Everclear’s Art Alexakis Talks Reissuing 1993 Debut Album, Reveals ‘Everclear Was Going to Be My Last Band’ (Exclusive)

Everclear has been going strong for three decades now and is even reissuing their debut 1993 album, World of Noise, to celebrate. Recently, Alexakis sat down with PopCulture.com to talk about re-releasing the album, which is hitting streaming services for the first time on Friday, June 10. He also opened up about the origins of Everclear, revealing that — after nearly a decade of playing music in Southern California — this “was going to be my last band.”

Recalling the story of led him to start Everclear, Alexakis explained, “I had a band in San Francisco and a label in San Francisco, but I found out my girlfriend, who’s from Portland, found out she was pregnant. So we moved to Portland in late ’91 and tried to do the long-distance thing with my band, but just couldn’t afford it. Couldn’t afford it. We were on welfare. We were poor. I had no money.” He continued, “And so, Everclear was going to be my last band. If that didn’t work somewhere down the line, we were going to probably move to LA, and I was going to work for a record label and write songs for other people and do that thing. But I wanted to do one more band, so Everclear was my last band.”

After playing some shows around Portland and the surrounding areas, the then 30-year-old Alexakis “met a guy who had a basement studio” who agreed to make a trade with him for use of the studio. “He traded me $400 worth of recording time, which is 40 hours at 10 bucks an hour,” the rock singer shared. “And I’m like, ‘Okay, we have 12 songs. I can do that.’ And really, I didn’t tell the other guys in the band, but I wanted to see what we sounded like on tape because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep doing this band. I wasn’t sure we had the spell. I believed in my songs, but I didn’t know if it was congealing. And we recorded it. As we were mixing it down, I’m like, ‘Yeah, there’s something there.’”

Once the demo was done, Alexakis hurriedly sent it to the South by Southwest festival in hopes the band would be chosen to play, and his gamble paid off. The band was picked. “They called me at home and left a message and said, ‘We want you guys to play in four weeks.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay.’ So I booked some gigs to get there. I borrowed some money, recorded a bunch of demo tapes of the demo, called it World of Noise, sent it out to clubs all over the Northwest and papers all over the Northwest,” Alexakis said.

Unbeknownst to the rocker, Everclear was making waves while he was busy focused on SXSW, but he soon learned about the hype and how real it was. “On the way back from South by Southwest, my girlfriend at the time, who became my second wife, was like, ‘Man, you better get home. There’s all these messages offering these shows with big bands. And people are writing about it, all the papers. Everybody’s talking about Everclear.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, okay.’”

That first album, a collection of demo recordings, catapulted Everclear onto the rock scene. The band has gone on to record nine more studio albums since, including the multi-platinum selling 1997 album So Much for the Afterglow. They have also produced numerous chart-topping singles such as “Santa Monica,” Everything to Everyone,” and “Wonderful.” 

World of Noise, however, is decidedly unlike anything else in the band’s impressive repertoire. Somehow, with a collection of raw, brutally honest, and profoundly energetic songs under their belt, the ones on World of Noise manage to be some of the rawest, the most honest, and the most energetic that Alexakis has ever written. From the opener, “Your Genius Hands,” to songs like “Nervous and Weird,” World of Noise is very clearly a grunge-era classic that demands to be heard.

Thankfully, Alexakis also threw some terrific unreleased and previously unheard tunes on the reissue of World of Noise, including “Drunk Again,” which might very well be the heaviest (one could even argue thrashiest) song that Everclear has ever recorded. Notably, Alexakis revealed that when he was putting the demo tracks together for World of Noise, he didn’t initially include the song because he felt that it was “kind of stereotypical grunge.” After revisiting it years later, he changed his tune. 

“When I found these tapes, I listened to it again. I’m like, “F—, that’s pretty cool. It’s heavy as s—.” And I love the lyrics. You can tell. I’ve been sober and clean now, almost 33 years in June [2022], but at the time, it was ’92, so I was barely three years sober. I was pissed off, and you could tell what I’m writing about. I’m just creating stuff. I didn’t know anyone named Cathy. I didn’t have a baby named Hazel, but I was like, for one thing, you don’t hear songs about people talking about being in recovery. But recovery was a big part of my life then and now, especially then. So that song’s intense, man.”

Everclear fans who’ve never had the absolute thrill of hearing World of Noise will get their chance on Friday, June 10, when the album is released to streaming services. Those interested can head to EverclearMusic.com for links, including social media sites and concert tickets for the band’s 30th Anniversary tour, which kicks off on June 9. Stay locked to PopCulture.com for music news, including more upcoming exclusives from Everclear!