HUNGRY & HOLLOW SESSIONS GUIDE: EVERCLEAR: SONGS FROM AN AMERICAN MOVIE VOLUME ONE: LEARNING HOW TO SMILE

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Recording: 07/XX/98
(A&M Studios - Los Angeles, CA)
Recorded by: Paul Fox

Band Members: Arthur Alexakis (guitar, vocals), Brian Lefeldt (drums), David Loprinzi (bass), James Beaton (keyboards)

Recorded:
[O] Overwhelming

Sources:

Source	Quality	Complete	Runtime	Lowest Gen	Tracks Featured	Notes
SBD #1	10.0	Yes	0:04:06	Official CD (Permanent Midnight Soundtrack)	• Overwhelming

Notes: "Overwhelming" -- Alexakis' first solo effort -- is a clear break from the work he's done with Everclear. The song comes with a 14-piece string section, along with a number of loops and samples. Alexakis said he wanted the song to have a more lush feel than some of the more recent Everclear material. "I wanted to do it a bit differently than the band stuff," Alexakis said of the track, which was recorded in July in Los Angeles. To achieve a larger sound, Alexakis shared production duties for the first time in his musical career, bringing in former XTC producer Paul Fox to help beef up the sound of the track. The song suits the film perfectly, said soundtrack supervisor Jeff Rabhan, who described it as "hauntingly beautiful." "Art [the main character] is a recovering heroin addict and that's one of the themes of the movie and how sometimes trying to keep your head above water is a chore in itself," Rabhan said.” (35)

"Overwhelming" doesn't deal explicitly with the dangers of drug abuse, although Alexakis described the song as being about having an abusive relationship with yourself and the world around you. He said the song's theme could be applied to anyone who feels overwhelmed by their situation. "It's about not letting life overwhelm you," Alexakis said. "And getting to the point where you say you won't let it anymore. You don't have to do drugs to figure it out." (46)

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Recording: 10/XX/98 – 03/XX/99
(Art's Basement Studio - Portland, OR)
Recorded by: Neal Avron

Band Members: Arthur Alexakis (guitar, vocals), Brian Lefeldt (drums), David Loprinzi (bass), James Beaton (keyboards), Lars Fox (percussion, backing vocals)

Recorded:
[X] Otis Redding
[X] Here We Go Again
[X] Brown Eyed Girl
[X] Others

Sources: This entire session remains unreleased.

Notes: After a difficult end to the ‘So Much From The Afterglow Tour’ in Australia, the band actually broke up. While Craig and Greg took a break, Art went back into the studio to record songs for a solo album. This album was to be named ‘Arthur.’
“The guys want a break. They want to live some life. I've got some songs I want to do in a different way from Everclear - not as bombastic but weirder and more groove-oriented, just more eclectic. I've already got nine songs written and about five songs I'm working on. I'll record it in late summer, early fall and then put it out next year some time, on Capitol.” (6)

"These songs will have more textures, more dynamics. I'm using a lot of technology to make it sound raw," he said. "There will be more acoustic guitars ... lots of strings and horns and keyboards. The nature of the songs will be different [from Everclear] because they're more R&B-influenced, going back to the stuff I grew up with." (35)

“… If you had heard Volume I of Songs from an American Movie before it became an Everclear record, it didn’t sound like it does now. The feel of the album was totally different. That’s when I first started fooling around with loops and samples, and I had horn sections on three or four songs, and strings. I also had no loud distorted guitars. And I think I forced myself to sing more than just saying the words in a melodic way — you know, longer notes and doing more with the vocals. "There’s still a lot of that on the album, and being that way, it’s probably one of my favorite records we’ve done, even though it may not be to a lot of hardcore Everclear fans. I mean, Everclear is where I get my rock out. And I love playing with them. And I love cranking up the guitars. But there are other things I want to do too — things that I can’t necessarily do within the context of Everclear. You’ll see that when I finally do a solo album." (54)

