“ I’m not going to compare our new album to The Great Gatsby or The Old Man And The Sea,” laughs Fastball’s Tony Scalzo. “But it’s kind of a pocket epic - short and sweet, with lots to say.”
Indeed, Sonic Ranch has that focused fusion of rollicking guitars and pop smarts that began with singles The Way and Out Of My Head (featured recently on TV sitcom Ted Lasso), and has kept the Austin-based trio consistently in the strike zone over their 30-plus-year career.
We caught up with Scalzo, 60, recently to talk about Fastball’s longevity, a lost Yes album, and the importance of singing with a smile.
What’s your life like between albums?
Pretty easy. I have adult children, but also a young child. Me and my wife are raising our boy, and we’re able to focus a lot of attention on him. I’m not gone all the time like I was in the nineties. I love fishing, movies, doing crosswords and jigsaw puzzles. That sounds geriatric, right?! Let’s say I’m not drawn by the pitfalls a thirty-year old might be. I wasted a lot of time, brain and liver cells back then. So I don’t work too hard, but I put in the work. And I know when to clock out.
On your Instagram recently, you posted a photo of Yes’s 1980 album Drama, along with the word ‘Amazing’.
That record needs champions! It’s not going to come close to Close To The Edge, but it’s amazing. It gives me the same thing The Beatles gave me – originality, diversity and all that cool kind of math. I’ve tried to bring a similar thing within the context of our band, in the tiny frame of three-minute songs.
How do you keep your voice so strong?
My producer friend Chris ‘Frenchie’ Smith said: “Why don’t you smile when you sing?” And you know what? It helps me to hit notes. It helps me to have more power. It also tells my body that this is fun. And I think I’m singing better than I ever have. I look back on some of our older records and I’m like: “Why am I yelling?” Some of my favourite singers have that relaxed delivery – David Gilmour, Paul McCartney, even Ronnie Dio. That’s where it’s at.
What jobs did you have before Fastball?
The worst was calling people on the phone and trying to get them to invest in strategic metals, like palladium [laughs]. I had no idea what I was talking about. I’ve worked as a busboy, a painter, a carpet layer. Even when our songs were first on the radio, I was still working the graveyard shift at a bagel place.
Are you excited about Fastball playing the upcoming nineties cruise?
I’m hot and cold about it [laughs]. Honestly, I’m a little nervous about being out on a ship for five days with nothing to do but drink and party. But there’s a lot of people on this thing that we know – Everclear, Blues Traveler, Collective Soul - so maybe it’ll be a fun adventure.
Fastball have stayed together for over thirty years. What’s the secret?
I think only having a certain degree of success. Huge success can sometimes rip bands apart. We sold a bunch of records in the nineties, we were on TV, had songs in movies. And the songs have this life that the band wouldn’t have otherwise. We’ve all tried solo careers, but it’s nowhere near what Fastball as a complete entity is. I’m very grateful that we’re still together as the same three guys that started in the summer of ninety-three.
Sonic Ranch is out now via Sunset Blvd.
