Art Alexakis

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Art Alexakis
A&R representative
  • political activist
  • actor
    • Instrument(s)
    • Vocals
    • guitar
    • bass
    • piano
    • mandolin
    • banjo
    Years active1988–present
    Labels
    • Eleven Seven Music
    • Capitol
    • Tim/Kerr
    • Shindig
    Member ofEverclear
    Websiteeverclearmusic.com

    Arthur Paul Alexakis (born April 12, 1962

    A&R
    representative for major record labels between and during his own musical projects. Later he became a political activist and lobbied for special concerns which include drug awareness policies and support for the families of the military.

    Early life

    Alexakis was born in Los Angeles, the youngest of five children.[1] When Art was five years old his father left the family,[1] and financial difficulties forced his mother to relocate the family to the Mar Vista Gardens housing project in California, located on the west side of Los Angeles in Del Rey. When Alexakis was 8 years old, he was beaten and sexually assaulted by older children in his neighborhood.[3]

    His brother George died of a

    crystal methamphetamine.[6] He became addicted to heroin and cocaine, and he survived a cocaine overdose when he was 22.[7] He quit drugs cold turkey in June 1989.[6]

    Alexakis took film classes at

    Los Angeles Community College.[8]

    Music career

    Early bands

    While living in Los Angeles in the '80s, Alexakis was in a band called Shakin' Brave. Shakin' Brave featured a rather rough rock sound, but never really rose above the sea of music in Southern California. Alexakis and his first wife Anita relocated to San Francisco.[9]

    While living in San Francisco, Alexakis stumbled upon a genre of music known as "cowpunk", a style merging two prevalent forms of music with which he grew up — the tunefulness of country and the distorted guitars/fast tempo of rock and roll. Inspired, Alexakis established Shindig Records. He spent several years with his cowpunk band, the Easy Hoes that formed in the late '80s and released one album, Tragic Songs of Life, in 1989.[10]

    Alexakis's next project began as a solo album but grew into a group project under the name Colorfinger. This band released the album,

    Deep in the Heart of the Beast in the Sun as well as an EP, Demonstration. Only the full-length album was made available for sale. Both were released on Alexakis's Shindig Records. A few songs originally performed by Colorfinger were made into Everclear songs, such as "Why I Don't Believe in God", "Invisible," "The Twistinside", "Heartspark Dollarsign
    ", and "Hateful".

    Everclear

    Alexakis singing with Everclear at Woodstock '99

    Following a move to Portland, Alexakis placed an ad in The Rocket seeking a bass player and a drummer to form a new band. Alexakis had two respondents,

    Sparkle & Fade, So Much for the Afterglow, and Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile
    .

    The instability and personal turmoil Alexakis experienced throughout his life would directly inspire his lyrics. "

    Sparkle & Fade
    , deals with the themes of escape and redemption that pervaded his life upon leaving San Francisco.

    Songwriting and industry roles

    While finding success as a musical act and songwriter, Alexakis took on other projects within the music industry. For several years, he served as an A&R representative for Capitol Records. In 1996, he produced Frogpond's album, Count to Ten.

    In the early 2000s, Alexakis established his own label, Popularity Recordings, as a subsidiary of Artemis Records. He produced the label's first release, the 2002 album Volume by Flipp. The label closed in 2003.

    Alexakis dabbled in songwriting with other artists, including co-writing and duetting the song "At the End of the Day" released on Marion Raven's 2005 and 2007 albums, Here I Am and Set Me Free, respectively.

    In October 2008, Alexakis entered the studio with the Minneapolis-based band Apparently Nothing (previously a Madison band and later renamed to The Usual Things) to produce their debut album, tentatively titled The Middle Coast.[12]

    Radio

    From March 2017 through February 2019, Alexakis hosted a weekly radio show on

    Lithium (Channel 34).[13]

    Film and television

    In 2000, Alexakis made brief appearances in the

    Heather Graham comedy Committed. He played the lead role in the 2006 short film Room to Breathe and had parts in Rid of Me (2011)[14]
    and Rogue River (2012).

    In 2014, he had a role as a tattoo artist in the biographical drama film Wild starring Reese Witherspoon.

    Alexakis was interviewed on

    Gibson
    guitars).

