November 26, 2024 • 31 mins
Ever wondered how a hit song changes the trajectory of a band's career overnight?
Join us for an exclusive conversation with Tony Scalzo of Fastball as he takes us through his musical journey, from his early days learning multiple instruments to the roller-coaster ride of fame with their smash hit "The Way."
Tony reveals the band's creative process, the rejuvenation of their sound through his return to bass playing, and the relentless work behind sustaining success in the ever-evolving music industry.
Gain a unique perspective on the pressures and rewards of life in the spotlight, and how personal and professional dynamics shape a band's longevity.
Discover the secrets behind Fastball's ongoing success in a streaming-dominated era, their songwriting intricacies, and the modern logistics of touring.
Tony discusses the transition from traditional royalties to continuous digital revenue, the blend of individual and collaborative efforts in songwriting, and the impact of advanced audio technologies like Atmos on their music.
Listen to anecdotes from life on the road, the balance between passion and financial motivations, and the camaraderie that has kept Fastball thriving for over 30 years.
Stay tuned to learn how you can follow the band on various platforms like Spotify, Instagram, and their official website.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
My career in the entertainment industry has
enabled me to work with adiverse range of talent.
Through my years of experience,I've recognized two essential
aspects.
Industry professionals, whetherfamous stars or
behind-the-scenes staff, havefascinating stories to tell.
Secondly, audiences are eagerto listen to these stories,
(00:36):
which offer a glimpse into theirlives and the evolution of
their life stories.
This podcast aims to sharethese narratives, providing
information on how they evolvedinto their chosen career.
We will delve into theirjourney to stardom, discuss
their struggles and successesand hear from people who helped
them achieve their goals.
Get ready for intriguingbehind-the-scenes stories and
(00:58):
insights into the fascinatingworld of entertainment.
Hi, I'm Tony Mantor.
I'm thrilled to welcome TonyScalzo of the band Fastball.
Fastball has made a significantimpact in the music scene since
1994 with a unique fusion ofthe Beatles-inspired pop and 90s
(01:18):
mainstream rock.
Their debut single, the Way,was a resounding success,
topping American rock charts andgarnering two Grammy
nominations.
Fastball has continued toproduce high quality music,
releasing nine albums over theyears, including their latest
album, sonic Ranch, this pastJune.
So welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Let's talk.
Let's talk.
Anything you want to talk about, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
And I'm so glad to have you.
When did you decide that, hey,I think I'm going to be in the
music business?
And did you and your wildestdreams think that you would be
as successful as you have beenand have the longevity that
you've had?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So at first until I was maybe 14, I didn't expect
that I would ever be a musicianas a career.
But I started playing with someolder guys in my school.
I was already taking pianolessons.
Maybe age of seven I picked upthe guitar.
I was also in the school band,so in elementary school I was
(02:20):
playing trumpet.
And then I got into the band injunior high and by high school
I went into playing low brassLike I played a baritone horn.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So that was mainly in the orchestra.
I played trumpet in themarching band, a little bit
lighter in the orchestra.
When it was like the wintertime, after the football
season's over, we uh switched toorchestra and I played baritone
horn in that.
So I've always been musical.
I don't know a time when Iwasn't either singing or you
(02:55):
know messing around on theguitar, trying to learn, you
know, songs off records andthings like that.
I learned how to do a lot ofstuff by reading magazines like
Guitar Player Magazine.
And Guitar Player Magazinewasn't really the magazine, it
was later, it was just thisreally really I don't know a
(03:17):
really selective readership.
So you kind of had to be aguitar player.
So you kind of had to be aguitar player and or someone who
was really obsessive, because Ibegan to learn about some of
the vintage players like frankbeecher from bill haley and the
comets and eddie cochran andlearning about the blues and
(03:43):
people like Buddy Guy andFreddie King and yeah and of
course you know that the Britishgreats like Jeff Beck and Robin
Trower and Jimmy Page andRichie Blackmore I really got
obsessed with guitar playing, soit that in the 70s, as you
(04:05):
probably remember, was prettymuch.
It starts with kind of hard rock, right, but it branches off
into like fusion, so you havelike steely dad and larry
carlton and people, um, and thepeople who you know know, and
like Return to Forever, and youget all these, like you know,
(04:28):
bass too with like JacoPistorius I'm a big fan of.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Frank Zappa.
I love Jimi Hendrix and to thisday I'm still obsessed with
guitar playing.
I don't play a lot of guitarthese days, but I was for quite
a long time in fastball.
I was playing guitar along withMiles for about 15 years in
fastball and I only revertedback to the bass about four
(04:58):
years ago and it's been reallygreat to take that old position
up again because I realized thatmaybe the band had been lacking
a little bit without my bassplaying.
I think that I was trying to dothis other thing.
I was trying.
You know, as asinger-songwriter it's quite a
(05:20):
challenge if you don't playmusic.
It's kind of difficult to playbass when you're a lead singer
in a band and there's a fewpeople who do it very well.
That became my recent.
Goal is to get back that soundthat we had when we started out
in the 90s, when we were athree-piece.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Things have gotten tighter and musically more
focused on the live end.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I couldn't say we're focusing on the recording end
right now, because we do a lotof what we want to do and tend
to branch out stylistically.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Sure sure.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Which I think we've done for all of the 21st century
that we've been playing,recording and writing.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
When you first started, you was doing it for
the love of the music, and youstill are.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
But, as always, the music business will always take
over.
Then, when you created Fastballand of course you had that big
hit that started it all.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I'm assuming that you're probably like everybody
else that I've dealt with thathas had that one big hit.
So how did you handle thatimpact of everybody wanting you
all at the same time, from allover the country?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Look, it was hard, very difficult, time-consuming
work.
You don't have time for a life.
You don't have time to enjoythat sort of imagined fantasy.
I've won the lottery.
I can do whatever I want.
You can't do anything.
