{"id":10042516,"date":"2025-10-20T10:27:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/?p=10042516"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:43:15","slug":"617-qa-art-alexakis-of-everclear-has-lived-to-tell-his-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/10\/20\/617-qa-art-alexakis-of-everclear-has-lived-to-tell-his-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"617 Q&A: Art Alexakis of Everclear has lived to tell his tales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Art Alexakis<\/strong> hasn’t had the easiest life. But you don’t need us to tell you that; it’s all in the lyrics to some of the most popular songs by his alternative rock band Everclear<\/a><\/strong>. Growing up with an absentee dad? \u201cFather of Mine.\u201d Being a child of divorce? \u201cWonderful.\u201d Brother succumbing to a heroin overdose and his girlfriend dying by suicide before he was even a teen? \u201cHeroin Girl.\u201d Relapsing after desperately trying to stay clean from the clutches of addiction? \u201cWhen It All Goes Wrong Again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, even though he\u2019s got 36 years of sobriety under his belt, the path hasn’t gotten easier. Back in 2019, the singer revealed that three years prior, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis<\/a> following a car accident. Alexakis penned a letter to fans<\/a> of the band letting them in on his health battle, partly to assure them that if they saw him \u201cstumbling… sweaty, looking both tired and anxious at the same time,\u201d it was due to the autoimmune disease and not from falling off the wagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incredibly, the battle with MS hasn\u2019t appeared to slow the 63-year-old Alexakis down \u2013 at least to the naked eye. Last month, he kicked off a 43-date outing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Sparkle and Fade<\/em>, Everclear\u2019s major label debut, which features the hits \u201cSanta Monica\u201d and \u201cHeartspark Dollarsign\u201d alongside fan favorites like \u201cSummerland.\u201d On Tuesday night (October 21), the trek rounds the corner into its final stretch with a stop at Big Night Live<\/a> in Boston’s North Station. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I do everything I’m supposed to do to make myself as healthy as I can,” he tells Vanyaland<\/em>. “I do my physical therapy, my medication diet, working out, swimming \u2013 to slow down the MS because it’s inevitable. It’s a chronic disease.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the show, which includes support from the ever-reliable Local H<\/a> and surprisingly resilient Sponge<\/a>, Alexakis sat down for a 617 Q&A (Six Questions; One Recommendation; Seven Somethings<\/a>). Checking in on a much-needed day off, he talked openly about his ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis, his infamous suicide attempt as a child, and why now is the right time to start working on a new Everclear record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

:: SIX QUESTIONS<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Michael Christopher: How is your health through a long tour like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art Alexakis: You mean the MS? Yeah, it’s there. It just makes everything harder. I just have to work harder, and I have to push harder, and I am blessed that I am able to still do what I love to do and to be able to provide for my family and for my band and everybody, all the people that work for me. And we’re still able to do it. Who knows how long, but I feel like we’re good for a while, for years. It does; it makes everything harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say that if you live long enough with MS, you’re going to be in a wheelchair. Well, I think I’m a couple of years away from a cane. Like, we went to the Parthenon a couple of years ago, and that was awesome. We had to climb up these little steps that are like 4,000 years old. I took my cane and I’m glad I did. I think there was a lot of, people who wish they had a cane. [laughs] But my balance isn’t what it used to be. And it’s just like I could let myself trip out about stuff like that. \u201cOh my God, I have a cane, and I have to do this.\u201d Instead of just like, \u201cMan, I got to do whatever I got to do to do what I want to do.\u201d And I want to play music. I want to take care of my family. I want to enjoy life. I want to experience life. I want to do whatever I have to do to do it. And I love people when they have that attitude. That’s how you win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m a long-time advocate of suicide prevention and mental health awareness, and through my work, I hear a lot of stories. One of the wildest ones that has stuck with me is since I first heard it, was about your suicide attempt and how you filled your pockets with \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone makes a big deal about that. [laughs] I was 12. My girlfriend had died, and I jumped off the pier…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With your pockets filled with sand<\/strong>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sand and lead fishing weights. It was my brother’s army jacket, those big army jackets you get at a surplus store and with all the pockets and stuff. And I was just miserable, and I was on drugs and drinking and just a sad, confused kid. And I jumped off the Santa Monica Pier and went all the way to the bottom, had my big boots on, and when I got down there, I saw my brother. To this day, I see him walking towards me with light, and I can hear him, and he is just like, \u201cNo, this is wrong. You got to go back up. You’re not done yet.\u201d And maybe I was asphyxiating [laughs] and I hallucinated it, but man, I don’t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m clean and sober 36 years. So, I work a program pretty hard. I believe in a higher power, and I think all things are possible in this world. Who knows what it was? But for me, it was very visceral and very real, and I’m very grateful for it because I felt like he was looking out for me, and I wasn’t done yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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