From The Desk Of Everclear’s Art Alexakis: Soul Music

Regrets—Art Alexakis has had more than a few. And he’s had his share of losing, too. But the Everclear frontman has always done it his way. While far too many of his ’90s Pacific Northwest brethren (Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Andrew Wood, et al) ended up six feet under, Alexakis has been a survivor, enduring arrests, attempted suicide, drug abuse, divorce, depression, bankruptcy and much more. Despite being dubbed Nirvana lite by music critics, Everclear soldiered on, becoming a platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated, hit-making band, and Alexakis used this success to champion causes close to his heart. The revolving-door group’s latest release, In A Different Light (429), is a collection of (mostly) older Everclear songs reinterpreted in a stripped-down manner. Alexakis is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all this week. Read our Q&A with him.

Alexakis: I grew up in a housing project in Los Angeles. My dad wouldn’t pay child support, and it was all my mom could afford. So I grew up in a mixed ethnic culture, which I am very thankful for, because it really helped me to grow up color blind. When you are a child, you don’t know that you are rich or poor; you don’t really care. Kids are kids. I remember my mom making me pray at night, and I secretly prayed that I would wake up black so I could be in the Jackson 5 (pictured). I wanted to play guitar in the Jackson 5; Tito could go to hell! But when my mom bought me a box of singles at a yard sale and it was all soul and R&B songs, that was ground zero. Which is where I developed my love and affinity for soul music. As I got older, I started noticing that the world outside my window looked nothing like The Brady Bunch, but I didn’t care. Even though I got deep into the rock ‘n’ roll, soul music (Temptations, Otis Redding, Jackson 5) and funk (Ohio Players, Parliament, Earth, Wind & Fire) will always be a part of my life. Video after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W62an6HrSww