Biography Fastball (band)

1 biography

1.1 formation
1.2 make mama proud
1.3 pain money can buy
1.4 harsh light of day
1.5 keep wig on
1.6 little white lies , beyond

biography
formation

in 1995, tony scalzo, miles zuniga, , joey shuffield formed fastball in austin, texas. zuniga , shuffield first played in band called big car. after stint group called wild seeds, shuffield introduced zuniga scalzo, had played in band called goods in orange county, california. trio decided form own band, , began playing around austin area.

when first started out, band tried out several names, such star 69, magneto, magneto usa, ed clark s business bible , starchy, before deciding adopt name fastball.

make mama proud

fastball built strong following in austin area, , created regional buzz. result, local journalist spotted them, , suggested hollywood records check them out. did, , fastball signed recording contract. scalzo , zuniga took turns singing , writing songs, while shuffield backed them on drums. in 1996, make mama proud arrived in stores. album didn t sell well, did win (they tied local austin band, wannabes) best pop band category @ austin music awards. following year, members of fastball unsure of future.

all pain money can buy

the members of fastball still had side jobs late january 1998. tony scalzo worked graveyard shift @ bagel manufactory in austin. he, shuffield, , zuniga on tonight show jay leno , late night conan o brien 4 months later. fastball s second album, pain money can buy, released on hollywood records. within 6 months, had sold more million copies.

the single way stayed on top of billboard s modern rock tracks chart 7 weeks, , top 5 hit on billboard s top 40 mainstream chart. scalzo inspired write song in 1997, after reading news article lela , raymond howard, elderly couple had disappeared in texas. though lela had alzheimers , raymond recovering brain surgery, couple had been driving local festival. discovered 2 weeks later, dead, @ bottom of ravine near hot springs, arkansas, hundreds of miles off intended route. scalzo chose imagine began reminiscing , decided become ethereal beings on permanent romantic trip, answer song s question, going without ever knowing way?

fastball followed way second single fire escape , third single, out of head , joined chart-topping predecessor. out of head reached top ten on billboard s top 40 chart , top ten hit on adult top 40 chart 29 weeks. band followed album release tour featured marcy playground , everclear. after that, landed spot on h.o.r.d.e. tour.

in 1999, fastball received 2 grammy award nominations result of pain money can buy. 1 best rock performance duo or group vocals, , other best long form video way . received mtv award nomination best new artist.

the harsh light of day

the group headed studio record third album, harsh light of day. produced julian raymond , fastball, album released in september 2000.

the release included re ocean , featured piano stylings of billy preston (who collaborated beatles). singer-guitarist brian setzer contributed album latin guitar on love expensive , free. instead of tailoring music short attention spans, tried make album holds extensive listening... kind of cinematic, notice new themes entering frame each time see film, zuniga said in band s record company bio.

although harsh light of day sold less 85,000 copies (compared pain money can buy s 1,000,000+), trio didn t lose steam , chalked lacking musical category fit into. can t write down in sentence, zuniga told mac randall @ launch.com. marketing problem. in way, s our saving grace also, because can t find easy angle summarize , exploit us. might sell more records if could, @ same time, forces people want interested in pay little more attention re doing.

in october 2000, fastball began touring in support of harsh light of day in amsterdam. despite slowed success, members of group didn t regret of creative decisions, , aim remained true. makes me feel proud re 1 of these song-oriented guitar bands, scalzo told richard skanse in rolling stone. think there s couple of bands still putting out real quality guitar rock songs, , think re 1 of them.

keep wig on

fastball live @ waterloo park in austin, texas, august 6, 2006. left right: harmoni kelley (support musician), miles zuniga, joey shuffield, , tony scalzo.

in june 2004, fastball released fourth album, keep wig on, on new record label, rykodisc. keep wig on home singles airstream , drifting away , , lou-ee, lou-ee , last being released single in europe only.

in 2007, way voted no. 94 on vh1 s television special 100 greatest songs of 90s.

little white lies , beyond

on april 14, 2009, fastball released fifth album, little white lies. album co-produced zuniga , experienced producer cj eiriksson, mixing bob clearmountain.

in april 2013, new single titled love comes in waves released digital outlets. video premiered on youtube on july 23, 2013.

on february 5, 2015, band began recording new album @ bubble recording studio in austin. in march, band announced love comes in waves featured on band s forthcoming album step light, released on may 19. video second song album, never let down , released on march 2017.

in mid-september 2017 band played living room concert @ home of los angeles-based comic chet wild following nearly-year long twitter campaign (#fastballatchets). concert raised $12,500 via indiegogo assist hurricane harvey relief efforts.