You have to work and you haveto continue to make that thing
(06:54):
roll and pick up more dung asyou roll it, or snow.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So it gets hard and you know, and it goes by very
quickly and then you realizeyour standards have risen.
You're more easily disappointedin things that never would have
bothered you before, and ifyou're not prepared for it,
you're going to make bigmistakes.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
And if you're not prepared for it, you could die.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Literally die.
I will say from experience andfrom knowing many people who
don't breathe anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
It's freaking dangerous job.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Show business in general is dangerous and the
hazards are incalculable.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Right, yeah, yeah, Because people that do the
average job Monday throughFriday.
They clock in, clock out nineto five, and of course there's
nothing wrong with that.
Of course not.
But when you do music then allof a sudden you're elevated to
that hit record star status.
Then the demands and thepressures come along and it can
(08:02):
be insurmountable at timesdemands and the pressures come
along and it can beinsurmountable at times.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, it can, and, but it isn't insurmountable.
Right, there are ways and Ithink, people you know there's a
lot of people that would havefared better if they had
listened to some people, maybetrusted them, right or not, or
maybe not trusting some peoplewould have been a good idea yeah
you got to learn how to put offyour immediate gratification
(08:32):
desires, if you know what I mean.
To focus on the future, to takecare of yourself for the next
day, to put your time in a waythat's going to preserve your
energy and help you recharge sothat you can't kick gas if
you're sick.
It can make you very sick and,plus, if you start drinking or
(08:54):
you smoke a lot or you're intodrugs, it may seem like it
really works for a little whileand maybe it does, but I mean,
chances are that's going to putyou on a fast track to death.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And we've seen so many people you know hit that.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Well, me too.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Some people who you wonder why were they so
miserable?
You know, on top of it all isthe idea that you're expected to
be super happy.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Right, right.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I'm talking about something from a perspective of
one who is maybe in that pointfor a very short time, a long
time ago.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Right, I'm not famous in the way that I don't suffer
from fame.
I'm able to enjoy it because Ionly utilize it when I'm placed
where I'm supposed to be andwhere it does the best good.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
And that's usually at my own performances and my own
at our runaround scenes inNashville and LA and New York
and Austin, and ask people ifthey don't know who I am, do you
not know who I?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
am Right.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, that's not an attractive position for me to be
in.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So it sounds like you've got into your comfort
zone, you've accepted your fame,you've accepted the things that
you've done, which allows youto keep working on new material
and moving forward.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, yeah and just focus on your work yeah, yeah
and hopefully generate enoughpopularity within the audience
to building on that and keepthings going.
And we have more of anopportunity to do that now in
this day and age, due totechnology and due to
(10:43):
connectivity between a greatdeal more people that exist now
than did 25, 30 years ago, thepopulation has increased.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, Of course the internet has helped tremendously
.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
And there's more people have the internet, so
that connectivity is in placeand now we know that we can
literally keep a career going aslong as it's.
You're not trying to like, Idon't have a 21 million monthly
stream Spotify account.
If I did, I'd be under pressureto keep that up some way.
(11:19):
I don't know.
Maybe you don't have to worryabout it too much because things
sort of generate.
Now they self-generate.
Yeah, we do have, you know,over a million monthly streams
and if I stop and think aboutthat for a minute, it's kind of
mind-boggling and it's like, oh,that's a million times
(11:40):
somebody's listened to one ofour songs in one month and
continues to be the case.
And the beauty of that is thetiny royalty rates right on
those streams.
Notwithstanding, the beauty ofit is that it's a thing that
continues, you know, as opposedto a hard recorded piece of
(12:03):
material that you sell one time.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And you get that royalty for that one point of
purchase.
That's an opportunity.
Yeah, I like that about today'smusic world.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Now are you going back on tour.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Back on tour.
Yeah, we're always playing.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
We're planning for a fall tour in late October
November, but this summer's beenfull of weekends jumping around
on planes going to differentcities.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And then we did actually in April.
Some of the timing got a littlebit messed up and we had a
record that came out in June andhad already done a proper tour
in April May.
That kind of missed the mark.
Yeah, came out in June and hadalready done a proper tour in
April May.
That, you know, kind of missedthe mark.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
But you know it again , it's a new world now and so,
like here, I sit in mycomfortable home in central
Texas and I can talk to you, andI can currently say that you
know, I'm working, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
And I could do all this stuff from home Meanwhile.
Saturday night I was inMorgantown, west Virginia, and
we had a great show, and in acouple of weeks I'll be in
Georgia, in the Atlanta area.
Yeah, fastball plays all overand we're trying to keep that
going for as long as we'rehealthy and able to do it.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I've read where the latest CD that you've recorded
and put out has gotten greatreviews.
I've heard a few songs off andit's really good.
I think you've really hit themark with it.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Thank you.
Yeah, we like it.
We're very happy about it.
We're planning on doing somemore, seeing as we can get
enough songs together to justifygoing to the studio.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Now, do you do most of the writing yourself or do
you collaborate?
How do you come up with yoursongs?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
uh well, how does, how does that whole thing work?
Anyway, people want you andit's like I give hour and a half
seminars to people onsongwriting.
I wouldn't call them seminars,but I've, I've spoken on it and
I've done roundtable discussionswith young artists and, uh, you
(14:17):
know there's a lot to be saidfor the craft of songwriting and
yes I, uh, I can break it downwith you know, with our band
it's it's myself writing usually, uh, at home and trying to get
the bulk of a sum together,maybe 89 of it together here, on
(14:38):
my own right, uh, which is asort of a comfort zone so that I
have more control over what itsounds like late band, which is
not necessarily a ideal thing.
So you know, that's what I'msaying.
There's a lot to be said.
There's many ways to createsongs.
(14:59):
That's right.
No wrong ways to do it, no.
