Mest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mest was a punk band from Blue Island, Illinois.

<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #f9f9f9;">Image:Mestpromo.jpg
Left to right: Tony Lovato, Matt Lovato, Jeremiah Rangel, Nick Gigler</td></tr><tr><th>Country</th><td>Chicago, Illinois</td></tr><tr><th>Years active</th><td>1996 – 2006</td></tr><tr><th>Genres</th><td>Pop punk</td></tr><tr><th>Labels</th><td>Maverick Records</td></tr>

Mest

1 History
2 Break up
3 Trivia
4 Line-Up
5 Discography
6 Videography
7 A permanent Holiday
8 External links

[edit] History

Cousins Matt Lovato and Tony Lovato formed the band together in October of 1995. The band's last guitarist, Jeremiah Rangel, joined the band in 1998. Their previous guitarist was Steve Lovato, Tony Lovato's brother. He left the band due to creative differences. Nick Gigler played drums for Mest from 1997.

In 1998, the band self-released Mo' Money, Mo' 40z. Their debut album on Maverick Records, Wasting Time, was released in July 2000 and Destination Unknown in 2001. They toured as an opening band for Goldfinger on July 20, 2002 in Las Vegas and then a few months later, released a DVD called The Show Must Go Off in January 2003. Later, that same year, the band released their self-titled album, which featured the single Jaded (These Years) which featured Benji Madden of Good Charlotte. Some saw Jaded as an attempt to cash-in on Good Charlotte's popularity, because they had been one of the biggest selling bands of 2003. However, Tony Lovato defended this by saying, "The song was going to happen, whether GC had become famous or not."

In 2005, a tour with Social Distortion was cut short when drummer Nick Gigler required medical attention. The band's last album, Photographs, was released October 18th, 2005. Two singles released on the internet from the disc, "Kiss Me, Kill Me" and "Take Me Away (Cried Out To Heaven)", which can be found at MySpace, along with the video for the lead single, "Take Me Away". "Kiss Me, Kill Me" is notable for being the only single to be released that featured Rangel as the lead vocalist; something fans on Mest's message board had been demanding for some time.

[edit] Break up

In 2006, the band announced on their MySpace blog: that they had decided to cease performing together.

Their vocalist Tony Lovato released this statement:

Friday, January 13, 2006

someday ill explain xoxo, sorry to say this is not some sort of joke or something to do with Friday the 13th weird though i didn't even realise it. well when i typed it, it was the 14th. Im in Japan.. we are not turning our backs on our fans.. come on. someday ill explain the reason/reasons. i debated telling everyone but figured its better to be honest and to let the people know that want to see us one last time.. its been 10 years, 5 records and I've seen the world. its been my life. trust me this is harder on me than ANY of you. i wouldn't have changed a thing. I've done and seen more in the past 10 yrs than most people will experience in there entire life. and its because of you guys so thank you. thank you to the people that I've affected with my music and thank you to the people that have affected me through my music. weve had a great run.. i love you all.....Tony

[edit] Trivia

The band's name allegedly came while one of the band members was drinking a can of Milwaukees Best, he made a spoonerism of the name (Bilwaukee's Mest).
Frontman Tony Lovato nearly left himself paralyzed when he opted to play the 2003 Warped Tour instead of seeking medical attention for a serious back injury. He reported that he got himself through the show by self-medicating with alcohol and painkillers. He later had emergency back surgery and fully recovered.
Tony's birthday is on June 20, 1980.
Jeremiah's birthday is on October 2, 1977.
Matt's birthday is on May 1, 1978.
Nick's birthday is on November 5, 1979.
Originally, the band consisted of Tony, Matt, Nick and Steve (Tony's Brother).
Jeremiah (Rangel) also sings on lead vocals, he has about four or five songs on each album, but tony is considered the lead singer.
The band is not actually from Chicago, but from Blue Island, which is a suburb south of Chicago.
Lead singer Tony wears a ring on his left ring finger (often mistaken for a wedding band) as a tribute to his best friends Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte. They each have one and inscribed on it is the word 'Brothers'.
Tony was featured in Good Charlotte's videos "The Festival Song" and "The Anthem"
The car from the music video "Cadillac" was a 1969 Cadillac Deville Convertible with a custom interior. It was sold to a college student in Maryland who used it as his daily driver for 2 years before selling it to a dealer in Sweden.
Matt is engaged to his long time girlfriend, Tracy. He also has a daughter with Tracy. Her name is Amelie.
Tony can be seen in the Montreal version of Big D And The Kids Table's Video "Little Bitch"
Tony is engaged to fitness model Tiffany Selby.
Tony has been quoted in Alternative Press saying he does not believe in evolution.
Nick also fronts a hip-hop side project called The Diners Club known as 'Stomach Ache', with a friend known as 'Stray Dog'.
The song Indian Pete on Mo' Money, Mo'40z refers to Indian Pete's Bayou on Hamlin Lake in Ludington, Michigan.
As a youngster Tony Lovato was a member of a band called Confederate Storm, a racist punk band. However, as quoted on http://www.jimdero.com/News2002/LiveApril5.htm he explains his reasons:

