Mest

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! in January 2003. Later that same year, the band released their self-titled album, which featured the single Jaded (These Years), featuring Benji Madden of Good Charlotte.

In 2005, a tour with Social Distortion 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, 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.

On March 13, 2008, Tony Lovato posted a bulletin on his MySpace about "Mest's ONE NIGHT STAND," a show that Mest would play 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.

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.

Extortion attempt

On July 14, 2009, Friends Stand United founding member Elgin James was arrested by the FBI in Los Angeles, California and was charged with federal attempted extortion for allegedly sanctioning an attack on a member of a popular pop punk band five years earlier. James is then reported as to have said that the man could avoid further trouble if he made a $5,000 “donation” to FSU. After that incident, the FBI became involved, and after another attack, the victim scheduled a meeting with James to give the $5,000 while the FBI had surveillance on the encounter. Mest were eventually revealed to be the band in question. Speculation has been raised that Tony Lovato's past personal ties to white power groups, were the reason why they were targeted, given FSU's anti-racist stance, however the individual Mest member that was targeted has not been revealed. James was sentenced to one year and one day of prison in Chicago on March 8, 2011.

Room One Eleven

Steve Lovato aka "Locust", went on to assemble a music project called Room One Eleven which includes former Mest lighting engineer and merch salesman, Phil Cirullo aka "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" aka 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'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

Singles

Videography appearances