    In August 2006, Alexakis appeared on The O'Reilly Factor discussing the music video for "Hater", the first single from Everclear's Welcome to the Drama Club.

    Political activism

    In 2000, Alexakis testified before Congress in support of HR 1488, the Compassion for Children and Child Support Enforcement Act. Through ACES, the Association of Children for the Enforcement of Support, President Geraldine Jenson and Nancy Pelosi sponsored this bill. The law passed.[15]

    Alexakis was a delegate for the

    2004 Democratic presidential primaries. He and Everclear recorded the Woody Guthrie standard "This Land Is Your Land",[16]
    which he performed at several political events.

    Alexakis is also a

    Castro with a whole group of gay guys and saw a side of the culture that I had never seen before. I was aware of Harvey Milk before most people were. It was a great experience."[17]

    Alexakis has also been involved in drug awareness programs, including the taping of public service announcements for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

    Along with Everclear, he has performed for U.S. soldiers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Hawaii, and Abu Dhabi. He has also performed for Snowball Express, which organizes events for military families who lost loved ones in the war.

    Personal life

    During his younger years, Alexakis was an

    born-again
    ... Well, I guess I am born-again, in a way. But I don't knock people over the head with it. I just kind of use my spirituality to make my life better."

    On March 26, 2019, Alexakis announced that he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in a letter to fans posted on the band's website. Alexakis says he was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS following a car accident three years prior.[18]

    Partial discography

    With The Easy Hoes:

    • 1989 – Tragic Songs of Life

    With Colorfinger:

    • 1990 – Deep in the Heart of the Beast in the Sun
    • 1990 – Demonstration

    With Everclear:

    Main article: Everclear discography

    Solo:

    References

    1. ^
      AllMusic.com. Archived
      from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    2. ISSN 0362-4331
      . Retrieved August 15, 2019.
    3. ^ " "Archived copy". blogs.houstonpress.com. Archived from " the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    4. ^ Everclear's Art Alexakis: "'Sparkle and Fade' Was My Escape Route", spin.com. June 2015.
    5. ^ Edwards, Gavin. "Clear Unpleasant Danger". Details. May 1996.
    6. ^ a b "Clearing the hurdles". Archived from the original on August 24, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
    7. ^ "Art Alexakis says no to drugs and yes to success". Archived from the original on August 24, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
    8. ^ Oravec, Nathan (May 19, 2011). "E-I-E-I-Everclear". Gazette.net. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
    9. ^ Cizmar, Martin (May 9, 2017). "I Think We've Got a Problem: An Oral History of Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow"". Retrieved June 19, 2022.
    10. ^ Cizmar, Martin (November 17, 2015). "It's a Real Small Town: The story behind Everclear's Sparkle and Fade—and why everyone hates the man behind it". Retrieved June 19, 2022.
    11. ^ "WL Everclear FAQ – Section B". Whitelightning.org. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
    12. ^ "Apparently Nothing blog post". Apparently-nothing.com. December 10, 2011. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
    13. ^ "The Art Alexakis Show comes to Lithium, hosted by the Everclear frontman". March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
    14. ^ "Movie Reviews & TV Show Reviews | Screen Junkies". Ifilm.com. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
    15. ^ Staff reporter (March 15, 2000). "Everclear Frontman Art Alexakis to Testify Today Before the House of Representatives Sub-Committee on the Need for Federally Enforced Child Support Laws". NyMusic. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2008. Everclear singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Art Alexakis is taking time from recording two different albums due out this year to testify at a congressional hearing on the need for federally enforced child support laws. Alexakis will appeal on behalf of ACES (The Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, Inc.) to the House of Representatives on Thursday, March 16 at 11:00 am (EST) in Washington, DC.
    16. ^ Jeckell, Barry A. (July 23, 2004). "Everclear Singer Headed To DNC". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2008. As an elected delegate, the singer will represent Oregon's 3rd congressional district (Portland) at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Boston.[...] Tying in with the July 25–29 convention and this year's U.S. presidential election, Alexakis has recorded a version of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", which became available for download from the Rock the Vote Web site.
    17. ^ "Art Alexakis (Ever)clearing the air". Windy City Media Group. January 20, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
    18. ^ Legaspi, Althea (March 26, 2019). "Everclear's Art Alexakis Reveals Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 27, 2019.

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