So sometimes you have to putaside what you think is the way
a song sounds and let some otherpeople jump in and do what they
do, and maybe you'll getsomething really great yeah,
collaboration I write by myself,and then miles writes songs on
(15:22):
his own or he might collaboratewith someone else.
Yeah, I might collaborate withsomeone else too.
Sometimes miles and Icollaborate together and that
has been fruitful over the overthe span of nine albums and yeah
uh, we just, you know it's,it's hard to say how you do it
when you haven't written a songin a while.
(15:43):
And I'm still working ongetting some songs together
since this record was recordedand it's it's, it's kind of
baffling.
You know, on the other side ofan album you go well, how did I
do that, how did we come up withthat material?
And it sounds so good and it'sjust because you're in it.
You don't really you don't knowhow it's going to come out
(16:07):
until it's all done.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And that goes through a lot of phases.
You know, there's the writing,there's the working out with the
guys right and it's.
And then there's the recording,where you're working with a
producer who says you hearsomething here and there's the
mixing.
In which is the mixing?
You might feel like, after youget a couple of mixes together,
(16:32):
that you want to add somethingeven more, or you want to edit
something, you want to changesomething, or you want to fuse
two songs together.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, there's a process and everybody has their
way.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And then there's mastering.
And then there's mastering, andthen you've got to think about
how you're going to put this out.
Are you going to put it outonly streaming, only digital?
Are you going to put out avinyl version?
You have to get mixes that areanalog friendly, that's right or
you get mixes that are digitalfriendly yeah so, and now
there's a thing called atmos,and then there's enhanced audio
(17:09):
and which is phenomenal soundingif you have a really, really
good recorded hormones yeah Ifound that it works for some of
the songs I've done.
we've done a few atmos mixes,and most of them work really
well, and I won't say whichtrack it is, but for me there's
another.
There was one song that cameout that I was noticing it
(17:30):
sounded like disjointed, becausethere's so much separation and
there's so much spatialorganization of the different
tracks that it's glaringly.
It's like putting a spotlighton some of the less perfect bits
, and so that's one of thereasons why mono and early
(17:52):
stereo sound so good to us,right, we listen to records by
the Beatles which are mono mixesfrom a full track at the most
right, and we hear that thoselevels had to be perfect upon
tracking.
Yeah, and everything had to begood and the performance had to
be tight.
As you can get you know, herewe work a lot faster, here and
(18:15):
now.
We work a lot faster because wewant to be able to get to
certain parts and we want to beable to hear different ideas at
a quicker rate, so we actuallydon't waste our time or scrap a
whole recording yeah, and thebeauty of the 60s and the 70s is
that sometimes the music wasperfectly imperfect.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
One of the instruments might have been out
of tune slightly or justdifferent little things that
happened, but when they had allthe players playing it together,
it just got that right soundand it came out perfectly
imperfect.
Yeah, and now we've got protools and cubase and all those
platforms where you canmanipulate whatever you need,
but sometimes that raw feel isjust the sound that you actually
(19:03):
need yeah, well, I will saythat you can.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
You can definitely get all of those things that we
love about that music from thosetimes.
You can get it from a digitalformat.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
You just have to do things kind of the way they did
them and really what you'retrying to do is capture the way
an instrument sounds in a room,which means you've got to use
vintage microphones, You've gotto use vintage instruments and
amplification drums.
(19:35):
That's right.
Maybe just crazy placement andbaffles.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So if you can do all those things, you can still
utilize the benefits of digital.
You can use the Pro Toolsbecause, like I say, if you're
working with it and if you'reworking with a producer like
davi garza, who who's like amile a minute, this guy can go
and you don't even know what'sgoing on, because he's jumping
(20:02):
around, jumping from like amelotron to a to a xylophone,
and then they'll pick up aguitar and play this Spanish
thing.
That'll just blow your mind andyou know if you are doing that
in a set period, like they didthings back in the Beatles times
at Abbey Road, you're talkingabout hiring people to come in.
(20:25):
You try it out, you spend twodays and it doesn't work and you
scrap it all.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
We know within a couple of hours whether it works
or not.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
So in the last 20 years or so that you've been out
there performing what comes toyour mind, Something that you'll
always remember.
It can be a performance,someone you met, just anything
yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Well, lots of things obviously.
You know, I remember actuallymore of how we adjusted to kind
of a decline than I do, theactual being up there, the heady
times.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
They're heady and that's going to make things blur
in your memory a little bit,forget where you were when
something happened.
You'll only remember certainaspects.
This is just basic psychologyof memory, but you'll pick out
things that are not the wholepicture.
You know, what do I rememberthe most?
(21:23):
I just remember I don't know.
You know, gosh, there's no oneincident, that's for sure.
Yeah, I get that I remembergoing to the Grammys.
I remember not winning a Grammy.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's okay.
Yeah, sure, I remember beingaround people, famous people.
I remember just the constantfeeling Like I fly a lot still
and I remember a lot when I'm ona plane, especially in the
summer.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
When we were moving our fastest in 1998, because the
record was on the top of thecharts and we were doing MTV and
VH1 and all the shows, all theTV shows and then radio shows,
giant radio shows in stadiums.
I remember the way I felt onthose planes, very excited and
(22:14):
very like.
Here we go.
And I don't really feel thattoday because it's been done a
million times and I've sat onthose planes, but I do remember
that feeling every once in awhile and I remember how it was
and kind of compare and contrastexperience.
Yeah, I'm not motivated by mostof the things I was motivated by
(22:37):
back then yeah like I wasreally interested in, you know,
women and how much play I couldget out there, and because
that's what rock stars do, andyou know the partying.
Well, a lot of what I thinkabout when I go out and work is
I try to tell myself to try to.
You know, keep it together.
(22:58):
You know, don't go out andyou're you know, eating a giant
italian meal with two bottles ofwine is probably not gonna feel
that great, you know, becauseexperience tells me so.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, absolutely, I get it.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I remember a lot of the painful, horrible moments
actually Really being sad andlonely in the middle of you know
, in a hotel room in, say, osloand just freaking out kind of,
yeah, drinking way too much andand just losing it, yeah, and um
(23:33):
, feeling like crap, having togo to the doctor a couple times
yeah you know, knock on wood, itnever really.
