By Mike Kerwick

OUT OF WILDERNESS

Everclear Can See the Light, Again

His 14-year-old daughter, Anna, has gone to school, leaving Art Alexakis to ponder the possessions he misses most.

Like his Cadillac.

Or his house.

Or his songs.

"That was the one thing I wanted to give to my daughter as a legacy," Alexakis said, calling from his Portland, Ore. rental home, "and I don't have that."

Gone are the rights to "Santa Monica," the song that took Everclear to the precipice of the pop charts. Gone is "Father of Mine," an autobiographical plea. Gone is "AM Radio," the first of his former songs to become background music for a television commercial.

"People are shameless," Alexakis said. "They're whores. What do they care? It's an income stream. If they want to use "Everything for Everyone" for a tampon commercial, fine. They don't care."

It pains Alexakis, knowing his mother raised a son without leaning on welfare or child support, meanwhile, he sold millions of records but filed for Chapter 11, losing his songs in the process.

Things could be worse, and some years, they have been. He has a girlfriend now. Anna has outgrown her dress-in-black phase. And he is about to head on tour with Everclear, the band that put his name to lights.

"To be honest with you, man," Alexakis said, "I've never been a guy who wants a lot of stuff. The stuff I had was because of people I was with."

Thrice married, thrice divorced, Alexakis has endured more personal turmoil than most of his peers in the music inudstry. He grew up without a father. He battled a drug problem. He lost his mother to lung cancer.

Recently he took refuge in Padron cigars, smoking as many as eight a day.

"I have no idea why my girlfriend actually got with me when she did," Alexakis said. "She's a vehement non-smoker, and I was smoking cigars and 45 pounds under where I should be. I was not a catch at that point. I was about to go through bankruptcy. She still stuck with me."

Whether Anna realized it or not, she helped Alexakis skate through the iciest patches.

"The thing that kept me going more than anything was my daughter," Alexakis said. "I had to get up every day. I had to not just be in the same room, but I had to be there. I was aware of that. That forces you out of your comfort zone when you're hurting. She's inadvertently kept me alive through several situations in my life."

Everclear's newest album, "Welcome to the Drama Club," came out last September. The collection features an interesting mix of lyrics. On one song ("Hater") he sings, "Sometimes I wish you would go away/ Go away and never ever come back." On another song ("Glorious") he sings "You were underneath a white light/ Like a vision in a deep dark place/ I never really thought I would fall for/ A country girl with an angel's face."

And Alexakis is still writing, working on new material for future recordings.

"The songs I'm writing now have a more political bent," Alexakis said. "I kind of want to record them just me and a guitar. It's not going to buy [me] a new house, but I really don't care."

He doesn't need his Cadillac or house back.

He does kind of miss his old songs.

WHO: Everclear with Jonny! Lives, the Alternate Routes, Neon Culpa

WHAT: Alternative rock.

WHEN: 8p.m.

WHERE: B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill

237 W. 42nd St., Manhattan; 212-997-4144 or bbkingblues.com

HOW MUCH: $22 advance, $25 day of show