FASTBALL
With Miles Zuniga and Tony Scalzo evenly
dividing songwriting and lead vocal duties, and drummer Joey
Shuffield supplying the laser - guided groove, Fastball's
1998 breakthrough, "All The Pain
Money Can Buy," propelled the group into the big
leagues. Led by the smash singles "The
Way" and "Out of My Head,"
the album notched platinum-plus sales and earned critical praise
from all quarters.
"We now have the resources to stretch
our ideas further," says Scalzo. "I like the word
'expansive,' because it implies that you're still true to your
original roots while growing into new areas. It's not a
departure…it's building on a foundation."
The group strikes a delicate balance between
pushing the envelope and simply letting each song speak for
itself. "We don't shackle our sound in the pursuit of
success," says Shuffield. "All three of us are drawn
to rock and melodic, pop-oriented stuff – along with a stiff
dose of heavy metal. By doing what comes naturally, we can add
other elements and still retain the spark that made a song idea
sound so cool in the first place."
Aided by a growing "extended
family" of musicians, the core of Fastball has
remained unchanged since the group first formed in late 1994.
When Austin native and ex Wild Seeds drummer Shuffield
introduced Zuniga (from Laredo, TX) to Scalzo, a refugee from
California's Orange County punk maelstrom. Based in Austin, the
group built a strong regional following before signing a deal
with Hollywood Records. Their 1996 debut "Make Your Mama
Proud" set the stage for their wildly successful 1998
sophomore album.
Fueled by "The Way" (which
dominated the #1 spot on Billboard's Modern Rock Chart for seven
weeks and was a top 5 hit on Billboard's Top 40 Chart),
"Out of My Head," (a top 10 hit on Billboard's Top 40
Chart and a top 10 hit at Adult Top 40 for 29 weeks) and
"Fire Escape," "All the Pain Money Can Buy"
(which stayed on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart for a year)
catapulted Fastball to national acclaim.
The group earned two Grammy nominations
("Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals"
for "The Way" and "Best Long Form Video" for
"They Wanted The Highway") and an MTV Award nomination
as "Best New Artist."
The group was surprised by the huge success.
"We never set out to be a radio band," admits
Shuffield. "We simply wanted to make music that we could be
proud of -– sales be damned. Miles and Tony just happen to
write tunes that lots of people can really sink their teeth
into. Now, the stakes are a little higher, but we still feel the
same way as before: we need to be happy with our music before we
can expect other people to like it."
Find out for yourself why Fastball has
established a well-deserved reputation for taking creative risks
… and in turn, offering great musical rewards.
