You can’t hear songs like Father of Mine, Santa Monica, A.M. Radio, Wonderful, or Volvo Driving Soccer Mom without thinking about fun days spent listening to the radio in your youth. The band behind those songs, Everclear, remains big on nostalgia these days, releasing a new album of cover songs called The Vegas Years.

Produced by Everclear singer, guitarist and songwriter Art Alexakis, the disc from Capitol/EMI features 14 covers the band recorded between 1994 and this year, including live performances and rare studio sessions. Among the familiar tunes are Our Lips Are Sealed, The Boys Are Back In Town, American Girl, Brown Eyed Girl, 867-5309 (Jenny), This Land Is Your Land, and the theme songs to Land Of The Lost and Speed Racer.

Alexakis – along with drummer Brett Snyder, guitarist Dave French, bassist Sam Hudson and keyboardist Josh Crawley – will be back on the road this spring and summer, performing songs from this new collection alongside Everclear favorites.

Alexakis talked to Savvy about the new CD and nostalgia…

Savvy: My editor lady at the Savvy HQ in Sydney says you broke her “concert cherry” when she was a teen and caught your show.

Alexakis: Oh yeah? (Laughs)

Savvy: In 1998, someone at an Australian show hit you with a boot and knocked out some of your teeth, then a few nights later someone set off explosives on stage. Can you ever forgive the Aussies and return to give my editor lady a blast from the past?

Alexakis: We ended that tour early and went home because our old bass player had problems with his marriage, not because I got hit in the face. We haven’t been back because we haven’t had a hit record over there so we haven’t been financially able to return. I have no problem with Australia. (Laughs) It’s a trip. The first time we went to Australia, those people are just SO enthusiastic. I’ve been there 3-4 times, and every time, I didn’t want to come back. I told my wife if it weren’t for my kid, I would not have come back. I don’t think she liked that comment too much. I just love the people and the culture. They actually LIKE Americans, which is rare these days -- of course I haven’t been there since the Bush years.

Savvy: You must like doing cover songs…

Alexakis: It’s fun. I’ve always thought covers were the true test of a band. If you can honour the original and keep the things that made it great but also add your own style and sound, you’ve done your job. In a lot of cases, fans are too young to remember the original and think it’s an Everclear song. It’s fun to sing songs that people know the words to. That’s what this record is all about: fun for the summertime.

Savvy: What are your favorites from The Vegas Years?

Alexakis: I really love the way Bad Connection came out. It was a challenge to do Rich Girl by Hall and Oates. I always wanted to hear that song rock a bit more. I thought it was a great hook and chorus. We went into recording that not knowing exactly what we wanted to do, but it ended up blending 2 or 3 ideas I had. Darryl Hall heard it and wants me to come out to his house and be on his weekly web-cast. That’s pretty exciting when someone you admire likes what you did with his song. We hear the Go-Gos like what we did with Our Lips Are Sealed too.

Savvy: You’re touring now…

Alexakis: We’re touring this summer with a couple of other bands from the alternative music era. Travelworm has been really, really helpful with a lot of the promotions we’re doing so I need to check them out. I’ve been so busy with this record, plus having a 5-month-old baby.

Savvy: From 1996 to 2003, Everclear was huge on the radio. Then some original band members left and you went through some personal issues.

Alexakis: Yeah, my mum and a good friend died then. That was a rough period of about six months.

Savvy: Your troubled childhood has been a rich resource for your songs. Did you turn those hard times into your songwriting?

Alexakis: Absolutely. The last record we put out in late 2006 was called Welcome to the Drama Club. That record is pretty autobiographical, talking about my feelings and experiences, my growth during all of that. Because I think it’s a good lesson for other people and made for good songs. I learned early on that writers take things from their lives. There’s got to be a good sense of truth and reality to it or it won’t resonate.

Savvy: You’ve suffered for your art.

Alexakis: People are under the belief that ALL of my songs are autobiographical, but really it’s about eight songs out of my catalogue of 122 songs with Everclear. I’m pretty happy in my life right now.

Savvy: You have a distinctive sound, the same way a Nickelback song is instantly detectable as such. Do you work at that or is that just how it comes out of you?

Alexakis: Thank you for saying that. I take in all of my influences and it just comes out that way. A lot of people say I have a distinctive voice.

Savvy: Where do you see the music business headed?

Alexakis: We’re going to put a single out for download in mid-June called Jesus Was a Liberal. We’re selling it for a buck. I’ll buy just about ANYTHING for a buck. If people know about it, we can sell 100,000 copies and there’s no middleman. Everclear will start selling records directly from our web site. It’s becoming almost the norm as opposed to trying to get signed to a major label. Bands can support themselves doing the music they want to do, take care of their fan base and not have to play “the game”. I think it’s going to help music and help people change their thinking that music has to fit inside of a box.

Savvy: Thanks for the memories, Art.

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Upcoming Everclear tour dates:

May 26      Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
June 28     Mount Clemens, Mich.
July 6         Oahu, Hi.
July 25       Royalton, Minn.