Editing Everclear (band) (section)

===Formation and ''World of Noise'' (1992–1993)===
Art Alexakis suffered through a troubled youth, beginning with his father walking out when Alexakis was a child. Financial hardships pushed his family into the slums of Los Angeles, where Alexakis became a heavy drug user.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /> During his teenage years, Alexakis was shuttled around the country between various family members (including a brief period in Houston living with his father's new family), but the drug addiction persisted. Eventually Alexakis suffered a near-fatal cocaine overdose, which finally pushed him to clean up.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=442}}</ref> In the late 1980s, Alexakis played in a short-lived rock band in Los Angeles called Shakin' Brave, where he began to hone his songwriting skills. Frustrated by the inattention of the L.A. music scene, Art relocated to San Francisco where he fell into the then-burgeoning [[cowpunk]] scene.

Alexakis founded Shindig Records, a label that represented San Francisco's cowpunk scene. He began recording material of his own for a solo album, but it ended up evolving into a group project called [[Colorfinger]]. Alexakis wrote under the pseudonym "A.D. Nation" while writing/recording with Colorfinger. While involved with Colorfinger, he wrote several songs that would later find success as Everclear songs, including "The Twistinside", "[[Heartspark Dollarsign]]", and "Why I Don't Believe in God".

In a single month in 1992, Shindig failed (when its distributor went bankrupt), Colorfinger broke up, and Alexakis learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. Seeking a change of location, Alexakis and his girlfriend moved to her hometown, Portland, Oregon. There, he placed an ad in local music weekly ''The Rocket'', which earned two responses: bass player Craig Montoya and drummer Scott Cuthbert. The name Everclear was chosen as a reference to [[Everclear (alcohol)|the infamous grain alcohol]]. In an interview with The Discovering Alcoholic, Alexakis called it "pure, white evil" for the perception that it looks harmless but is very strong alcohol.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Discovering Alcoholic |url=http://discoveringalcoholic.com/recovery/art-alexakis-of-everclear-at-the-discovering-alcoholic |title=Art Alexakis of Everclear at The Discovering Alcoholic |publisher=Discoveringalcoholic.com |date=April 30, 2009 |access-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115195543/http://discoveringalcoholic.com/recovery/art-alexakis-of-everclear-at-the-discovering-alcoholic |archive-date=November 15, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The new band began recording in a friend's basement, essentially bartering for recording time with musical gear and whatever limited funds they could scrounge up. The sessions culminated in two releases: the ''[[Nervous & Weird]]'' EP and the band's first full-length release ''[[World of Noise]]'',<ref name="Larkin"/> both released by Portland's [[Tim/Kerr|Tim/Kerr Records]] in 1993.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /> Frustrated by Tim/Kerr's limited resources, Alexakis hired independent promoters to help push the album.