John Hult

“Volvo Driving Soccer Mom,” Everclear’s latest single, tells the tale of an ex-stripper who gave up the rock and roll lifestyle to live the suburban life and raise “blond-bland-middle-class republican children.” When he’s not touring, however, the life of Everclear songwriter Art Alexakis resembles that of a soccer dad. Except the Republican part.

“(Our neighbors) think that we’re gonna be rock stars, but actually I go to bed probably about 10 o’clock every night,” Alexakis said in a pre-concert interview. “I put my daughter to bed, take the dog out for a walk, then me and my wife watch TV until we pass out, then I wake up early, get my daughter ready for school.”

Though the trappings of the rock star lifestyle (big screen TVs, DVDs and CDs, promo stickers, organic cigarettes) litter the Everclear tour bus, the nice guy rocker can’t seem to stop talking about his daughter. After the group’s Sunday performance in Frost Arena, he planned to fly to Seattle to take his daughter to an Avril Lavigne concert (although he only lets her listen to “Sk8er Boi” three times in a row).

When asked how touring affects his domestic life, Alexakis refers to the road as a part of making a living.

“It’s a strain, but it’s a calculated strain,” he said. You know it’s gonna happen, you know you’re gonna dread it happening and you make the best of it.”

Being a dad is only part of the non-rock star duties of the singer these days. He hosts a Sunday night political talk show on a Portland rock station that draws so many fans that the station gave him an extra hour to dish on the economy, the war or John Ashcroft (the latter also receives a ribbing on “Blackjack,” a track from Everclear’s “Slow Motion Daydream” LP).

One could say that everything is, well, wonderful these days for Alexakis and Co.

“There’s some people in Nashville who want to cover ‘Wonderful,’ he said. “I think that would be cool-it could put my kid through school.”