Mest is an American
rock band originally formed by lead vocalist and guitarist
Tony Lovato, bassist Matt Lovato, drummer Nick Gigler, and guitarist Jeremiah Rangel. They broke up in 2006 after eleven years, but temporarily reformed in California in 2008 for a "final tour." Later, it was announced that the classic lineup of Mest, with Tony Lovato, Matt Lovato, Nick Gigler, Sacha Jean and Jeremiah Rangel, would be getting back together.
History
Cousins Matt Lovato and
Tony Lovato formed the band together in October 1995. The band's last guitarist, Jeremiah Rangel, joined the band in 1998. Their previous guitarist was Steve Lovato, Tony Lovato's brother. Nick Gigler joined the band in 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!
''The Show Must Go Off!'' is a live concert DVD series produced by Kung Fu Films, an offshoot of the Kung Fu Records label run by Vandals bassist Joe Escalante, who also acts as producer for the series. The series began in 2002 and has thus ...
'' in January 2003. Later that same year, the band released their self-titled album, which featured the single ''Jaded (These Years)'', featuring
Benji Madden
Benjamin Levi Madden ( né Combs; born March 11, 1979) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the band Good Charlottefor which he has received various awardsas well as pop rock collaboration the Madden Bro ...
of
Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin ...
.
In 2005, a tour with
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing vo ...
was cut short when drummer Nick Gigler required surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome in his wrists which was affecting his drumming. The band's last album, ''
Photographs
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now creat ...
'', was released October 18, 2005.
In January 2006, the band announced on their
MySpace blog that they would break-up following a U.S. tour.
The tour ran from late January until early March, with support from
Allister and
Scary Kids Scaring Kids.
In 2007 the band were briefly joined by UK noise artist Zoë Waterman, recording a never-released single called "Metal Phaced Moths". Waterman described the song as being "deeply, deeply boring."
Mest played a reunion show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California, on April 17, 2008. In response, Nick Gigler posted a bulletin through his personal MySpace and confirmed that he would not be taking part, and that he had called Jeremiah Rangel and Matt Lovato, who had confirmed that they would not be appearing with Tony either.

After the one-off "One Night Stand" show, Tony decided to rebuild Mest and go on a monthlong tour, with help from Chris Wilson (Good Charlotte, The Summer Obsession), and his brother and founding member, Steve Lovato (at the time in Room One Eleven). Although Matt showed interest, he and Jeremiah were both reported to be too busy with other commitments to join. Nick and Tony had not been on speaking terms since the band broke up. The trek took place in October and November 2008, and featured Quietdrive,
Rookie of the Year, and
Automatic Loveletter.
Mest went on a European tour in spring 2012 with its current members, Mike Longworth and Richie Gonzales, and also toured the US with Escape the Fate and Attack Attack in 2012.
Mest released their album ''
Not What You Expected'' in September 2013, written and recorded with Richie Gonzales and Mike Longworth, making it available for free to download from their website. Mest played 3 dates on the
Warped Tour 2013. They self-released another album in 2014, entitled ''
Broken Down''.
On October 25, 2018, Mest officially announced that they had signed with
El Hefe
Aaron Abeyta (born August 8, 1965), better known as El Hefe or simply Hefe, from ''el Jefe'' (Spanish for "the boss"), is an American musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist and trumpet player for the California punk band NOFX. H ...
, from
NOFX
NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every r ...
's label Cyber Trax Records and a new album with the original lineup would be released in spring 2019. A single entitled "Masquerade" was uploaded to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
in July 2019, accompanied by an announcement to the effect that a new album would be released in the fall of that year, produced by
Cameron Webb
Bryant Cameron Webb (born June 21, 1983) is an American physician, attorney, and political candidate from Virginia. Webb was the Democratic Party nominee for in the 2020 election. He currently serves as the White House Senior Policy Advisor for ...
.
Mest's album ''Masquerade'' was released on January 17, 2020.
Projects
Room One Eleven
Steve Lovato a.k.a. "Locust", went on to assemble a music project called ''Room One Eleven'' which includes former Mest lighting engineer and merchandise salesman, Phil Cirullo a.k.a. "Swylla" and hip hop prodigy Damien Ringo. They are a group based out of Chicago's Southside. This band's first album "Tears Dry Slow" was released in early March 2008.
Kisses for Kings
Tony Lovato went on to form a band called Kisses for Kings, whose line-up consists of Tony Lovato, Mike Longworth, and Richie Gonzales. They have performed on the 2007 Warped Tour and toured in July 2009 with Hollywood Undead, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and The Sleeping on the "Taking Care of Business Tour" a.k.a. TCB Tour. Their first EP was released on May 1, 2010, at the MEST show at the House of Blues, Anaheim.
The Twilight and the Sound
Matt and Jeremiah formed a new band called The Twilight and the Sound, announced publicly via Mest's
MySpace page on Monday, October 27, 2008.
The Get Go
Nick Gigler's first project after Mest was Chicago-based The Get Go. The band was formed in January 2007, and also features members such as
Allister's Scott Murphy on bass and vocals and Kyle Lewis on guitar and vocals,
Showoff
Showoff is a pop punk band from Chicago, Illinois led by vocalist Chris Envy.
History
Showoff was formed in 1997 in Villa Park, Illinois. The band consisted of Chris Envy, Daniel Castady (drums), Graham Jordan (guitar), and Dave Envy (a.k.a. Da ...
's Chris Messer on vocals and Nate Thruman on guitar and vocals.
The A-Gang
The A-Gang is a current project involving Nick Gigler on drums. Based in Detroit, it also features former
Suicide Machines bassist Rich Tschirhart.
Members
; Current
*
Tony Lovato – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
(1995–2006, 2008–present), lead guitar
(2008–2010)
* Matt Lovato – bass
(1995–2006, 2015–present)
* Nick Gigler – drums
(1995–2006, 2015–present)
* Jeremiah Rangel – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals
(1998–2006, 2015–present)
; Former
* Sacha Jean – lead guitar
(1995–1998)
* Chris Wilson – drums
(2008)
* Steve Lovato – bass
(2008–2012)
* Richie Gonzales – drums
(2010–2015)
* Mike Longworth – lead guitar, studio bass
(2010–2015)
* Brandon Stewart – bass
(2013–2015)
; Timeline
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Discography
Studio albums
Acoustic albums
Singles
*"Drawing Board" ''from Wasting Time''
*"Cadillac" ''from Destination Unknown''
*"Mother's Prayer" ''from Destination Unknown''
*"Jaded (These Years)" ''from
Mest'' – No. 88 Australia
*"Take Me Away (Cried Out to Heaven)" ''from
Photographs
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now creat ...
''
*"Kiss Me, Kill Me" ''from
Photographs
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now creat ...
''
*"Almost" ''from
Not What You Expected''
*"Radio (Something To Believe)" ''from
Not What You Expected''
Music videos
Videography appearances
* ''
The Show Must Go Off!
''The Show Must Go Off!'' is a live concert DVD series produced by Kung Fu Films, an offshoot of the Kung Fu Records label run by Vandals bassist Joe Escalante, who also acts as producer for the series. The series began in 2002 and has thus ...
'' (2003) DVD
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Maverick Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago
Musical groups established in 1995
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Pop punk groups from Illinois