Um, oh, I'm sure it probablyprobably affected my and our
careers, you know, negatively insome way, but for the most part
not consequential.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah, it sounds like you transitioned really good.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, and we're all doing very well now and we're
good little boys.
Yeah, and our job subsequentlyis easier and more fun.
We're way better at playing.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, and the thing is is back.
Then it was the rush ofeverything.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Oh yeah, what else are you going to do, right?
Yeah, you got this many hoursbefore.
You don't have any hours, youhave an hour.
Usually when you have a hitrecord in the late 90s and
you're a band, you basically getup from a sleep that's only
about three and a half hours oldyeah, yeah because you didn't
(24:34):
get to bed after the show tillthree in the morning.
Now you've got to go do morningradio and you have to go and
morning radio.
You know what morning radio islike oh yeah, been there it's a
big joke, right?
people just joke around aboutyou can't be serious about
anything.
If you have anything serious onyour mind, you're going to be
(24:56):
the butt of more jokes.
So you kind of have to go alongwith that.
And you know you do that.
You sing your songs on theradio.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Oh, you got to go to another one right after that.
Oh yeah, then it's lunch,hopefully.
Yeah, next thing you know it'ssound check you might be able to
go home.
Get in that.
When I say home, you know ahotel room or your bus.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Climb up and go and have a little nap, but then you
let it play again.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Right, exactly.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And sometimes you have to sit at dinner with a
bunch of people for a couplehours.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, been there, done that.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It may be great a couple of times.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, well, the good thing is that you're still here
doing it.
You can reflect on the thingsthat you've done.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I don't have to work as hard either.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Right, you can appreciate what you're doing
because you started out.
You started out with it for thelove of the music, and now it's
truly for the love of the music, because you've done it all.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Yep, it's 80% for the love of the.
No, it's 50% for the love ofmusic, it's 40% for the money
and it's 10% because I'mcodependent and I don't want to
let my friends down.
We're in a band together.
Right, I get it.
You know, you don't just sayI'm out of here after 30 years.
(26:17):
That's right.
You got to put a little bit ofa what do they call it?
Speaker 1 (26:21):
A two week notice that's right, you gotta put a
little bit of a what do theycall it?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
a two-week notice?
Yeah, yeah, I just read ourpartnership agreement today.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
It says, we have 60 days and that's whether we're
leaving or not?
Yeah, yeah.
And if you breathe, you couldbreach your partnership.
Oh yeah, you know how manytimes has that been done?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
but that's fine.
No, no, no, we're cool.
I'm only joking about all that.
It's true, we do have a 60-daynotice.
That's the only thing I shallreveal about our business.
It's fun, yeah, to be in a bandwith the same guys for 30 years
.
That's awesome.
You end up doing this thing andit's funny because, well, well,
(27:04):
you know, like twins have alanguage, okay.
Well, we're like triplets andwe have a language, for sure,
and we have a sound guy who'sonly been with us for a few
months.
He's funny because I saw a postthat he did on on facebook and
he said I've been with theseguys for a couple weeks.
Man, sometimes I don't knowwhat they're talking about, but
they'll say a couple things andthey'll look each other and the
(27:26):
whole room just starts bustingup in laughter and I don't even
know what they're talking about,and that, and that is what
we're.
That's what I'm saying is, wehave this thing in place that
sometimes a look will do it.
We don't have say much.
We definitely see that we haveto communicate and communication
is a key to any relationship.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Any relationship, A business relationship, a
personal relationship aparent-kid relationship.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
The cool thing that you've done is you've not only
stayed consistent, but puttingout great music.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Well, I appreciate that.
I think we've had some low, lowpoints.
Everyone does, but not in ourrecording, good, not in our
recorded output.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And I would say that if I had any reason, if I had a
couple of things I'd like tochange or do better, it would be
to be a better performer.
20 years ago 20 years ago Ithink uh, we were up on our
laurels a little bit and we werecomplacent, we were bored, we
(28:35):
were kind of trying to figureout if we liked each other as
people and we wanted to be in.
We want to continue this.
And then, um, I wish that wehad made more records.
Honestly, I I'd like to havemade maybe four or five more
records yeah sure.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Well, I have to say this what you've done is really
good, because you've beentogether what 25, 26, 27 years.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
We've been together for 30 years 30 years.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, that's astounding For any band to stay
together that long.
That's just amazing.
Yes, I agree, it is.
It is.
I've seen so many come and goin my 30 plus years here in
Nashville.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
And a lot of times it's just the one guy who sang
or wrote the hit gets rid ofeverybody else and just gets a
bunch of people he could bossaround and pay.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, so true.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
We put in our deals with each other.
We worked that out beforehand,we made it a written thing,
which is how we agree, and wedid it early.
We did it before there wasanything to even argue about, so
it's all in place.
Yeah, so how do people find you?
How do they find us?
(29:48):
You can go to Spotify, fastball.
You can go to our website,fastballthebandcom.
We have pages on Instagram andon Facebook and on TikTok, and
we are on YouTube.
We have a Fastball officialFacebook and if you want to see
a lot of our stuff in video, youcan go on there.
(30:09):
There's a lot of stuff thatother people post.
We have a new video out thatgoes with our new single, which
is called Rather Be Me Than you.
We shot a video in march, uh,here in austin and um.
It's a great fun video.
It's a real rock video, and youcan see that on youtube right
(30:32):
now, and I urge everybody to uhcome to our shows.
You can buy merch from us atthe shows.
We always come out and signstuff for people.
If they buy something and evendon't buy something, we'll sign
it.
But if you don't have money tobuy our stuff at the stores or
through our website.
