What Did Fastball's Miles Zuniga Buy With His First Big Check & Who Was His First Celebrity Crush?

The 90’s gave us lots of great music including a lot of one hit wonders. They also gave us a lot of bands that people think are one hit wonders who just faded away with the times. The band Fastball elevated their game with their 1998 album All the Pain That Money Can Buy which went platinum within six months of its release. It also contained the #14 hit “Out of My Head” and the #1 hit “The Way.” They were nominated for two Grammy Awards, and they received five Austin Chronicle Awards for the album. Although the landscape of music was continuously changing, Fastball kept on recording, releasing albums and touring. The band released their ninth album last year entitled Sonic Ranch. You may not hear them on your radio anymore but that’s partially because they are a band whose sound could not be contained to a box.

That’s something that Fastball member Miles Zuniga brought up in an interview after sales of their third album 2000’s The Harsh Light of Day sold fewer copies (85,000) than All the Pain That Money Can Buy (1,000,000+). “You can’t write down what we do in a sentence,” Zuniga told Mac Randall at Launch.com. “Marketing us is a problem. But in a way, that’s our saving grace also, because you cannot find an easy angle to summarize us and exploit us. We might sell more records if we could, but at the same time it forces people that really want to be interested in us to pay a little more attention to what we’re doing.”

Well, here we are in 2025 and that statement still holds true. Give their new album Sonic Ranch a listen or to 2022’s The Deep End or a personal favorite, 2004’s Keep Your Wig On and you’ll understand why it does. The band is currently on leg two of The Last Summer on Earth Tour 2025 with headliner Barenaked Ladies and support also from Sugar Ray. I had a chance to sit down with Fastball co-founder, vocalist/guitarist Miles Zuniga recently for an awesome chat. We talked about everything from the new tour to the longevity of “The Way” to crushing on Lynda Carter.

There are hardly any bands that keep their founding members intact for as long as you guys have. How do you guys do it? Is there something about Austin or is it something else?

Miles Zuniga/Fastball: I think it’s just that there are only three of us so if you change one person it’s a dramatic change. If it’s a five-piece band, it’s a little different or bigger band than that would be different. With just three people if one leaves it’s a pretty titanic shift. No one’s really wanted to leave; actually I think everyone but Tony has briefly quit the band. Our drummer quit the band for a hot minute to play with his other band. I quit the band for a hot minute because I was fed up with it around 2002. It didn’t really take; we didn’t go out make a big press release about it or anything. I just told the other guys ‘I’m sick of doing this and I don’t want to do it anymore.’ Then there are these long silent periods which I think is a part of it. You’re not together all the time; you’re not working together all the time. It’s sporadic work so to me it’s easy to keep a band together. You don’t ever have to break up; you can just kind of say this is a break from work and you just stop working. You could go as long as you want (laughs). You can go five years without working and no one’s really going to bug you about it (laughs). I sometimes wonder how many marriages you could save if you could just say to each other less take a break without making a big deal out of it. You go that way and I’ll go this way. We’re not getting a divorce; we’re not even going to talk about what were going to do while we’re apart (laughs). We’re just going to take a break from each other. I think maybe more marriages would be saved, maybe, (laughs). It’s a different deal because there’s no sex involved with the band. You’re just friends and it’s a lot easier to navigate. I just love playing music with them and we become much better friends over the years. We’ve been together so long that we become really great friends. It’s always fun to play with them but it was harder before. Earlier on, we didn’t know each other and stuff would ruffle your feathers.

I’ve never understood these bands that go out on tour summer after summer. You’re together more than you are apart. I mean, don’t you ever get tired of being with each other? Maybe those gaps not being up each other’s ass all the time is a good point.

That would be tough; luckily we’ve had some songs that help pay the bills. I think if you’re a band that doesn’t have big radio hits it might be different. If you’re not working then you’re not eating so they have to go out and do it. They might be able to take a year off or something. I think sometimes it just becomes too hard to resist. I think if you are starting to get good paydays there’s a superstition that sets in. If I turn this down, then the work is going to dry up.

Order your copy of ‘Sonic Ranch’ here: https://sunsetblvdrecords.ffm.to/fast…

If I turn this down, maybe it won’t be there next time.

Yeah, true.

Dude, “The Way” is one of those songs that really have some legs!

Yeah (laughs).

Here we are almost 30 years later and it’s still just rolling along. Did you guys have any idea that you had created something pretty special after you had finished recording it?

