Mest is a
punk band from
Chicago. They started with Tony, Steve, and
Matt Lovato, cousins from the
Blue Island section of the south side of Chicago started playing together at the age of seven. They borrowed their
insturments from Tony's
father; Tony and Steve playing guitar and singing and Matt playing bass. In
high school, they met
drummer Nick Gigler, who joined the band in the summer of 1995. Tony came up with the name Mest while looking at a case of "
Milwaukee's Best"
beer. Toward the end of 1997, the band was experiencing difficulties and decided to part ways with
Steve Lovato. They continued as a three-piece band until
January of 1998 when they recruited guitarist/friend-of-the-band
Jeremiah Rangel
The group made their start playing in local Chicago punk clubs and made their own self-released debut album, Mo' Money, Mo' 40'z which they recorded in March of 1998 at "Starr Traxx Studios" in Crestwood, Illinois. Their first big break came when the band "Goldfinger" agreed to let Mest open for them, which led to a record deal with Maverick, and the production of their major label debut, Wasting Time, which was released in July 2000. A year later, Mest released their second album entitled Destination Unknown. Their song "I Melt with You" was also released on the soundtrack to the movie "Not Another Teen Movie".
Mest is:
- Tony Lovato - guitar & vocals
- Jeremiah Rangel - guitar & vocals
- Matt Lovato - bass
- Nick Gigler - drums
Discography: