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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1996)
Page 3 Wednesday • November 20, 1996 they had it C Luster sa; 1 astating for Yudience mayhem powers punk rock trio Fastball By John LeBas The Battalion iers seei jpaypli ^■Ihere will be no “hump it” at Vertigo AP) — Alio,, I tonight, but Fastball guitarist and vo ters to seth® calist Miles Zuniga still wants the urt poor Te ' ovv d to make plenty of College Station- verruled, a noise. Fans here, Zuniga said, get vocates cha >Wl ^ er than people in the power-pop- ay, )ck hand’s hometown of Austin — and rs Union Si istl a N thrives on that energy, ice, Consup: hke people who are vocal and loud, oerica andt usually in College Station the group blic Utility ial t comes to see us is pretty boisterous,” tderal Com un '^ a sai h- “1 love Austin, but the people ision. len ' listen to you and just kind of clap po- the 5th Ut te T l n College Station, at least, the peo- als in New C l 13 ^ been drinking tequila.” i pec's de h takes a little audience mayhem to y pt-, one serv ®|g out the best in Fastball, Zuniga said, action earlier “^ooietimes, we’re tired and don’t really I it this mo 3e l I'k 6 playing,” he said. “We always try to o the extra mile, but a good audience B^Kes a lot of difference.” IWastball began in 1994 as Magneto USA, /hich played in Austin for about a year Highs &Lcnd a half. But there was already another iand called Magneto, Zuniga said, so the llay’s Expec'-fjo had to change its name to Fastball. 85°F hat didn’t make it any easier to part with heir original, well-loved name, he said. iday’sExpect “it’s hard to rename a band because 64°F ou get used to the name and nothing else eems as good,” he said. “It’s like taking a imorrow'sfiftd who’s been named ‘Jack’ for the first High ive years of his life and then saying, ‘Oh, 85°F there’s a kid next door named ‘Jack,’ too, so we have to give you a new name.’” The band members were not enthusi astic about the name change, and unfortu nately, some fans lost track of Magneto USA when it became Fastball, Zuniga said. Zuniga does not want Fastball’s where abouts to be a mystery again. Forget about becoming a “one-hit wonder” and fading from memory after a few weeks of success, he said — Fastball’s in the game for “the long haul.” “We live in a microwave age, where bands come up real fast and then disap pear — bands like Jesus Jones and EMF,” Zuniga said. "It’s not like we want to be this overnight sensation. We want to have a whole series of albums where each one is better than the last.” Fastball’s debut album, Make Your Mama Proud, was released earlier this year on Hollywood Records. According to a press release, Fastball delivers “terse, edgy bursts of power punk/pop blending equal parts sweetness and savagery” on the 14- song effort. But publicity rhetoric aside, Zuniga simply described Fastball’s music as rock ’n’ roll. “We’re a rock ’n’ roll band along the lines of a little Squeeze, a little KISS, and The Who, maybe,” Zuniga said. “It’s all kind of mixed in.” Being on a major record label has not changed the music, Zuniga said, but does limit the band’s control over what it does. “Any time you’re talking about a major record label, there’s a certain amount of control taken from you, just because of the number of people involved,” he said. “But I don’t like to think about things like that because I just like to play music. As far as the music goes, we haven’t compromised.” But Zuniga said a record contract makes it easier to concentrate on the mu sic — the company arranges interviews for articles, handles publicity and sets up tour dates. And it’s a good thing Hollywood handles the incidentals, Zuniga said, be cause Fastball is usually too busy touring to have time to do much else. “Touring’s pretty fun, but you don’t have time to do anything,” he said. “It is n’t like you get to go to all these places and see the sights. We spend most of our time driving to the town, setting up our stuff, playing, and driving to the next town again. There’s no time to write mu sic, either.” Zuniga said touring gets old after a cou ple of months, but playing in a band is a great job. “You get to sleep late, you get free drinks most of the time, and you don’t have a boss,” he said. Unless, of course, the fans qualify as a collective boss. After all, Zuniga said, his job as a performer is to make the crowd a part of the show— and to try to get people as rowdy as possible. “If I just play a show and don’t inter act with the crowd, I haven’t done a good job,” he said. Fastball loinorrow.Vi Kxpectedl 63°F courtesy of W Mastercard contest seeks best vocal act in Aggieland By Aaron Meier The Battalion t is not every day that a college student has a Chance to win $15,000, but 10 Texas A&M student acts will compete tonight for a hance to take the grand prize and make luable contacts. I m.O aj MSC Variety Show sponsors the Master- ^^/Mard