For Art Alexakis, charismatic frontman and driving force behind the multi-platinum powerhouse Everclear, there’s truly no debate about evolution. If you’re not growing and changing and getting creative with your classic songs over time, he say Full Bio

And every so often, to remind yourself that making music is still the invigorating joy it’s always been, it’s a great idea to take a look back at your classic songs, as Alexakis does on Everclear’s 429 Records debut, In A Different Light.

Nearly fifteen years since his Portland, Oregon based unit captured the hearts of Gen-Xers and rock fans everywhere—and hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart—with “Santa Monica” and their Top 30 Capitol Records album Sparkle and Fade, the happily restless singer/songwriter gears up for Everclear’s next phase by taking a unique, organic look back at “Santa Monica” and a personal selection of eight more their biggest hits and fan favorites from throughout their career: “Learning How To Smile,” “I Will Buy You A New Life,” “Summerland,” “Everything To Everyone,” “Wonderful,” “Father Of Mine,” “Rock Star” and “The Maple Song.”

The dynamic new set also features two new Alexakis penned tunes, “Here Comes The Darkness” (originally recorded for their 2006 first post-Capitol set Welcome To The Drama Club, but never before released) and the infectious first single “At The End Of The Day,” featuring backing vocals by performers in Portland’s underground funk gospel scene, including soul singer Liv Warfield. While Alexakis is hitting the road in spurts this fall starting October 5 in New York with a new lineup that will debut on Everclear’s highly anticipated next album (bassist Freddy Herrera, drummer Jordan Plosky, keyboardist Sasha Smith and guitarist Johnny Hawthorn), he is joined on In A Different Light by the Everclear ensemble of 2003-2009 (guitarist Davey French, keyboardist Josh Crawley, bassist Sam Hudson) and drummer Tommy Stewart.

“It’s always been more exciting for me to play with different musicians who can challenge me, put their own stamp on my songs and make them even better than I could have conceived,” says Alexakis, who created the classic Everclear sound in the mid and late 90s with Craig Montoya (bass) and Greg Eklund (drums). “My philosophy has always been whatever makes the song work wins. It’s always exciting to bring in a fresh young group of players who can bring new blood to the songs I’ve played for years and inspire me creatively.”

Alexakis’ reasoning for embarking on In A Different Light was not only to bridge the gap between the previous Everclear lineup and the new one, but also because of that long-held belief that songs, like bands, evolve naturally over time. He wanted to chronicle the way he had been playing many of these classic tunes for years, with the help of the backing band that was instrumental in taking them to a whole new creative and musical place.

“There’s nothing more fun for me than exploring the possibilities of my songs when we play live,” he says, “and I always thought it would be cool to reproduce the way they’ve grown in a studio setting. I’ve played songs like ‘Santa Monica’ and ‘Father Of Mine’ what, thousands of times by now? Doing the same old thing doesn’t interest me, so performing them the way I did ten years ago would be ridiculous. But recreating them, as the album title goes, ‘In A Different Light’ is exciting. We’re showing how the arrangements for these songs have changed over the years. I know the word ‘organically’ is overused but that’s what the vibe and approach was. The basic songs are still there, the recipes are still intact, but I turned down the guitars, favored acoustic over the electric and added more keyboards.”

Capitol already released The Best Of Everclear with original versions of some of these songs in 2006, so the project took shape as much more than a newfangled way to repackage some greatest hits. “As the sessions evolved,” Alexakis adds, “I wanted it to feel like a live, more acoustic, natural recording with an energy that’s different from the original versions, with less loops, less groove oriented. It makes sense because I recorded those 10-15 years ago and I’ve changed, this is a different band, and while they still sound like Everclear, the goal was to bring to the sessions the reality that my life is now and see how that would affect the songs.

“The challenge was to make things new while retaining the stuff that made the song cool and good in the first place. It was also interesting to put songs from different eras side by side and see how they could live together. Although I wrote ‘Fire Maple Song’ 16 years ago and the two new tracks much more recently, everything fit together very smoothly. I knew I woul Hide Bio