Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Three Decades Deep: ART ALEXIKAS From EVERCLEAR Gets Candid

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Three Decades Deep: ART ALEXIKAS From EVERCLEAR Gets Candid · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: There's here. By the way, I'm sorry, I'm late. My
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: previous Australian interviews went a little long and then my
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: wife called, I want something about my daughter. And so
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: when my wife calls.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Well stops.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: I learned every time stops.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you're a good man. No, that's fine.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I'm still married twenty one years later. That's a lot
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to do with it.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, compromises everything.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Sorry, well, just paying respect. Let's going on, Elie.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Nice to meet you almost in the flesh.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: When I was asked to jump on and do this interview, which.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: A couple of days ago, I was more than happy
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: to jump on and do it.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: So very much look forward to. So you're guys are
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: about to come back down Under.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Yes, we're coming down in what three weeks?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Wow?
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Two three weeks. That's exciting. We've been coming every two
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: years to three years for the last since twenty thirteen
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and we've got a really great, strong following down there
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: and we just love coming back. And Sparkling Fate is
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: a big album down there for us. Yeah, it's all
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: a million and a half. Like it was platinum and
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: a half here, it was three times platinum plus down there,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and after it was like five times platinum.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Oh, I know. Those two albums were the soundtrack to
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: my misspent youth.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: The Glorious Results of a misspent You.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Absolutely it was. You were definitely a.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: Big feature in part of my music trajectory and when
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: I was a young teenager into where I am now
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: doing what I do next.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Sorry, it's so well.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Done, awesome, Well, thank you.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I did actually get to see you guys play
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: when you come down on back. I think it may
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: being gosh ninety seven or ninety eight. I think when
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: you played the on the Gold Coast you played, and
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: I think the Sony X Games it was the opening
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: to that.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I remember that.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was great.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: So I have seen you guys before, so very much
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: looking forward to seeing you again and then Sparkling faded
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: anniversary to a lot. I put the tracks on the
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: other day and I forgot just how many bangs you.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Guys have gone.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: It's just yeah, as I said, I know the music
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: well and much loved, and your lyrics are fantastic.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I always have a giggle when I listened to some
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: of them.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, you know what
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: it's you know what's crazy, Ellie, is that there's a
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: lot of people, you know, that were nineties kids like
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: you that grew up with the band and with you know,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: all the all the great Australian bands and all the
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: great nineties alternative bands that Good Spoons are awesome. I mean,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I don't get me started.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but before that was amazing as well.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Awesome. Yeah, they're great. We played I think Livid with them, yes,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: many many years ago. Wow, there's been some great bands
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: out of the North that of Brisi and I'm trying
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: to think of that one band with the girl singer
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: that came in his patience the singer. Anyway, there was
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: some great I forget I'm gonna I'm gonna blame age
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: and the MS.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: On my memory.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: This is always a great, great card to play, right.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: For sure for sure?