(30:53):
Feel free to stream on thestreams, man, I have no problem
with that.
It helps our band, it supportsour band and you can listen as
many times you want, and youknow it's great for us to have a
million streams every month.
It actually pays off.
It doesn't pay all our bills,but it helps.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Well, I tell you it's beengreat.
I really appreciate you comingon.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Tony, it's been a pleasure.
Yeah, man, I've had a good time.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, me too.
The pleasure's all mine.
Thanks for joining us today.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
This has been a Tony Mantorproduction.
For more information, contactmedia at plateau music dot com.
My career in the entertainment industry has
enabled me to work with adiverse range of talent.
Through my years of experience,I've recognized two essential
aspects.
Industry professionals, whetherfamous stars or
behind-the-scenes staff, havefascinating stories to tell.
Secondly, audiences are eagerto listen to these stories,
(00:36):
which offer a glimpse into theirlives and the evolution of
their life stories.
This podcast aims to sharethese narratives, providing
information on how they evolvedinto their chosen career.
We will delve into theirjourney to stardom, discuss
their struggles and successesand hear from people who helped
them achieve their goals.
Get ready for intriguingbehind-the-scenes stories and
(00:58):
insights into the fascinatingworld of entertainment.
Hi, I'm Tony Mantor.
I'm thrilled to welcome TonyScalzo of the band Fastball.
Fastball has made a significantimpact in the music scene since
1994 with a unique fusion ofthe Beatles-inspired pop and 90s
(01:18):
mainstream rock.
Their debut single, the Way,was a resounding success,
topping American rock charts andgarnering two Grammy
nominations.
Fastball has continued toproduce high quality music,
releasing nine albums over theyears, including their latest
album, sonic Ranch, this pastJune.
So welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Let's talk.
Let's talk.
Anything you want to talk about, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
And I'm so glad to have you.
When did you decide that, hey,I think I'm going to be in the
music business?
And did you and your wildestdreams think that you would be
as successful as you have beenand have the longevity that
you've had?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So at first until I was maybe 14, I didn't expect
that I would ever be a musicianas a career.
But I started playing with someolder guys in my school.
I was already taking pianolessons.
Maybe age of seven I picked upthe guitar.
I was also in the school band,so in elementary school I was
(02:20):
playing trumpet.
And then I got into the band injunior high and by high school
I went into playing low brassLike I played a baritone horn.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So that was mainly in the orchestra.
I played trumpet in themarching band, a little bit
lighter in the orchestra.
When it was like the wintertime, after the football
season's over, we uh switched toorchestra and I played baritone
horn in that.
So I've always been musical.
I don't know a time when Iwasn't either singing or you
(02:55):
know messing around on theguitar, trying to learn, you
know, songs off records andthings like that.
I learned how to do a lot ofstuff by reading magazines like
Guitar Player Magazine.
And Guitar Player Magazinewasn't really the magazine, it
was later, it was just thisreally really I don't know a
(03:17):
really selective readership.
So you kind of had to be aguitar player.
So you kind of had to be aguitar player and or someone who
was really obsessive, because Ibegan to learn about some of
the vintage players like frankbeecher from bill haley and the
comets and eddie cochran andlearning about the blues and
(03:43):
people like Buddy Guy andFreddie King and yeah and of
course you know that the Britishgreats like Jeff Beck and Robin
Trower and Jimmy Page andRichie Blackmore I really got
obsessed with guitar playing, soit that in the 70s, as you
(04:05):
probably remember, was prettymuch.
It starts with kind of hard rock, right, but it branches off
into like fusion, so you havelike steely dad and larry
carlton and people, um, and thepeople who you know know, and
like Return to Forever, and youget all these, like you know,
(04:28):
bass too with like JacoPistorius I'm a big fan of.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Frank Zappa.
I love Jimi Hendrix and to thisday I'm still obsessed with
guitar playing.
I don't play a lot of guitarthese days, but I was for quite
a long time in fastball.
I was playing guitar along withMiles for about 15 years in
fastball and I only revertedback to the bass about four
(04:58):
years ago and it's been reallygreat to take that old position
up again because I realized thatmaybe the band had been lacking
a little bit without my bassplaying.
I think that I was trying to dothis other thing.
I was trying.
You know, as asinger-songwriter it's quite a
(05:20):
challenge if you don't playmusic.
It's kind of difficult to playbass when you're a lead singer
in a band and there's a fewpeople who do it very well.
That became my recent.
Goal is to get back that soundthat we had when we started out
in the 90s, when we were athree-piece.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Things have gotten tighter and musically more
focused on the live end.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I couldn't say we're focusing on the recording end
right now, because we do a lotof what we want to do and tend
to branch out stylistically.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Sure sure.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Which I think we've done for all of the 21st century
that we've been playing,recording and writing.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
When you first started, you was doing it for
the love of the music, and youstill are.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
But, as always, the music business will always take
over.
Then, when you created Fastballand of course you had that big
hit that started it all.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I'm assuming that you're probably like everybody
else that I've dealt with thathas had that one big hit.
So how did you handle thatimpact of everybody wanting you
all at the same time, from allover the country?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Look, it was hard, very difficult, time-consuming
work.
You don't have time for a life.
You don't have time to enjoythat sort of imagined fantasy.
I've won the lottery.
I can do whatever I want.
You can't do anything.
You have to work and you haveto continue to make that thing
(06:54):
roll and pick up more dung asyou roll it, or snow.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So it gets hard and you know, and it goes by very
quickly and then you realizeyour standards have risen.
You're more easily disappointedin things that never would have
bothered you before, and ifyou're not prepared for it,
you're going to make bigmistakes.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
And if you're not prepared for it, you could die.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Literally die.
I will say from experience andfrom knowing many people who
don't breathe anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
It's freaking dangerous job.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Show business in general is dangerous and the
hazards are incalculable.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Right, yeah, yeah, Because people that do the
average job Monday throughFriday.
