The Michigan Daily - Wuc,44, 4 . - Thursday, February 8, 1996 - 5B Goodbye, lo-fi: Everclearifinds major-label success By Use Harwin Daily Arts Writer People have been making comments about the Pacific Northwest music scene for a while now - and they aren't talking about Seattle. Portland, with a series of popular bands such as Hazel, Pond, Dandy Warhols andThirty Ought Six, is lately being referred to as the "next Seattle," or even "Seattle's south- ern little sister." And, with Portland bands like Everclear getting heavy ro- tation on both radio and television, for once thepublic might know what they're talking about. Though not all band members hail from Portland, Everclear is truly a West Coast band. "I moved to Portland about 4 1/2 years ago from Spokane, Wash.," said bassist Craig Montoya. "Art [Alexakis, Everclear's vocalist] moved up here about 5 1/2 years ago from-San Francisco." But, even with their second album, Everclear proves that they aren't ready to leave their roots behind. Sev- eral songs on "Sparkle and Fade" are about cities on the West Coast, includ- ing"Santa Monica" and"Summerland," named after a little town right off High- way 101. Alexakis began his musical career in California in a pop-punk band called Colorfinger. When Colorfinger fizzled out due to members with drug prob- lems, Alexakis made the decision to move to Portland to distance himself from the drug scene and to start his own family. "Art started getting odd jobs around town, was miserable, and decided that he should give music one last shot," Montoya said. At this point, Montoya and Alexakis got together, along with drummer Scott Cuthbert, to form the first embodiment of Everclear and to record "World of Noise." After Cuthbert was fired due to drug use, current drummer Greg Eklund's talent and persistence won him a spot in the band ."Somebody told Greg that we were looking for a drum- mer, but nobody would give him our phone number. They didn't want Everclear to keep going or something," Montoya remarked. "He finally got Art's number from a neighbor and he calls up and says, 'I'm your drummer.' So, we went to go prac- tice after-hours and we played one song with him, 'Nervous and Weird.' And he hit so damn hard. He was so groovin' and such a nice guy that we didn't even have to discuss it." When Eklund joined the band, he may not have realized the magnitude of the situation that he was entering. "We said, 'Are you ready to sleep on floors and eat dog food and Taco Bell? Live like a bum?"' Montoya said. "He said 'Yeah,' not knowing at the time that we were being courted by major labels." "Sparkle and Fade" shows just how well the union worked out for both Eklund and the rest of the band. This latest release from Everclear was re- corded at Butch Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wis. with additional record- ing at A&M studios in Los Angeles. "We spent two weeks rehearsing, two EVERCLEAR Where: St. Andrew's Hall When: Tonight. Doors 7:30 p.m. Tickets are sold out. weeks recording and two weeks mix- ing, so the whole thing took about six weeks," the bassist said. "We recorded about 18 or 19 songs and a couple of them didn't turn out the way we ex- pected them to, so we pulled them off. Then, when we stopped in L.A. on tour, we wrote two new songs and put them on instead." Overall, Everclear felt that the record was a success, even with the minor changes. "When we finished with the album, we said, 'Even if this album totally flops, we're totally happy with it.' This is the record we wanted to make our whole lives." With "Sparkle and Fade," Everclear proves that they have made a total change since the previous "World of Noise." "I think 'Sparkle and Fade' is a little more personal for Art, as far as the lyrics go," Montoya commented. "It's not so social as 'World of Noise' is." Although "World of Noise" didn't confront as many personal issues, it still had a unique sound. As Montoya men- tioned, "People always say, 'Hey, how did you get that to-fi sound (on 'World of Noise')? Were you looking for that for 'Sparkle and Fade'?' The truth is that's all we could afford at the time. It was done in a basement at a friend's house with microphones duct taped to- gether ... Art sold some of his guitar gear to pay for the bill. If we could have afforded better, I'm sure it would have sounded better." So what's up next for this MTV Buzz il 0 Portland-based Everclear makes a splash at St. Andrew's Hall tonight. Clip band? "We're going over to Europe for two weeks with Silverchair. I'm sure it will be good exposure for us, but I'm not sure if it's the best move," Montoya ad- mitted. Despite the amount of time that Everclear has already spent touring this year, they still hold fast to the notion that they're not a big partying band. "We don't drink fifths of whiskey backstage. No one does any drugs in our band." While they do admit to car- rying around a six-pack occasionally, one has to wonder what else they do for fun. "We shoot pool, we watch movies, and we all get together in one hotel room, watch Spectravision together and eat snacks," Montoya quipped. For now, the band plans on continuing to make music, though Craig Montoya isn't sure how long it will last. "I see Everclear making two or three more records and then going out on top. I might start my own band. Play guitar, do the vocals. In the last two years I've learned how to be a backup singer and a bass player, and I've even started to write my own songs. It's aleamingprocessthough." In any case, don't expect this particu- lar Portland band to be "fading" any time soon. While they may seem a bit timid when it comes to trashing their hotel rooms, their music will kick you in the behind, just like the hard liquor they take their name from. "Odorless, colorless, and it kind of looks like Water ... but when you drink it you go mad. Pure white evil. Everyone has an Everclear story. 