Everclear – the alcohol – hits hard. So does the band. Art Alexakis, Everclear’s alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist continues to create his intense upbeat sound while putting the painful, darker themes of life under the lights and amplifying it. On Friday, July 14, at 8:30 p.m. he will be doing it at the Lake Charles Golden Nugget. Hundreds of tickets have already been sold. On Wednesday some seats were still available.

Few bands have Alexakis’ staying power. Everclear’s first hits came out in 1990s Portland, Oregon. Lyrics came from childhood and youth, domestic violence, a father that disappeared leaving nothing but his name, the haunting loss of a loved one. The themes are ageless, the sort of things that separate the survivors from victims.

“It was a time when I had more life in front of me than I did behind me,” Alexakis said in a telephone interview. “But we will always be an in-your-face rock band, always, and we have a chance to prove it this year.

Last month, Everclear announced the release of “Live At The Whiskey A Go Go” to commemorate the group’s 30th anniversary tour.

“ ‘Live at the Whiskey A Go Go’ is raw, loose, noisy and kind of ragged around the edges, just like rock and roll is supposed to be,” Alexakis said.

Alexakis survived childhood, and he beat alcohol and drugs. The 61-year old has been clean and sober for 34 years, and yes, the band was named for the trash can jungle juice punch mixer that “looks like water, but it’s pure evil.”

Twenty years into sobriety, Alexakis found out he has multiple sclerosis. In 2019, he told fans about it before he expressed it in “The Hot Water Test,” a track on his only solo album “Sun Songs:”

•

Oh, happy can be hard
to find

The puzzle makes sense when the pieces fall in line

I’m teaching myself a new way to live my life

I know, easy can be hard to do

Life can be ugly or
beautiful and new

It’s up to me to do
what I have to do

I know, heaven isn’t
hard to see

It looks like life
with my family

•

“Multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence,” he said. “I workout three days a week, swim every day. I am very much a glass half-full person.”

Alexakis said life might not be in front of him anymore. He might wind up in a wheelchair at some point, but he’s still doing life his way, the way he’s always done his music, and he’s happily doing it with his fourth wife of 20 years – most would have given up after two, he said – and his two children.

“I have a great relationship with my higher power, a sober fellowship with wonderful friends. I am blessed in so many ways.”