They clock in, clock out nineto five, and of course there's
nothing wrong with that.
Of course not.
But when you do music then allof a sudden you're elevated to
that hit record star status.
Then the demands and thepressures come along and it can
(08:02):
be insurmountable at timesdemands and the pressures come
along and it can beinsurmountable at times.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, it can, and, but it isn't insurmountable.
Right, there are ways and Ithink, people you know there's a
lot of people that would havefared better if they had
listened to some people, maybetrusted them, right or not, or
maybe not trusting some peoplewould have been a good idea yeah
you got to learn how to put offyour immediate gratification
(08:32):
desires, if you know what I mean.
To focus on the future, to takecare of yourself for the next
day, to put your time in a waythat's going to preserve your
energy and help you recharge sothat you can't kick gas if
you're sick.
It can make you very sick and,plus, if you start drinking or
(08:54):
you smoke a lot or you're intodrugs, it may seem like it
really works for a little whileand maybe it does, but I mean,
chances are that's going to putyou on a fast track to death.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And we've seen so many people you know hit that.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Well, me too.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Some people who you wonder why were they so
miserable?
You know, on top of it all isthe idea that you're expected to
be super happy.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Right, right.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I'm talking about something from a perspective of
one who is maybe in that pointfor a very short time, a long
time ago.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Right, I'm not famous in the way that I don't suffer
from fame.
I'm able to enjoy it because Ionly utilize it when I'm placed
where I'm supposed to be andwhere it does the best good.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
And that's usually at my own performances and my own
at our runaround scenes inNashville and LA and New York
and Austin, and ask people ifthey don't know who I am, do you
not know who I?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
am Right.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, that's not an attractive position for me to be
in.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So it sounds like you've got into your comfort
zone, you've accepted your fame,you've accepted the things that
you've done, which allows youto keep working on new material
and moving forward.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, yeah and just focus on your work yeah, yeah
and hopefully generate enoughpopularity within the audience
to building on that and keepthings going.
And we have more of anopportunity to do that now in
this day and age, due totechnology and due to
(10:43):
connectivity between a greatdeal more people that exist now
than did 25, 30 years ago, thepopulation has increased.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, Of course the internet has helped tremendously
.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
And there's more people have the internet, so
that connectivity is in placeand now we know that we can
literally keep a career going aslong as it's.
You're not trying to like, Idon't have a 21 million monthly
stream Spotify account.
If I did, I'd be under pressureto keep that up some way.
(11:19):
I don't know.
Maybe you don't have to worryabout it too much because things
sort of generate.
Now they self-generate.
Yeah, we do have, you know,over a million monthly streams
and if I stop and think aboutthat for a minute, it's kind of
mind-boggling and it's like, oh,that's a million times
(11:40):
somebody's listened to one ofour songs in one month and
continues to be the case.
And the beauty of that is thetiny royalty rates right on
those streams.
Notwithstanding, the beauty ofit is that it's a thing that
continues, you know, as opposedto a hard recorded piece of
(12:03):
material that you sell one time.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And you get that royalty for that one point of
purchase.
That's an opportunity.
Yeah, I like that about today'smusic world.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Now are you going back on tour.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Back on tour.
Yeah, we're always playing.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
We're planning for a fall tour in late October
November, but this summer's beenfull of weekends jumping around
on planes going to differentcities.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And then we did actually in April.
Some of the timing got a littlebit messed up and we had a
record that came out in June andhad already done a proper tour
in April May.
That kind of missed the mark.
Yeah, came out in June and hadalready done a proper tour in
April May.
That, you know, kind of missedthe mark.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
But you know it again , it's a new world now and so,
like here, I sit in mycomfortable home in central
Texas and I can talk to you, andI can currently say that you
know, I'm working, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
And I could do all this stuff from home Meanwhile.
Saturday night I was inMorgantown, west Virginia, and
we had a great show, and in acouple of weeks I'll be in
Georgia, in the Atlanta area.
Yeah, fastball plays all overand we're trying to keep that
going for as long as we'rehealthy and able to do it.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I've read where the latest CD that you've recorded
and put out has gotten greatreviews.
I've heard a few songs off andit's really good.
I think you've really hit themark with it.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Thank you.
Yeah, we like it.
We're very happy about it.
We're planning on doing somemore, seeing as we can get
enough songs together to justifygoing to the studio.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Now, do you do most of the writing yourself or do
you collaborate?
How do you come up with yoursongs?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
uh well, how does, how does that whole thing work?
Anyway, people want you andit's like I give hour and a half
seminars to people onsongwriting.
I wouldn't call them seminars,but I've, I've spoken on it and
I've done roundtable discussionswith young artists and, uh, you
(14:17):
know there's a lot to be saidfor the craft of songwriting and
yes I, uh, I can break it downwith you know, with our band
it's it's myself writing usually, uh, at home and trying to get
the bulk of a sum together,maybe 89 of it together here, on
(14:38):
my own right, uh, which is asort of a comfort zone so that I
have more control over what itsounds like late band, which is
not necessarily a ideal thing.
So you know, that's what I'msaying.
There's a lot to be said.
There's many ways to createsongs.
(14:59):
That's right.
No wrong ways to do it, no.
So sometimes you have to putaside what you think is the way
a song sounds and let some otherpeople jump in and do what they
do, and maybe you'll getsomething really great yeah,
collaboration I write by myself,and then miles writes songs on
(15:22):
his own or he might collaboratewith someone else.
Yeah, I might collaborate withsomeone else too.
Sometimes miles and Icollaborate together and that
has been fruitful over the overthe span of nine albums and yeah
uh, we just, you know it's,it's hard to say how you do it
when you haven't written a songin a while.
(15:43):
And I'm still working ongetting some songs together
since this record was recordedand it's it's, it's kind of
baffling.
You know, on the other side ofan album you go well, how did I
do that, how did we come up withthat material?
