Bayfest-bound band takes control, hopes for a rebirth
• Joan Jett ranks high on rock lists
• Neal McCoy's antics on stage keep fans chuckling, buying
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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| Greg Eklund, Art Alexakis and Craig Montoya landed on the alt-rock map with 1995's "Sparkle and Fade."
Everclear Art Alexakis (vocals/guitar), Craig Montoya (bass/vocals), Greg Eklund (drums) Formed in Portland, Ore., in 1992 Albums and Billboard Top 200 chart peak position: "World of Noise" (1993, did not chart); "Sparkle and Fade" (1995, no. 25); "So Much for the Afterglow" (1997, no. 33); "Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile" (2000, no. 9); "Songs From An American Movie Vol. 2: Good Time For A Bad Attitude" (2000, no. 66); "Slow Motion Daydream" (2003, no. 33). An ideal Everclear mix CD: "Heroin Girl," "Heartspark Dollarsign," "Santa Monica," "Everything To Everyone," "Father Of Mine," "I Will Buy You A New Life," "One Hit Wonder," "Wonderful," "AM Radio," "When It All Goes Wrong Again," "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom." BayFest 2003 Today through Sunday Marine Corps Base Hawai'i Noon-5 p.m.: $5 adults, $3 ages 4-10; 5 p.m.-closing: $8 adults, $5 ages 4-10. 254-7679, bayfesthawaii.com Main stage entertainment Today: Saturday: Sunday: Fireworks by Grucci Brothers |
The Portland, Ore.-based alt-rock trio's latest CD, "Slow Motion Daydream," has disappeared from the album charts and the popular consciousness after just three months of release. This, despite the fact that "Daydream" is arguably one of the best recordings — lyrically or musically — the band has released in a decade-plus of mostly superb work.
"Oh, it's done atrociously," lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Alexakis, 41, said of the record's lackluster performance. "The label (Capitol) hasn't worked it. No one's worked it. No one knows about it."
Alexakis managed a small chuckle.
"I have a family ... who called me and (asked), 'When's your new album coming out?'" Pause. "Uh, four months ago."
Alexakis went on to explain that the dearth of label support for "Daydream" was just one reason he had decided recently to once again take over full-time management of Everclear's day-to-day affairs. It was the first time he assumed a front-office position since stepping down to co-management duties when 1997's "So Much For The Afterglow" proved the multi-platinum success of 1995's "Sparkle And Fade" was no fluke.
Alexakis didn't want to elaborate on reasons for his decision, other than the band needing "to know what's goin' on with its business," and for the last few months "people not doing what they said they were going to do, or doing things they're not supposed to do." He admitted, however, that managing the band's affairs was a sometimes "overwhelming" and "intense" task.
Maybe that's why an increasingly weary (or perhaps bored) Alexakis, toward the end of our mostly-friendly phone chat, snapped at my suggestion that "Daydream" didn't "get to where he wanted it to" sales-wise.
"Don't put words in my mouth!" he said. "I didn't say '... didn't get where I wanted it to.' I just said I wasn't happy with the way it was worked. If it was worked as well as it should have been and it sold a hundred copies, I'd be totally happy with it. Do you understand the difference? ... I'm happy with the record as it was made. It wasn't worked properly."
Sorry, Art. Perhaps I simply misunderstood that "Oh, it's done atrociously" referred to the kind of sales you intended all along.
Earlier in our conversation, Alexakis was happy to talk about his home life and why one-off gigs like this week's Bayfest show were far more preferable for him these days than a full-on touring.
"I'm not really into being gone all the time like I used to be," said Alexakis, who remarried in 2000 and has an 11-year-old daughter, Anna, from a previous relationship. "My daughter's getting older. My wife wants to start having kids. And I need to be home. I want to be home. I don't have that sense of gypsy that I used to have."
The decision to slow down the fast-paced lifestyle and nonstop touring — part of the band's existence since mining radio hits out of Alexakis's witty, smartly written and often semi-autobiographical compositions such as "Father of Mine," "Santa Monica" and "I Will Buy You A New Life" — arrived with the recording of "Daydream." The CD was recorded in a studio just down the street from the singer's Portland home.
"It was a good place to be," he said. "It was good to have it there without all the rock-star amenities of a studio in L.A., you know?
"Plus I could go pick up my daughter from school or go home and spend the night at home with my wife at night. That's pretty awesome!"
It was too tempting not to ask just how normal a house husband Alexakis was these days.
"I power-wax my own deck. That's pretty sexy," Alexakis said. "The dogs knock over my trash cans and spread it out all over the alley and I go cuss 'em out just like the guy down the street who's an insurance salesman."
Sounds like a new life to us.
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Joan Jett ranks high on rock lists
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They've so far managed to squeeze the original model of the modern riot grrl icon onto three of the network's recent multihour rock list marathons. You'll find her at No. 54 on the 100 Sexiest Artists list, No. 45 on the 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era list, and No. 36 on a list of the 100 Greatest Songs from the Past 25 Years. We're still not sure why Jett is behind Faith Hill and Shakira on the Women of the Video Era list. But 1982's "I Love Rock 'N Roll" as the 36th greatest song of the last quarter-century? Put another dime in the jukebox, baby!
After paving the way for a generation of female rockers as a member of The Runaways and as leader of her own Blackhearts, the former Joan Marie Larkin, 42, remains a popular live draw.
- Essential Jett: "I Love Rock 'N Roll," "Bad Reputation," "Crimson and Clover," "Light of Day."
- Worst Jett cover: A 2001 Britney Spears workover of "I Love Rock 'N Roll" is aural root canal.
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Neal McCoy's antics on stage keep fans chuckling, buying
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His on-stage antics have included donning a wedding dress, rapping to classic TV anthems and poking fun at his audience's fashion choices like Chris Rock working the MTV Video Music Awards.
Born to an Irish, native-Texan father and Filipino mother, McCoy, 40, is fond of calling his ethnicity "Texapino."
That ear-to-ear smile in the photo here isn't just for show, either. "I've got a lot of wrinkles, and I think it's from smiling so much," McCoy says on his Web site.
While McCoy's biggest hits arrived in the mid-'90s — "No Doubt About It" and "Wink" went to No. 1 on Billboard's country singles chart in 1994, and he had six other Top 5 hits between 1994 and 1998 — the vocalist's constant touring and reputation for exuberant live shows have kept his fans coming back.
- McCoy's best: "No Doubt About It," "Wink," "For A Change," "The Shake," "They're Playin' Our Song."
