Rolling Stone 5-28-98

POP FLY: The Texas band's Mex-Flavored song, "The Way," Is Number One on Billboard's Modern Rock Chart.

OLD-TIMERS' DAY: "The song is about an elderly Austin couple who didn't show up at a family reunion," says bassist Tony Scalzo. "It's a romanticized take on what happened. I pictured them taking off to have fun, like they did when they first met."

CURVEBALL: "I found out later that the couple had died. They were found at the bottom of a canyon in Arkansas-like a three day drive from where they were going"

DOUBLE PLAY: Scalzo and guitarist Miles Zuniga write Fastball's songs, but not together. "Miles and I can't collaborate," Says Scalzo. "We'll just get into a fight"

FAN APPRECIATION DAY: "People show up at our shows now," says Scalzo. "There are little girls who dance around, bob their heads and know all the words. We're pretty stoked.

CHANGE-UP: All The Pain Money Can Buy, Fastball's second effort is part Springsteen, part Squeeze (hey, they grew up in the Eighties)-a definite departure from their raucous beginnings. "We used to just try to rock as hard as we could," says Zuniga. "We were used to playing where there was a lot of beer and plastic cups on the floor."

SEASONED VETERANS: "I'm in my thirties now and my wife's expecting our second daughter," says Scalzo. "I'm the baby of the band," Zuniga smirks. "I'm thirty-one, Joey [Shuffield] is thirty-five, so we're definitely seasoned. Marinated, actually."