'I used to drink that stuff out of garbage cans, wake up in a different city, with a dress on with some strange girl.' It's like us; a bunch of white guys; not very punk. Innocent looking, but yet ... crazy." Tracey Ullman takes on television with new series Los Angeles Times The setting is a swank old Pasadena mansion, where comic Tracey Ullman come for a news conference to pro- te her new half-hour, almost one- woman series on HBO, "Tracey Takes On...." Sitting on an embroidered Vic- torian couch, a crackling fire nearby, the British-born actress swiftly trans- forms the ever-so-proper mood of the place into a den of hilarity. She impersonates co-star Julie Kavner trying to impersonate Ullman - a screechy babble. "Julie Kavner does a terrible (impression).... She pre- she's doing me," Ullman says, an expression of superiority. She imitates 9-year-old daughter Mabel, the elder of her two children, with a sort of upper-crust accent, cau- tioning her mother not to bring any of her characters along on a school field trip. "Mommy, I know it makes you happy, but don't do your voices." But she's funniest as one of her own creations - Mrs. Noh Nang Ning, a Oghnut shop owner, modeled after a doughnut shop owner Ullman. met in Los Angeles while "Takes On" was being written. "I'd just sit and get a cup of coffee and watch her.... Some guy there was trying to sell her shelving, and she was just very skeptical." She goes into char- acter. "Ummm-ummmm! ... I don't know you put that on the waaalll." Ullman is a woman of many parts and ltiple characters - 17, to be exact, Phe 10 episodes of "Takes On" - as she tackles such weighty matters as romance, law, fame and death. At 36, with five Emmys, Ullman is creator and executive producer of the series with her businessman husband, Allan McKeown, as well as the head writer and occasional editor. This social sati- rist sings and dances too. It is another take on Ullman one gets at her offices at Takes On Productions in Santa Monica. While still funny and jumping out of her chair just to show you how she plays her roles, she shows she's a much more serious and ambi- tious personality. She says that after doing "Tracey Ullman Takes On New York" for HBO in 1993, the premise of a multiperson cast taking on a single subject each week 2ELrn. on ibe 7 zinc publisher Janie Pillsworth, whom she notes is an amalgamation of those famed British editors such as Tina Brown and Anna Wintour; and her long- est-running personage, "spinster" Kay dlark, now working as a bank teller - are familiarfrom "Takes On New York," HBO's "A Class Act" and Fox's "The Tracey Ullman Show." Now come a dozen newcomers, in- cluding Mrs. Noh Nang Ning; Chic, a macho Middle Eastern cab driver, everyone's worst nightmare of a cabby, who drives 90 mph 18 hours a day; and Los Angeles lawyer Sydney Kross, whom TV critics are assuming is Erik Menendez lawyer Leslie Abramson. "She has a fascinating look," Ullman says of Abramson, "and I thought it was time to do a lawyer, especially with the O.J. Simpson trial. It would have been passe to play an agent." Ullman hasabeen at her game a long time. She began miming as a child after her father, a Polish emigre to England -he was at Dunkirk during World War II as a member of the Free Polish Army - died of a heart valve operation when she was 6. She recalls "trying to cheer everyone up, and I felt I could by being funny. It was just a great relief for my mother to see me perform on her win- dow ledge.... British people love laugh- ing at themselves." She received a scholarship to stage school at age 12, retelling the heart- rending moment when she stepped for- ward at an audition for" 'Flower Drum Song' or something" and the director was actually pointing to "the little blond girl nexttome. It was always about eute little blonds," notes the dark-haired Ullman. "So I laughed at myself even more to cover the pain." By 16, she was dancing in "Gigi" in Berlin. Back in England, she joined a popu- lar dance troupe and had a hit album. Her breakthrough came at the innova- tive Royal Court Theatre, creating the role ofa bizarre club singer that won her the London critics' award for the most promising new actress in 1981. A year later, McKeown saw her in a popular British Broadcasting Corp. soap and told himself, according to Ullman, " 'I'm going to marry that girl."' It was his idea to bring her to the United States. Ullman and McKeown await word on whether HBO will pick up the series for a second season. Ullmanalready is brimming with new ideas-taking her characters to Wash- ington, perhaps to Las Vegas. "I've given myself the confidence to know how to write, direct and insti- gate my own projects. Whereas I was always waiting around for someone to say, 'Would you like to be in my film?' - that may still happen and that's great - but I know I can do it myself, and it's an enormous relief." Logan brings his Liquor Cabinet You've read about him in such prestigious national publications as Rolling Stone, Billboard and People magazines. You've seen him on the "Today" show. You've... never heard his music. That's all right, because Jack Logan and his band the Liquor Cabinet are here today to give you a double-dose of what you've been craving. With more than 700 songs to his name (but only 2 CDs released) Logan has enough material to surprise even the most die-hard fans. A 5 p.m. free show at Tower Records will be followed by an appearance tonight at the Blind Pig, with opening band 19 Wheels. Tickets are $6 in advance. Doors open at 9:30, so be on time to check out the man who is destined to be the next big thing. In 20 years your kids will think you're cool. clicked. McKeown, 12 years her senior and chairman of SelecTV, an indepen- dent TV production and cable company, helped raise money for "Takes On." "Last year, I was 35 years old, and I thought, 'It's timeto do it myselfreally,"' Ullman explains. "I sat at the head of the table and made myself a boss." Her premise is her "broad spectrum of characters" - old and young, male and female, American, British, an Aus- tralian, a cabby from the Middle East- who in sketches and monologues deal with the week's topic. Some of the Ullman 17 - including Fern Rosenthal, transplanted from Long Island, N.Y.,'to Boca Raton, Fla.; maga- THE DAS SIfliI Thank you for your patience while we remodeled. m m u.i VYVI 1 OV6W I it L*I "H H*WS 3