As a teenager in the early 1980s, Viola played Boston-area clubs with his band, the Bottom Line, and was billed as "Boston's youngest musical talent."

[6] Viola, along with friend Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, co-produced the title track for Tom Hanks's 1996 movie That Thing You Do!

Viola served as musical director on a promotional tour for the film in December 2007, with John C. Reilly acting out his fictional character of Dewey Cox.

Viola also contributed songwriting for Russell Brand's character Aldous Snow in the 2010 film Get Him to the Greek, including "African Child", "The Clap", "I Am Jesus", "Searching For a Father in America", "Little Bird", "Furry Walls".

In 2012, he played the character of Franky in two promotional songs for the video game Club Penguin, "Anchors Aweigh" and "Ghosts Just Wanna Dance".