And it sounds so good and it'sjust because you're in it.
You don't really you don't knowhow it's going to come out
(16:07):
until it's all done.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And that goes through a lot of phases.
You know, there's the writing,there's the working out with the
guys right and it's.
And then there's the recording,where you're working with a
producer who says you hearsomething here and there's the
mixing.
In which is the mixing?
You might feel like, after youget a couple of mixes together,
(16:32):
that you want to add somethingeven more, or you want to edit
something, you want to changesomething, or you want to fuse
two songs together.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, there's a process and everybody has their
way.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And then there's mastering.
And then there's mastering, andthen you've got to think about
how you're going to put this out.
Are you going to put it outonly streaming, only digital?
Are you going to put out avinyl version?
You have to get mixes that areanalog friendly, that's right or
you get mixes that are digitalfriendly yeah so, and now
there's a thing called atmos,and then there's enhanced audio
(17:09):
and which is phenomenal soundingif you have a really, really
good recorded hormones yeah Ifound that it works for some of
the songs I've done.
we've done a few atmos mixes,and most of them work really
well, and I won't say whichtrack it is, but for me there's
another.
There was one song that cameout that I was noticing it
(17:30):
sounded like disjointed, becausethere's so much separation and
there's so much spatialorganization of the different
tracks that it's glaringly.
It's like putting a spotlighton some of the less perfect bits
, and so that's one of thereasons why mono and early
(17:52):
stereo sound so good to us,right, we listen to records by
the Beatles which are mono mixesfrom a full track at the most
right, and we hear that thoselevels had to be perfect upon
tracking.
Yeah, and everything had to begood and the performance had to
be tight.
As you can get you know, herewe work a lot faster, here and
(18:15):
now.
We work a lot faster because wewant to be able to get to
certain parts and we want to beable to hear different ideas at
a quicker rate, so we actuallydon't waste our time or scrap a
whole recording yeah, and thebeauty of the 60s and the 70s is
that sometimes the music wasperfectly imperfect.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
One of the instruments might have been out
of tune slightly or justdifferent little things that
happened, but when they had allthe players playing it together,
it just got that right soundand it came out perfectly
imperfect.
Yeah, and now we've got protools and cubase and all those
platforms where you canmanipulate whatever you need,
but sometimes that raw feel isjust the sound that you actually
(19:03):
need yeah, well, I will saythat you can.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
You can definitely get all of those things that we
love about that music from thosetimes.
You can get it from a digitalformat.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
You just have to do things kind of the way they did
them and really what you'retrying to do is capture the way
an instrument sounds in a room,which means you've got to use
vintage microphones, You've gotto use vintage instruments and
amplification drums.
(19:35):
That's right.
Maybe just crazy placement andbaffles.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So if you can do all those things, you can still
utilize the benefits of digital.
You can use the Pro Toolsbecause, like I say, if you're
working with it and if you'reworking with a producer like
davi garza, who who's like amile a minute, this guy can go
and you don't even know what'sgoing on, because he's jumping
(20:02):
around, jumping from like amelotron to a to a xylophone,
and then they'll pick up aguitar and play this Spanish
thing.
That'll just blow your mind andyou know if you are doing that
in a set period, like they didthings back in the Beatles times
at Abbey Road, you're talkingabout hiring people to come in.
(20:25):
You try it out, you spend twodays and it doesn't work and you
scrap it all.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
We know within a couple of hours whether it works
or not.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
So in the last 20 years or so that you've been out
there performing what comes toyour mind, Something that you'll
always remember.
It can be a performance,someone you met, just anything
yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Well, lots of things obviously.
You know, I remember actuallymore of how we adjusted to kind
of a decline than I do, theactual being up there, the heady
times.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
They're heady and that's going to make things blur
in your memory a little bit,forget where you were when
something happened.
You'll only remember certainaspects.
This is just basic psychologyof memory, but you'll pick out
things that are not the wholepicture.
You know, what do I rememberthe most?
(21:23):
I just remember I don't know.
You know, gosh, there's no oneincident, that's for sure.
Yeah, I get that I remembergoing to the Grammys.
I remember not winning a Grammy.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's okay.
Yeah, sure, I remember beingaround people, famous people.
I remember just the constantfeeling Like I fly a lot still
and I remember a lot when I'm ona plane, especially in the
summer.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
When we were moving our fastest in 1998, because the
record was on the top of thecharts and we were doing MTV and
VH1 and all the shows, all theTV shows and then radio shows,
giant radio shows in stadiums.
I remember the way I felt onthose planes, very excited and
(22:14):
very like.
Here we go.
And I don't really feel thattoday because it's been done a
million times and I've sat onthose planes, but I do remember
that feeling every once in awhile and I remember how it was
and kind of compare and contrastexperience.
Yeah, I'm not motivated by mostof the things I was motivated by
(22:37):
back then yeah like I wasreally interested in, you know,
women and how much play I couldget out there, and because
that's what rock stars do, andyou know the partying.
Well, a lot of what I thinkabout when I go out and work is
I try to tell myself to try to.
You know, keep it together.
(22:58):
You know, don't go out andyou're you know, eating a giant
italian meal with two bottles ofwine is probably not gonna feel
that great, you know, becauseexperience tells me so.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, absolutely, I get it.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I remember a lot of the painful, horrible moments
actually Really being sad andlonely in the middle of you know
, in a hotel room in, say, osloand just freaking out kind of,
yeah, drinking way too much andand just losing it, yeah, and um
(23:33):
, feeling like crap, having togo to the doctor a couple times
yeah you know, knock on wood, itnever really.
Um, oh, I'm sure it probablyprobably affected my and our
careers, you know, negatively insome way, but for the most part
not consequential.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah, it sounds like you transitioned really good.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, and we're all doing very well now and we're
good little boys.
Yeah, and our job subsequentlyis easier and more fun.
We're way better at playing.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, and the thing is is back.