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Speaking of MS, Yes, so that's been something that you've
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: been dealing with for.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Some time and since twenty sixteen.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and obviously doing the right things because it's
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: you're still able to tour and come and do music
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: and without affecting too much.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: It's pretty pretty hectic thing.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: It just makes everything harder. It makes the travel travel harder,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: you know, I don't jump around as much as I
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: used to because I'll fall down. So you know, that
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: could be part parts part age. You know, we still
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: put on a pretty good rock show and uh yeah.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: And it's just like it's just one of those things
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: everybody's got the older you get, everybody's got something or
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: you know someone who's got something. Yeah, I just did
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: what it is and that's a part of the human condition.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: And I'm just I'm good. Like you said, I'm grateful
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: that I'm not incapacitated like a lot of people are.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I might be someday, but i'm not now, and I'm
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: just out there working it man, and just feeling grateful
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: that I can still I'm in my sixties and I'm
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: still playing rock and roll. I mean, I'm living the dream.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: You look amazing, Thank you.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Blonde hair is going great. Up into COVID. I was
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: still bleaching my hair because my wife liked it that way.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just like.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: You know what, you know, maybe it's time to stop pleaching. Okay,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: that'll say be a couple of thousand dollars a year.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: That's cool.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: It's put a bit of harder in it. It looks
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: exactly the side about.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: No, no, no, no. It's essentially I would do I would
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: do a double process.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Of forty Oh wow, you had to pull out It's like.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, still.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: I still got something air. This is better than most guys.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: So when you come down to doing the the anniversary,
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: if you've got any specials that you're going to bring out,
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: or you're just going to focus doing on the album
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: and play the favorites, and.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Well, we're gonna do the Yeah, I mean, we're doing
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the whole album, which is fourteen songs. We usually played
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: our normal set's about sixteen seventeen songs, so we got
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: to play about five or six hits down there. We
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: got to play Local God, play all so you know,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's going to be a long set
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: eighty five minutes.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Just so many that are that and that were you
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: best known. So it's so it's exciting. So it's good
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: you're going to have been a runo ut to play
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: some extras. So Local God is going to be one
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: which is hit well with the Ausies, didn't it.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we didn't even know that was a hit down there.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: It was just a soundtrack song. And when we came
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: down there, the President. The President came to our soundtrack
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: of of of em I Australia and he's like, hey, mate,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: he's looking at my sett list. He goes, where's local God?
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: I go it's a soundtrack song. I'm not playing. We're
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: not playing that song. He goes, brother, it has been
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: a top three song on three different formats, you know. Yeah,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: and we're like, oh, okay, So we had to learn
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: it and during soundtrack because we hadn't played it, and
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: so yeah, we played. We you have to play that.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: You come to Australia Zealand, you gotta play it.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, definitely, Yeah, excellent. And do you have any
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: support apps that are playing with you this summer.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's gonna be a band called Dose Okay. Yeah,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: that's a cool band, Adam Melbourne, and they're gonna be
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: playing a lot of shows. There's some markets that can
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: they're still figuring it out. And there's gonna be a
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: couple of other bands. We're talking to a couple of
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: other bands that are are that people have heard of
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: about doing certain certain areas. You know.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like because you're doing a lot of the regions
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we do regions, so we fly into a capitol
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: and we do three or four shows, go to another
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: capital and like we're doing w A you know, yeah,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and we go to Perth, Fremantle, Dunsmore, you know, a
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: couple of shows there and then Adelaide and then Townsville.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: It's just we're just doing those two shows. So we'll see,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: we'll see what bands play with.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it will be interesting.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: It's good to see what quite of decent build you
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: mom coming ENTERTAINAQ, which is nice. So I get I
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: can probably catch you twice in gold Crest in Brisbane,
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: so I'm thinking about the gold Gurst that I will
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: be definitely attending and checking you out for sure. It's
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: even though it's not it's not one of my favorite venues,
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: but it's you know, a good band places which which
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: mim cat up.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: It's just I love that place.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: You really, it's just so hot, like startying does anything.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: I don't like it is it.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Is, but it's like the food there and the vibe
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: it's really cool.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's a small stage and it's a
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: it gets it gets crazy hot and it does and doesn't.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: That's small, narrow, I think that's just yeah, it's not
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: just different.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: But I get see if you were in your teens
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: or twenties, be like that's awesome. You're like, man, I
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: don't want people touching.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Me very much.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: So it's just crazy. We get a little bit, let's tolerant,
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: isn't it funny? And we'll get older. But yeah, no,
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: I'm just looking forward to that. So, so you're going
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: for December and November, so nearly two months worth of
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: shows you got when you come out, Well, we get.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: There on the twentieth. You play Newcast on the twenty
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: first of that's our first show, yeah, of November, and
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: then we get home. Our last year is the thirteenth
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: in Adelaide, right, and yeah, we get home on the fourteenth,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: so we're yeah, I mean we're missing a big, big
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: US holiday called Thanksgiving. Yeah, we have every year and
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: we kill eighteen million turkeys and everybody else turkey, probably
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: more than eighteen million, probably like one hundred million turkey,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: but I do love a turkey. We'll be having that
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: for Christmas.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, because just before Christmas and you get
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: home and you'll be going from scorching summer back to
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: nice cold winter, which is going to be well.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I look at California, it doesn't get that called.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, so that's kind of it's very much like
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: here when on the East Coast.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: It's more exactly, it's it's more like it's like Sydney. Yeah,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: maybe like between Sydney and Melbourne that as called as Melbourne.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Melbourne's you just don't like the weather. Just
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: wait a minute, it will change your four seasons in
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: one day.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, it's just mild.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: And then it's really really it's crazy as Yeah. So
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: you'll be home missing Thanksgiving for Christmas, which is nice.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: You'll be able to settle down and then what are
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: the plans for twenty twenty six and a new record?
