Exactly 11 years ago, Miles Zuniga was jetting off to Amsterdam with his Austin-based alt-rock outfit Fastball to try to put some touring muscle behind its latest release, The Harsh Light Of Day. Expectations were high, given the surprising mainstream success of 1998’s All The Pain Money Can Buy, which the band milked for almost two years. Fast-forward to today, and Zuniga has humbler aspirations for his first solo effort, These Ghosts Have Bones (33 1/3), a wrenchingly personal, fitfully melodic ode to the breakup of his 10-year marriage. Though Fastball is still very much a working entity, Ghosts’ quirky centerpiece, “Marfa Moonlight,” would’ve undoubtedly been a much different animal with bandmates Tony Scalzo and Joey Shuffield involved. The same goes for the rest of this inward-looking song cycle. Zuniga will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Zuniga: This is one of my favorite drives. There’s nothing quite like driving away from a crowded metropolis like L.A. and cruising onto this beautiful highway with the gorgeous Pacific Ocean spread out on your left. The first time I did it was with an heiress from New York City. She rented a red convertible Mustang, and I did all the driving. The weather is usually perfect, maybe 75 degrees and sunny. There’s lots of great little places to stay, but I like making the trip last three days. You can take it easy and stop in San Luis Obispo and go check out Hearst Castle. There’s an odd, touristy hotel in San Luis Obispo called the Madonna Inn, which has different themed rooms and is little like Fantasy Island on acid. The next day is an easy drive up to Big Sur. You can spend the rest of the day at the beach. The last bit takes you into Santa Cruz, a funky little bohemian beach town with great surfing and an awesome little downtown. It’s stunning coastline the whole way up.
Video after the jump.
