ever sign with a major label again. I say that (but) I might. Who knows? But I doubt it. I don't see the need for it, really. Have you set a date to get married? No. We're in perpetual engagement. Right now, we're just trying to figure out when we'll have the time and the money, and she's not worried about it, I'm not worried about it. I'm not going to screw this one up. I've screwed every relationship up that I've been in. I don't want to be an old man living alone, you know? Men have to grow up sooner or later, and I think I finally have. Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor |
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