An interview with Fastball

Drummer Joey Shuffield talks about the band's successful new album and its current tour.

Fastball will spin their way onto the CSUS campus on Dec. 3 to perform tracks from their sophomore release, "All The Pain That Money Can Buy" (Hollywood).

"I want the band to be known for kick-ass live shows, producing quality music to make people think, and to touch people's lives," said drummer Joey Shuffield, one of the three- man band's founders.

The band's two-month tour will highlight tracks like their current single, "The Way" -- the second most frequently- played video on VH-1 and MTV -- and "Fire Escape," which is now number 14 on Billboard's modern rock chart.

With little media attention, the Austin, Texas trio released their first record, "Make Your Mama Proud," in June 1996. "All The Pain That Money Can Buy" went platinum in September, and "The Way" rose to the top of the modern rock chart in February.

Shuffield said the difference between the first album and its follow-up is that the band learned the songs while recording, which left room for experimenting with different lyrics and tunes.

The band is comprised of Shuffield, Tony Scalzo on bass/vocals, and Miles Zuniga on guitar/vocals. The band formed when Shuffield left his former band, the Wild Seeds, and introduced Zuniga to Scalzo.

According to Shuffield, the success of their debut single was unexpected.

"The popularity of this song was unexpected because the band would not have chosen this particular tune to debut. But it is a great song and thank goodness for the people in the music industry that have an ear for these things," he said.

Shuffield said the inspiration for "The Way" came when Scalzo read news articles about an unusual couple. "The song is based on a romantic take that Scalzo had on the disappearance of an elderly couple before anyone knew what had happened to them," said Shuffield. "He imagined them leaving all of the responsibilities of life behind to be alone like they were when they were young."

Fastball is on their first club tour with labelmate and singer/songwriter Joan Jones, who will open for the band.

The venues for their current tour include several universities, two of which are for students only. According to Shuffield, performing at universities is good because of the hospitality. The college audiences are great to perform for, we are treated well, and the money is great, he said.

"Most of all the university promotions people are not jaded like the nightclub owners and promoters who want to keep a lot of the money for themselves," said Shuffield.

Shuffield, who describes Fastball as a basic rock band with pop influences, said the lack of sleep is the worst thing about being on tour, but the 90 minutes they spend on-stage make it worthwhile.

In addition to their current US tour, the band has appeared with Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O'Brien.