A few weeks ago, this column profiled Tony Lovato, leader of Blue Island pop-punks Mest, as he celebrated the release of "Destination Unknown," the band's second album for Madonna's Maverick Records. Like many Chicagoans, I'm a fan. But the column prompted some disturbing e-mails and discussions on Internet message boards.

Eight years ago, when he was 13, Lovato played drums in a band called Confederate Storm. Initially, the other musicians were skinheads as a fashion statement, but they came to embrace that controversial subculture's racist attitudes, and the group's songs included - lyrics. I returned to Lovato to ask him about this, and he welcomed the opportunity to set the record straight publicly for the first time.

"Kids bring this up all the time, and the record label and publicity people are like, 'Let's not address it,' " Lovato says. "But I'm an honest person, and the more honest you are with your fans, the closer they feel to you--it's not like you're some singer who [messes around with] little girls, then turns around and acts like he's a Christian."

Lovato says he grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood, and his first girlfriend was African-American. Then his family moved, and he found himself isolated until he was drawn into the skinhead scene. Eventually, he started to think about its poisonous attitudes. He then split and paid the price, being ostracized and getting involved in fights. (He compares his experience to the film "American History X.")

"When you're 13, you don't think for yourself, and you just go with the flow with the kids you hang out with," Lovato says. "The scariest part about Nazi skinheads and that cause is that they get you at a young age, and they warp your mind. After two years of that, I was like, 'This just isn't right.' It wasn't like it wasn't cool anymore, and that's why I got out of it. I realized: 'This is [messed] up, these people are [messed] up, and I am being ignorant and rude to people.' "

In the liner notes to the band's first Maverick album, Lovato writes, "Sorry to everyone I hurt in the past from my ignorant ways--I hope you can forgive me."

Now, the group tours with representatives of Anti-Racist Action, and he steers fans to their information booth from the stage. "Because of what I did in the past, maybe I can turn this around and do a positive thing," he says. "The truth is, I hung out with these kids for a few years, then I had enough brains to realize it was wrong, and I hope other people can learn from my experience."

[edit] Line-Up

Tony Lovato - Vocals, Guitar
Jeremiah Rangel - Guitar, Vocals
Matt Lovato - Bass
Nick Gigler - Drums

[edit] Discography

Mo' Money, Mo' 40z (self-released) (1998)
Wasting Time (2000)
Destination Unknown (2001)
Mest (2003)
Photographs (2005)

[edit] Videography

Mest: Live at the House of Blues (2002) DVD
The Show Must Go Off (2003) DVD
7 Deadly Sins (2005) DVD (bonus with the first pressing of "Photographs"; formerly titled "Beating A Dead Horse")

[edit] A permanent Holiday

This is a side project of Tony Lovatos, with Dave Aguilera, Kevin Baldes and Nick Di Biasi. You can find their music at www.myspace.com/apermanentholiday. Tony and the band record songs frequently. They are starting to record their debut album, but unfortunately there are no expected days of release. The band is currently unsigned. Songs revealed so far are: Like Always, My Mother Said, A Taste Of Honesty, The Thought Of You, The Night

Contrary to belief, the band's name is not inspired by punk rock band Permanent Holiday. In the liner notes of Wasting Time, Tony thanks all his high school teachers who put him on a permanent holiday.