American Collegiate Talent Search | \CTS), a contest which aims to find the est student performers in the country. The Unlyijjllompetition, which will be held tonight at 7 t68-DAX ' Redder Auditorium, has attracted singers H |nd stand-up comedians said. “I want to win this thing.” Lucas will perform a song from an album she recently completed. Lucas said winning $15,000 could open many doors for her music career. “If I won, I might get a cover done for my r*4-DlYY/ Tonight’s competition stands as a first .tep towards the grand prize. Whoever ft cm ins the local competition will advance Ctnftt ||the regional competition at South- 146-DXVl rn Methodist University. Two acts 6 Gtorltiii be selected to represent the re- lush Or. ion at the national competition »96-DXYl i Philadelphia. Dave Salmon, adviser to MSC Vari- ______—4y Show, said the winner of the ^ollege Station competition r g{- or 0 as a g° od chance of going - Shop! i tals st Games I b Philadelphia. jWe will have some of he most talented student perform- rs at the show,” Salmon said. “The /inner has an excellent chance of ad- ancing to nationals.” ow Charts ■ p) e t>t>j e Lucas, a country singer nd sophomore animal science rams 3EE .najor, said she has high hopes arjtonight’s competition and he national competition. ||l want to go all the way,” Lucas album, maybe even put it toward a music video,’ Lucas said. “I could always pay back my parents.” Performers see the local contest as a chance to gain visibility in the Bryan-College Station mu sic scene. Craig Hanna, guitarist and singer of Texas blues band Throw Away People and a senior geography major, said he does not expect to be making the trip to Philadelphia. “We’re not going there to win,” Hanna said. “We just hope to play, have fun, and deliver some soul food to hungry people.” Hanna said the Bryan-College Station music scene is a frus trating one to break into, with a limited number of venues and an ample supply of bands willing to fill them. He said MasterCard ACTS lets the contestants showcase their var ious talents to the community at one of the largest venues in the area. With a wide spectrum of performers scheduled to appear, the show seems to have something for everyone. Salmon said alternative rock bands, country and western singers, an a capella group, a stand-up comedian and someone who is going to perform a song from the Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera all will perform tonight. Katie Groff, chair of MSC Variety Show and a ju nior elementary education major, said the variety of musical performers at the MasterCard ACTS proves what a diverse campus A&M possesses. "We’ve recruited a diverse group of students with a wide variety of acts that will entertain everyone,” Groff said. “I am impressed with all the acts.” Lucas said the MasterCard ACTS offers more than a group of bands playing the same type of music to win the contest. “There are so many different people competing here,” Lucas said. “Every act “^^0pot w * d de memora ble, as opposed to just the last person being the most memorable simply because they were last.” Groff said the advan tage to this talent show, as opposed to the one put on by MSC Variety Show during Parent’s Weekend, is that the performers have a chance to ad vance to a national competition where they may meet agents or people with record labels. Gina Miori, director of adver tising for MSC Variety Show and a sophomore speech communications major, said this is the third year Master- Card has sponsored the nationwide talent search, but this is the first time A&M has hosted the event. “MasterCard was really interested in having a local contest here,” Miori said. “A&M has such a large student base, with a diverse campus to pull the various acts from. It was easy to see why they want ed to come here.” Lucas said whoever wins the competition will have earned the honor. “This is not a competition to see who is good and who isn’t,” Lucas said. “This is a competition to see who is the best.” going there to win. We just hope to play, have fun, and deliver some soul food to hungry people/’ -Craig Hanna guitarist and singer of Throw Away People > Ires 11-30-96 • SALE • SALE • SALE • SALE • SALE • SALE • SALE • 3N ,Cnrl • ill > MUSSEN =»orts Editor Visual Arts , Web Editor • Rhoto Editor m t er, Cartoon ER w • Ul nfluck, Christie » Iker & JoAnneWti < f, John LeBas, to® • UJ —*iy Furtick, Colbp _j < cialdt, Bryan Goo<!»'' ^ on, Stephen UaM’’ -I i « Rodgers < W r—igton & RyanRopj* ^epot, Ed GoodwM , < CO -»e Division of Stilt • »ld Building. Newsi Uj —!ttp://bat-web.ta« i ^ . attalion.Forca#j(n »9. Advertising 0® 845-2678. a single copyol' =ar. To charge ty® CONTACT LENSES AND QUALITY CARE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AT AFFORDABLE PRICES SALE • SALE 1% - $ H8 0 - 2 TOTAL COST FOR ui £ CD and spring semes am periods) atW ddress 3-1111. • FOUR PAIR DW/EW STD. 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