“Alexakis said he was looking back to the pop of the late 1970s -- complete with string arrangements, lush keyboards and vocal overdubs -- for inspiration. He called his effort "more mature, more soulful" than anything he's done in the past. Even the name is more mature: Alexakis said he plans to release the album under the name Arthur.” (45)

Art Alexakis was expecting to have a few problems along the way with this project, but he wasn’t expecting to have a problem with the name.  He was wrong.  "It was going to be called 'Arthur,' but there's another band out there [called that], a Christian punk rock band that's an offshoot of MXPX, and we're trying to buy the name from them, even though Arthur is my name." (65)

Art decided to record this album in a studio that he constructed himself, in the basement of his Portland, OR home. “"It wasn't acoustically set up by anybody," explains Avron. "It was literally some drywall slapped up and the ceilings were very low, so a lot of the ambiance had to be artificially created." The `control room' was a 7x7x14 box that boasted a Mackie console, a Pro Tools Mix Plus setup and Alexakis' outboard gear. The space had bad room nodes, Avron continues, "so one minute you'd have no bass, and if you moved your head, you had too much bass." The plate window wasn't quite set up correctly, so it resonated whenever a bass drum was hit and he would have to turn up the monitor. "There were all kinds of challenges. In essence, we were lucky any of it came out," he adds with a laugh. "It's one of those things." For Alexakis, the home studio was a natural. "It seemed like a way to do it without spending a lot of money in the studio," he says. "I could put the money into gear like a Pro Tools system and Neve and API and UREI equipment - vintage equipment that I could use from project to project. Also, the main reason was to spend more time with my family," he says. Because the team was still thinking that the sessions were for an Alexakis solo album, the acoustic guitars and vocals were recorded with a click track directly into Pro Tools. From there, they could figure out how any number of studio musicians, who were also recorded in the basement, would fit into the template. (The only parts not recorded in Portland were the strings and one background vocal session.)” (39)

Most of the songs recorded here, ended up being worked on for ‘Songs From An American Movie Volume 1: Learning How To Smile.’ In addition, many of the acoustic guitar and vocal parts recorded during this session were used on Volume 1.
“There's a song on there called "Otis Redding" that is gonna be done with acoustic guitars, basically, and strings. That's a pretty cool song. There's a song called "Here We Go Again" that has loops and kind of jazzy-sounding chords, but very melodic. It could very well be the first single off the record.” (6)

“Yeah, "Brown Eyed Girl." I’m keeping busy. I’m starting to write songs for a new Everclear record. I’m getting over the operation I had on my vocal cords a few weeks ago. I had nodes; I had calluses, nodes, and cysts. I couldn't speak for about a week and a half. So I'm kind of raspy right now. I have a perpetual sore throat.” (21)

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Recording: Late 1998
(Capitol Studios - Los Angeles, CA)
Recorded by: Neal Avron

Band Members: Arthur Alexakis (guitar, vocals), Others

Recorded:
[O] Annabella's Song (Orchestral)

Sources:

Source	Quality	Complete	Runtime	Lowest Gen	Tracks Featured	Notes
SBD #1	10.0	Yes	0:04:55	Official CD (Songs From An American Movie Volume 1: Learning How To Smile)	• Annabella’s Song

Notes: "Annabella," a baldly sentimental ode to Alexakis' daughter, includes an orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank Sinatra associate Mort Lindsey. (11)
“Among the new tracks already recorded is "The Annabella Song," which Alexakis wrote for his 6-year-old daughter. He described its orchestral sound as a cross between a Frank Sinatra ballad and the fast-paced arrangements in the score to the 1939 film classic "The Wizard of Oz."” (45)

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Recording: Summer 1999
(Art's Basement Studio - Portland, OR)
Recorded by: Lars Fox

Band Members: Arthur Alexakis (guitar, vocals), Craig Montoya (bass), Greg Eklund (drums)

Recorded:
[O] The Boys Are Back In Town

Sources:

