Art Alexakis

If you live in L.A. long enough, you get into having a cool car.

I'm a pretty tenacious person; I get that from my mom. So sometimes, I use dark humor. I can't take myself too seriously.

I don't talk about my past; people ask me about it. I've done things I'm ashamed of, but one thing I can honestly say is that things I've done that I regret, I've never done twice. I work really hard at that.

Maybe I'll work for a label someday, write some fiction, nonfiction. Someday I'd like to go back to school and get my teaching degree. I want to be a grandpa. I want to have more kids.

Any artist manages his own business along with his manager. Every band should.

I'd actually like to make a country album one day. One of my idols is Neil Young, because he's kept himself from being bored.

That's what I think our jobs as parents are, to educate as much as possible... I tell them to follow their bliss. The people who follow their bliss in this world tend to be the more happier people.

My goal is to make my kids as happy as possible.

I wish I could come home to a life that looks like a TV show. I wish I could see my television family waiting for me, where no one fights and no one screams, no one lies and no one leaves.

People's perceptions of me have nothing to do with reality. I'm basically just your average dork.

I think Everclear is a weird combination of a singer-songwriter and a hard-rock band. That's why some people really dig the band, and some don't.

A lot of people do not like singer-songwriters, and a lot of people who like them do not like hard rock. It's either-or.

I think The Police made five great records and then called it a day. They went out on top.

I like older people; I think older people have a lot of flavor.

I have my dark side like anybody, you know, depression, anxiety... and I write about gritty, real-life stuff.

My favorite drive is Highway 101 in California between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. I love the 101; Highway 1 is too windy, and 5 is too boring - the 101 is just right. It's like the Mama Bear of scenic drives.

I'm a 'Power of Now' kind of guy, always have been. I don't really hang on to a lot of pictures. I have pictures of my daughters.

I've always loved aggressive, hard, noisy, yet melodic bands, and at the same time I've always loved 'Blue' by Joni Mitchell.

About one or two songs per record is me doing a little bloodletting.

For the most part, I don't like people who soapbox.

People have had the idea to do a '90s alternative tour for a long time. I didn't come up with that; I was the first guy to basically say it was time.

Do not trust anybody but yourself. If people want to help you, fine. Put it on paper and understand exactly what every word says.

I loved hard-rock bands, and I loved songwriters who told stories.

You don't have control of the car, but you can drive it. Life takes you where it wants you to go and where you need to go.

'Santa Monica' was a big song, and I always knew it would be radio friendly. But it's not a defining song for me, though for a lot of people it is.

I think I write very good songs. But I don't know if anybody could record my songs with as much fervor. They sound good sung by me, and they especially sound good with my band.

If you can't say it in three minutes, I don't want to know about it.

I try to talk about things I know about. But my characters are more of a combination of people or how I imagine people would feel.

When some people get angry, they turn into victims, but when I get angry, I turn to action.

I've always kind of been a little skeptical about bands that won't play their hits. That's really arrogant to me as a music fan. I do want to hear obscure songs, but like most people, I want to hear the hits, so we always play them.

Fatherhood, both times for me, was a choice.

Being a child that grew up with a single mom back in the '70s, Father's Day to me was always a very uncomfortable time. At school, we would make Father's Day cards for our dads, and I usually mailed one to my dad, and he hardly ever responded.

One of the things about being a boy, especially growing up without a father, is you really don't have that role model to teach you how to do things.

Being a parent is not just about how you treat your child; it's also about how you treat the other parent. If you treat that person with respect, that's fine, that's the way to go. But if you don't, you're not being the parent you could be.

I'm a 50-year-old guy making music for over 20 years. I've been writing songs since I was 20, so it's really been 30 years, and it's always been personal, but I've always told stories.

Being a musician, especially at the major label where you work for so long, it becomes a cycle. Write a record, make a record, tour. It's just this cycle, and I don't think there's any life built into it with time to assimilate what's going on in front of you and what's going on in your head.

I lived in Portland for almost 20 years, and that's where my eldest daughter went to college. I missed the sunshine. I grew up in L.A.

I still fall back a lot on my Les Paul, and there is just no getting away from a Les Paul and a hot pickup.

My frustration has always been that I'm a Christian, but I don't buy into, never have bought into, the belief that Jesus and God are these men who just dictate that this is how you have to live your life or you are going to burn in hell.

I'm not a politician. I'm not running for office. I can say what I think.

I like people who tell stories. I like storytellers. A lot of my songs are misconceived as being auto-biographical when they're not because I write in the first person.

I'm constantly working, even when I'm at home.

I like acting, but I like filmmaking better. I went to film school. I want to make films.

I like acting when I can pick my own roles, and I do. It's fun. I like being creative, and it's a creative process.

I do like my sugar at night, but I try to keep it to a minimum.

I saw Cheap Trick play 'In Color,' and it was awesome.

As a songwriter, I do kind of look at 'Santa Monica' as a thing outside of itself, because it isn't just my song. This is a song a lot of people tell me is a part of their high school or college years. That means a lot to me.

Call me, and I'd do anything for the Democratic Party.

I love Australia! I got a boot thrown at me there.

Success to me is being able to do what I love, make a living at it and to support myself and the ones I love.