EVERCLEAR BIO 
(courtesy of Capitol Records)

Everclear formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1992, when San Francisco transplant Art Alexakis (vocals, guitar) hooked up with Craig Montoya (bass, vocals) and Scott Cuthbert (drums). The band recorded its World Of Noise demo for a reported $400 in a basement--and this "demo" became their 1993 debut album on local indie Tim/Kerr Records. Considering the recording conditions, the album came out not too bad and was eventually re-released on Capitol--the major label that subsequently picked the band up. 

"Fire Maple Song," a catchy tune off World, was remixed for an EP by the same title, which also includes an acoustic version of the song. The additional tracks on the six-song EP benefit from the addition of drummer Greg Eklund, who replaced Cuthbert. 

Attention came with Everclear's first big studio record, Sparkle And Fade, which was produced by Alexakis. It took some time, but eventually radio played (and played, and played) "Santa Monica," an infectious, guitar-driven song dedicated to the California city where Alexakis spent his youth. The majority of the other 13 songs, with the exception of "Heroin Girl," passed unnoticed by radio, but the impact of "Santa Monica" was enough to establish the band as a force on the alternative rock scene. 

In the midst of writing material for its next record, the band contributed songs to the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack ("Local God") and the Cheap Trick tribute compilation ("Southern Girls"). Alexakis also played a few solo shows to debut new material. Everclear's next release, So Much For The Afterglow (initially titled Pure White Evil), appeared in October of '97. Although "Santa Monica" proved the initial catalyst for Everclear's success, this particular album was the real clincher: It spawned three massive radio hits, "Everything To Everyone," "I Will Buy You A New Life," and "Father Of Mine," and eventually went double platinum. 

Everclear took off a couple of years to polish its next collection, an ambitious double-album set (with staggered recording and release dates) titled Songs For An American Movie, Vol. 1/Learning How To Smile and Vol. 2/Good Time For A Bad Attitude. Alexakis described the set as representative of two halves of the band's cohesive sound--with Vol. 1 being the "pop," Beatles-esque, and melodic side, and Vol. 2 representing Everclear's driving "rock" sound. Vol. 1/Learning How To Smile was originally intended to be Alexakis's solo debut; however, after some reflection, he felt the songs would work better in a collaborative band format and subsequently decided to release the set as an Everclear project.