Source	Quality	Complete	Runtime	Lowest Gen	Tracks Featured	Notes
SBD #1a	10.0	Yes	0:04:05	Official CD (Detroit Rock City Soundtrack)	• The Boys Are Back In Town
SBD #1b	10.0	Yes	0:04:13	Official CD (10 Years Gone: The Best Of Everclear)	• The Boys Are Back In Town	Alternate Mix

Notes: "I remember being in L.A., arriving up the Sunset strip in a bad ass car, with the sun shining and the top down, thinking how strange and weird my life had become when this song came on the radio. I remembered hearing this song when I was a kid, and I thought how cool it would be to cover this song." (33)

“No, [The Boys Are Back In Town] wasn't on the list. I didn't suggest, I told them, “That's what I'll do if you want me to do it.” They wanted me to do like "American Woman," which is a great song that we've covered before, but it didn't fit like this did. It's the perfect song.” (21)

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Recording: 11/XX/99 - 5/XX/00
(Art's Basement Studio - Portland, OR)
Recorded by: Neal Avron

Band Members: Arthur Alexakis (guitar, vocals), Craig Montoya (bass), Greg Eklund (vocals, drums), Lars Fox (loops, percussion, backing vocals)

Recorded:
[O] Song From An American Movie Pt. 1
[O] Here We Go Again
[O] AM Radio
[O] Brown Eyed Girl
[O] Learning How To Smile
[O] Honeymoon Song
[O] Now That It's Over
[O] Thrift Store Chair
[O] Otis Redding
[O] Unemployed Boyfriend
[O] Wonderful
[O] I'm On Your Time
[O] Night Train To Memphis

Sources:

Source	Quality	Complete	Runtime	Lowest Gen	Tracks Featured	Notes
SBD #1a	10.0	No	0:42:35	Official CD (Songs From An American Movie Volume 1: Learning How To Smile JAP)	• Song From An American Movie Pt. 1 • Here We Go Again • AM Radio • Brown Eyed Girl • Learning How To Smile • The Honeymoon Song • Now That It’s Over • Thrift Store Chair • Otis Redding • Unemployed Boyfriend • Wonderful • Night Train To Memphis
SBD #1b	10.0	No	0:03:27	Official CD (Wonderful Maxi Single)	• I’m On Your Time

Notes: After ‘Father Of Mine’ took off as a single, the band decided to reform and tour in support of ‘So Much For The Afterglow.’ The recording of ‘Arthur’ was put on hold while Everclear went on tour for that during the summer of 1999. After some more touring and the band feeling good again, they decided to make ‘Arthur’ into an Everclear record.

“I played a couple of the tracks for the other guys," Alexakis says of Everclear bassist Craig Montoya and drummer Greg Eklund. "They said, 'We like these. Could we play on them?'" (11)

Craig Montoya explained the story slightly different, “It originally started out as a solo project for Art. It was just a pretty chaotic couple of years you know, we hit the road for ten months straight and we needed to take some time out. Then Art said he felt it needed to be an Everclear record and as you can see, the results were amazing. Then we were working on some rock stuff that was so opposite that the two albums didn't seem to fit together so we're releasing them each in their own right.” (23)

This record tried to be more ‘groove oriented’ than previous Everclear records with more references to some of Art’s past musical influences.

“The first record was recorded in my basement, straight to Pro Tools, and it took over a year of recording. It started as a solo project, then we recorded some new songs and added production. I've gotten really heavy-handed, production-wise, because I can. I've got the time and I've really been listening to a lot of older produced music, like Pet Sounds.” (24)

“We weren't necessarily trying to be more adventurous, but we were trying to have more fun and do things differently. It all came about organically. There's some synthesizer in there and I've always wanted to use samples. I grew up with a lot of R&B and funk and in my early 20s; I was very, very into Public Enemy, so we used a little Chuck D sample in there. There's definitely some nods from all of us to the kind of music that influenced us growing up.” (14)

Art tried to make ‘Songs From An American Movie’ to a Neil Young classic, ‘Rust Never Sleeps.’ Several of the songs off the album have to deal with his divorce to his second wife, Jenny.