None of us thought it was a hit but all of us thought it was a good song. It’s a very interesting song; I thought it was a great little piece of art. None of us thought it was a hit; it takes 45 seconds for the vocal to come on and it’s this big long story. Luckily our manager and someone at the label said ‘that’s the song.’ I think those songs have endured because we weren’t chasing any trends and there is a timeless quality to them.

People have a connection with the songs. They bring back memories and emotions of certain times and places. That’s the beauty of music in general. I’ve always thought it was a cool song but then I listened a little deeper to it and heard the story about it. That made me go oh wow because it hit a little deeper. I remember telling a buddy of mine I know you’ve heard the song but have you really listened to it. There’s a difference there.

(Laughs) True, it is quite a story that was just a jumping off point for the song. It wasn’t really like a documentary type thing like you to tell the story of this couples’ loss. It was just the idea of people picking up and leaving everything behind that’s really appealing to people (laughs). We’ve met so many people that were like ‘that’s our song; my husband got a new job and we couldn’t decide if we should take it or not. We would have to move leaving our friends behind. We made up our mind and just started packing. That’s our song.’

I’m sure you’ve heard a ton of stories about that one song.

Oh yeah, I have (laughs).

That second album, 1998’s All That Money Can Buy, really changed your lives in so many ways. I’m not sure when the money really started rolling in from it, but do you remember the first thing big thing that you bought when it did?

I went out and bought a computer that I really wanted and the check hadn’t even come through yet. I knew the song was a hit and I knew I could afford it (laughs). I also remember pretty distinctly that we were going to drive from LA to Austin, Texas. We always had to ride in a van everywhere because we couldn’t afford airline tickets anywhere. I guess they told me we sold 9000 copies the first week and after that 15,000. I said yeah, I got to fly even though I still didn’t have any money. I put it on the credit card knowing that the payday was coming. It was incredibly freeing I got to say. I was 30 years old and I had lived from 18 until then always having to figure things, never having enough money to do whatever. I was always either just taking a leap of faith but somewhere in there I got a credit card. There were times when your credit card bill just got big (laughs) like I’m never going to pay this off. It felt incredibly freeing to pay off all your credit card debt and be able to afford stuff. It was a great, great day and life changed after that. I haven’t had a job since then so it’s pretty great.

You guys are getting ready to start the second leg of the Last Summer on Earth 2025 tour with Sugar Ray and Barenaked Ladies.

On Tuesday, so in about 48 hours.

How did that first leg go? Was it all outdoor amphitheater since it’s summer time?

All but maybe two of them were outside. We got pretty lucky with the weather. Red Rocks looked like they may have to cancel the Bare Naked Ladies show because the wind picked up and the lighting rigs were starting to sway. We had light rain when we played Trapp Hill Oregon near Portland, but it was no big deal. So we got real lucky with the weather and it wasn’t really hot so it all worked out. All the shows were great and the band Guster, who we knew nothing about, was great. They were a bunch of great guys, real smart, real funny and very adventurous. They were the most proactive I’ve never met in terms of recreation. They would figure out whatever was fun to do in each town and have a little excursion.

Radio is so weird these days so when you guys put out a new album like with 2024’s Sonic Ranch, where do you pitch a single two or do you even try? You have satellite radio but even with that you can get lost because are so many channels if you get the app. How do you judge how successful an album is anymore?

That’s sort of irrelevant now for us and for probably a lot of folks. I think a record is two-fold; I think of them as an artistic statement and a really expensive business card (laughs.) The brutal reality of it is you don’t really need to make records anymore. Our phones are set up to make you distracted. There’s this experiment where you give the phone to anyone and say listen to a record. If you watch them, within minutes they will be on Facebook, Instagram, reading the New York Times, whatever. Their attention won’t be solely on the record. If you stick them in the room with the same vinyl, take away their phone and tell them to listen to the record odds are they will be way more attentive. They’ll have nothing to do so a vinyl record is perfect medium. It’s only 15 to 20 minutes a side so it’s not asking for a lot of attention. It’s no accident that the world we live in now is incredibly fragmented. We can see it in the streams on the app and see what people listen to any given time. On an album, there are three songs that are the standouts. There’s the first track, then there’s the single and then there’s one on there that you didn’t expect people to like. Then you’ll see this drop off where no one is listening to this song and no one is listening to this song and especially the last song. It’s not like an album where you put the record on and listen to it all. I listen to Foreigner 4 and I know all of the tunes on it because that’s the way it was. The record I like to point to his Double Fantasy. I know all the Yoko songs but if it was today I probably wouldn’t want to listen to any of the Yoko songs, sorry Yoko. I would probably make a playlist of just John’s songs.