Then it was the rush ofeverything.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Oh yeah, what else are you going to do, right?
Yeah, you got this many hoursbefore.
You don't have any hours, youhave an hour.
Usually when you have a hitrecord in the late 90s and
you're a band, you basically getup from a sleep that's only
about three and a half hours oldyeah, yeah because you didn't
(24:34):
get to bed after the show tillthree in the morning.
Now you've got to go do morningradio and you have to go and
morning radio.
You know what morning radio islike oh yeah, been there it's a
big joke, right?
people just joke around aboutyou can't be serious about
anything.
If you have anything serious onyour mind, you're going to be
(24:56):
the butt of more jokes.
So you kind of have to go alongwith that.
And you know you do that.
You sing your songs on theradio.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Oh, you got to go to another one right after that.
Oh yeah, then it's lunch,hopefully.
Yeah, next thing you know it'ssound check you might be able to
go home.
Get in that.
When I say home, you know ahotel room or your bus.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Climb up and go and have a little nap, but then you
let it play again.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Right, exactly.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And sometimes you have to sit at dinner with a
bunch of people for a couplehours.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, been there, done that.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It may be great a couple of times.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, well, the good thing is that you're still here
doing it.
You can reflect on the thingsthat you've done.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I don't have to work as hard either.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Right, you can appreciate what you're doing
because you started out.
You started out with it for thelove of the music, and now it's
truly for the love of the music, because you've done it all.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Yep, it's 80% for the love of the.
No, it's 50% for the love ofmusic, it's 40% for the money
and it's 10% because I'mcodependent and I don't want to
let my friends down.
We're in a band together.
Right, I get it.
You know, you don't just sayI'm out of here after 30 years.
(26:17):
That's right.
You got to put a little bit ofa what do they call it?
Speaker 1 (26:21):
A two week notice that's right, you gotta put a
little bit of a what do theycall it?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
a two-week notice?
Yeah, yeah, I just read ourpartnership agreement today.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
It says, we have 60 days and that's whether we're
leaving or not?
Yeah, yeah.
And if you breathe, you couldbreach your partnership.
Oh yeah, you know how manytimes has that been done?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
but that's fine.
No, no, no, we're cool.
I'm only joking about all that.
It's true, we do have a 60-daynotice.
That's the only thing I shallreveal about our business.
It's fun, yeah, to be in a bandwith the same guys for 30 years
.
That's awesome.
You end up doing this thing andit's funny because, well, well,
(27:04):
you know, like twins have alanguage, okay.
Well, we're like triplets andwe have a language, for sure,
and we have a sound guy who'sonly been with us for a few
months.
He's funny because I saw a postthat he did on on facebook and
he said I've been with theseguys for a couple weeks.
Man, sometimes I don't knowwhat they're talking about, but
they'll say a couple things andthey'll look each other and the
(27:26):
whole room just starts bustingup in laughter and I don't even
know what they're talking about,and that, and that is what
we're.
That's what I'm saying is, wehave this thing in place that
sometimes a look will do it.
We don't have say much.
We definitely see that we haveto communicate and communication
is a key to any relationship.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Any relationship, A business relationship, a
personal relationship aparent-kid relationship.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
The cool thing that you've done is you've not only
stayed consistent, but puttingout great music.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Well, I appreciate that.
I think we've had some low, lowpoints.
Everyone does, but not in ourrecording, good, not in our
recorded output.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And I would say that if I had any reason, if I had a
couple of things I'd like tochange or do better, it would be
to be a better performer.
20 years ago 20 years ago Ithink uh, we were up on our
laurels a little bit and we werecomplacent, we were bored, we
(28:35):
were kind of trying to figureout if we liked each other as
people and we wanted to be in.
We want to continue this.
And then, um, I wish that wehad made more records.
Honestly, I I'd like to havemade maybe four or five more
records yeah sure.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Well, I have to say this what you've done is really
good, because you've beentogether what 25, 26, 27 years.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
We've been together for 30 years 30 years.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, that's astounding For any band to stay
together that long.
That's just amazing.
Yes, I agree, it is.
It is.
I've seen so many come and goin my 30 plus years here in
Nashville.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
And a lot of times it's just the one guy who sang
or wrote the hit gets rid ofeverybody else and just gets a
bunch of people he could bossaround and pay.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, so true.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
We put in our deals with each other.
We worked that out beforehand,we made it a written thing,
which is how we agree, and wedid it early.
We did it before there wasanything to even argue about, so
it's all in place.
Yeah, so how do people find you?
How do they find us?
(29:48):
You can go to Spotify, fastball.
You can go to our website,fastballthebandcom.
We have pages on Instagram andon Facebook and on TikTok, and
we are on YouTube.
We have a Fastball officialFacebook and if you want to see
a lot of our stuff in video, youcan go on there.
(30:09):
There's a lot of stuff thatother people post.
We have a new video out thatgoes with our new single, which
is called Rather Be Me Than you.
We shot a video in march, uh,here in austin and um.
It's a great fun video.
It's a real rock video, and youcan see that on youtube right
(30:32):
now, and I urge everybody to uhcome to our shows.
You can buy merch from us atthe shows.
We always come out and signstuff for people.
If they buy something and evendon't buy something, we'll sign
it.
But if you don't have money tobuy our stuff at the stores or
through our website.
(30:53):
Feel free to stream on thestreams, man, I have no problem
with that.
It helps our band, it supportsour band and you can listen as
many times you want, and youknow it's great for us to have a
million streams every month.
It actually pays off.
It doesn't pay all our bills,but it helps.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Well, I tell you it's beengreat.
I really appreciate you comingon.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Tony, it's been a pleasure.
Yeah, man, I've had a good time.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, me too.
The pleasure's all mine.
Thanks for joining us today.
We hope you enjoyed the show.
This has been a Tony Mantorproduction.
For more information, contactmedia at plateau music dot com.
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