“The concept of the Songs For An American Movie set came from a classic album in Alexakis' collection. “One of my favorite records of all time is Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps--one side is all acoustic pretty songs, and the other side is balls-out rock songs," he explains. "I thought it would be really cool to have two different discs. We thought about doing a double record, and then somebody, I can't remember who, came up with the idea of doing two albums. I thought it could be really cool," he muses. "It could be dangerous from a commercial point of view, but it could also be really successful--if they were two really good records. If the old fans liked it and we made new fans out of it, then it could be successful. Creatively it sounded like a great challenge."” (9)

"This album is about my divorce -- though it's not really autobiographical," he says, referring to his split with his wife last year.” (11)

A few of the songs were newly written and recorded for ‘Learning How To Smile’, most notably, AM Radio and Wonderful.

"This album had stated as a solo record called "Arthur" but the song [Wonderful] hadn't been recorded yet when I brought in Craig and Greg and turned it into an Everclear record. We recorded this song in the basement of my house in the West Hills of Portland, OR. [It’s] so sad and emotional, but one of my favorites!" (33)"[Wonderful is about when] I went through a divorce a few years ago, and, unfortunately for my daughter, she had to be a part of it because it was me and her mom. We loved our daughter but we weren't in love with each other anymore. It was a really, really hard time, but we knew it was going to give way to a better time. We're both remarried now and happy. Sometimes these things are necessary, but it's hard to explain that to a six-year-old. I had to put myself in her place again. I had been there and friends of mine had been there, being the child of a broken marriage. I think we handled it better in a lot of ways. But that's a song that touches me really deep, not only from a personal level, but having to watch my daughter go through that kind of pain." (40)

“I had always wanted to loop an old song and write a song about growing up that was more of a happier song,” Alexakis said. “I always thought that that song particularly, ‘Mr. Big Stuff,’ would be a great one to do it to. My friend, Lars (Fox), he looped that song for me and we put beats to it and I started singing to it and playing guitar to it. And then I brought in the boys and showed them where I wanted to go with it. It just kind of took off from there.” (13) "This was an idea [AM Radio] Lars Fox and I had come up with, talking about sampling Jean Knight's 'Mr. Big Stuff' and writing a slice of life about my growing up in the '70s, that didn't involve anyone dying or getting abandoned. Craig hated it, Greg seemed indifferent and I thought it was awesome... pretty much par for the course." (33)

Another song that uses a familiar sample is ‘Now That It’s Over.’  Eklund explains, "We couldn't afford to use the [Led Zeppelin] drum samples, no one can afford to use the sample, so basically what we did was try and duplicate the sounds, and someone had some book describing how they got the [Zeppelin] drum sound. I guess we aimed and hit the target, because everyone refers to it as 'that Bonham song!'" (64)

"[Song From An American Movie Pt. 1] Just a pretty little intro to a very emotional record." (33)

"[Brown Eyed Girl] One of my favorite songs of all time ...always dedicated to my beautiful daughter Annabella." (33) "It fit really heavily into the mode of this record. I've always loved that song [Brown Eyed Girl]--it's always been one of my favorite songs. I like the way we do it. We do it like an Everclear song, but I think it keeps the integrity of the [original]. Basically, we tried to take the good aspects of that song and apply how we attack a song. And it came out pretty cool." (9)

"We recorded this album in the basement of my house up in the West Hills. We were working on the song [Learning How To Smile] at about 3 AM, when we decided that we needed a woman's voice on the break down line. So I woke up my fiancée Stephanie and told her we were working on her favorite of the new songs. She came downstairs in her pajamas and whispered this line in a sleepy voice and I remembered Lars and I got chills (and I still do)...Stephanie and I ended up having a string quartet play this song when we got married later that year. (33)

“Take for example the song 'Unemployed Boyfriend': a lot of people think that it should be called 'Unemployed Girlfriend' because of the way that it's setup. That doesn't mean that it's real, and in that case it's not. It's just a situation that I made-up. As a storyteller, sometimes your best material doesn't come as a result of some big personal heartache.” (12)