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Yes, we're going into America a new record in January,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: got a bunch of shows, just more touring and working
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: on a new record and yeah, just back back back
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: to the grind.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Back to the grind. Yeah, that's exciting new music coming out.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean we're gonna, like I said, we're gonna
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: play all the songs from this record and then we're
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: gonna like do some extra song hits from other records.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: We'll do three songs Sparkling, Paved and a song from
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: after Glow and you know, so on and so on,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and it seems to work pretty well here, and I
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: think it'll work well down there for everybody. You know,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: if you're hardcore sparkling faith fan, you hear all the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: all the songs that we never play, right, you know,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: all the side too basically. But yeah, so I think
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: it's gonna be a great show.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: And so have you gone with your audience?
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Have you got like like a younger following that you've
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: that have come us.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: That's a really great question. Yeah. I mean, i'd say
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: about thirty percent of our crowds here are teenagers, yeah,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: and twenty somethings that weren't even alive when these songs
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: are on the radio. Right, there's a lot of a
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: lot of a lot of people glanding on tonight these
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: alternative as like the last vestige of like to them,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: it's classic rock. But there's still bands out there, and
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: that's fine, and we're because all the people making music
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: in the nineties where people grew up in the seventies
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: with classic rock.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Like absolutely yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: And so yeah, it's exciting to see these kids their
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: eyes on fire, like because it's brand new to them, new.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: To them, that's it.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: And they don't seem to be bummed out that we're
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: a bunch of old, gray haired dudes with turkey necks.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: But you know, we still we put on a good
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: show for sure.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: And that must be like, really gott sparing yourselves to
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: know that you've just got this youthful following that's loving
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: it and their parents to thank for that.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: And like my children.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Parents, the majority are not like what we call legacies.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: They don't they they're not with their parents or family.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: There's so many kids whatever, the zoomers, right, the generation
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: they fan they go online and they find nineties bands
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: and they yeah, the playlist and they are they know Elie.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: They know every word every song, not just the heads,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: all the songs.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Isn't it crazy songs?
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, crazy?
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: It is something saying Sugar Dolls made a comeback like that.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: It was just it went viral and TikTok a song
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: that was like and it's like it's insane. And they're finding,
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: like you said, this new stuff that he's giving you
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: guys that leg up and it's it's kind of good.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: It's cool, and the technology is being good for something
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: that rebirth of finding fresh stuff rather than digging through
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: old CDs and records dolls like.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because you know that there is a charm to that, right.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely, Thank you so much for coming on and
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: looking forward to seeing you in December, these early December.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: You play up this way, so go Press Brisbane, I
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: think on your.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Bill and hopefully you'll come out to the market.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Will see Oh I will be there. I will be
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: there for the live review.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: I've already got already put my head up with that
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: one for sure.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: I'm very much.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Looking forward to and seeing you guys again, so it'll
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: definitely be a tip down memory line for me.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you, thank you. It was a wonderful interview.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you for taking your time and having me on.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Likewise, like all right, thanks bye bye