Art Alexakis - Craig Montoya - Greg Eklund - Steve Birch - Scott Cuthbert
Everclear originated in 1992 in Portland, Oregon. Lead vocalist, Art Alexakis, placed an ad for a bass player and a drummer in a local newspaper. There were two responses. One was Craig Montoya (bass, vocals) and the other, Scott Cuthbert (drums, vocals). Current bassist Craig Montoya described what Art had talked about at their first meeting: "He was like, 'I want to make a record, I want to tour, in a couple of years hopefully we'll be signed to a label and do this and that...' and I was like 'Wow!' I'd been in bands with guys who didn't know anything about the music industry and here was somebody that had all these ideas and goals. He knew about the business. He was telling me about his experiences owning a record label and touring with other bands and this sounded so exciting. I thought, 'Wow, this guy is going somewhere.'"
For $400, the trio recorded a demo EP in a friend's basement. Everclear's 1993 debut album, World of Noise, which was released on Tim/Kerr Records, was actually that same exact EP with a few extra songs added to it. Unfortunately, the band was dissatisfied with T/K's promoting techniques and lead singer, Art Alexakis, promoted Everclear alone by mailing promotional copies of the album to distributers and media outlets. Touring in 1994 was nonstop for the band.
Along with leaving the record deal behind, drummer Scott Cuthbert was released and replaced by Greg Eklund, who is currently with the band. While touring, they became known for their intense live show and as a result, Everclear's popularity started to increase. They signed to Capitol Records in June of 1994 and their second Platinum-plus breakthrough album, Sparkle & Fade, was released shortly thereafter in May of 1995. That's when they hit big with singles such as Santa Monica, Heroin Girl, and Heartspark Dollarsign.
So Much For The Afterglow, Everclear's long awaited follow-up to Sparkle & Fade, was released in October of 1997. Their fourth single is already hitting the radio and the band recently picked up Billboard's "Modern Artist of the Year" award, based on album sales and singles performances. It seems as if there's no stopping them now.
*All of this information was taken from www.blinkforeverclear.com
The site is really cool, so go check it out
|