Miles isn’t the only one out there crushing on Lynda Carter!

You guys have been doing this for over 30 years. There have been a lot of changes to music on both the maker and consumer side during that time.

Yes, there are a lot of changes and artists typically like to focus on the bad side of it. No one gets paid and that is bad and I completely agree with it that artists should be paid more. There is a silver lining and it is my band wouldn’t be as popular because they would have to go look for us. If we didn’t have these devices you would have to go find the record and it would probably be impossible to find. Think about it; if technology had remained the same they would not stock any of our records except for All the Pain Money Can Buy. The new records we make probably wouldn’t be stocked and you wouldn’t hear this new song. We would be lucky to have All the Pain Money Can Buy in the store. It would probably be just a greatest hits, if that. It allows for the really faithful to hard-core fans to get a relationship was faithful people that are really into Fastball. They know all the material and it allows them to find them anywhere. We have fans all around the world and we have worldwide distribution. Now a day, anyone can get worldwide distribution and the game becomes getting people to actually pay attention which is pretty hard. It’s become a different business like find your tribe.

You guys are still active; you’re still touring and making new albums. A lot of people are touring off that one song as long as they can. You just don’t rest on the nostalgia part of it.

I hate that notion and to me it really is vocational work; it really is like a calling. I know this will sound really corny but for me that’s what it really is. I know a lot of artists that are very cynical; so why even make a new album? You might want to make new records for yourself. It’s the reward of hearing the ideas in your head. Isn’t that kind of exciting? Plus, you know there are going to be X number of people who are interested to so now you have little party going now. For me it’s great fun to dream up songs and record them. It’s not really a job; I love the finished result and I am also incredibly naive/optimistic that something freaky can happen. It happened before and I’m not going to rule it out. Suddenly you put out some song that connects with people somehow or when you do it then some young artist hears it and says this is a banger of a record and records it. I’m still optimistic about that little lottery ticket of the showbiz thing.

You never know; you could have a song placed in a hit movie or to show.

Kate Bush proved that; looked what happened to her career. Something like that happens and influences people and changes your life all over again. Everybody gets up every day and has to fill their hours up with something to do. I like making music.

Well thank you for doing, on behave of me and a whole lot of other people. Well, I guess it’s past our time to wrap this up so I apologize for that. We have one final thing and it’s something that we wrap up all of our interviews with and it’s called Three For The Road. It’s three kind of, hopefully, not so ordinary questions for you. The first is do you remember your first celebrity crush?

Oh that’s an easy one and it’s been a lifelong one. Lynda Carter she hit me at the right time. I was just turning 10 or 11 and I had no idea what was going on. I saw her and I felt something funny. What is happening to me (laughs)?

No teacher, I cannot get up and go to the chalkboard.

(Laughs).

I’m with you there and she’s still so pretty.

She is one of the most beautiful women on the face of the planet. There is no doubt about that.

Are you a collector of anything?

No, in fact I’ve gotten more and more into this notion of impermanence. I feel like things bog you down. I almost even feel like photographs bog you down. The greatest benevolence would be not to have photographs because they keep you attached to something that was before. You gaze at someone who is no longer here or gaze at yourself when you were young and beautiful or when life was going great. I’m not keeping you out of the present moment and I feel like without all of that stuff you’d forget. If you lost somebody and you started to forget what they looked like, that would be an act of benevolence actually, an act of relief. That’s kind of a convoluted going off the reservation answer for you. I don’t collect stuff; I think everything is transience or as I like to say it’s all a rental.

That’s a really cool, interesting answer; nobody has really hit me with anything like that. It definitely makes you think. Ok, our last question is one that might make you think too. If music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?

Now that I have to think about for a second. That’s tough because that’s a name that’s super important.

How about maybe working your name into?

I’m not good at that, but let’s go, for now, with Bruno Billy Miles.

I think you could be onto a great bad guy’s name. Well, our time’s up Miles. Thanks so much for everything and safe travels for you and the guys out on the road. Dates for The Last Summer On Earth Tour featuring Barenaked Ladies, Sugar Ray and Fastball are listed below. You can get your tix HERE.

Interview by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price