Mest Bio

Cousins Tony and Matt Lovato grew up across the street from each other in the Blue Island section of the south side of Chicago and began playing together at seven, borrowing instruments from Tony's father, with Tony picking up guitar and singing and Matt playing bass. In high school, they hooked up with guitarist Jeremiah Rangel and drummer Nick Gigler. Tony came up with the band name MEST while looking at a case of Milwaukee's Best beer. Playing in local Chicago punk clubs, the group made its own self-released debut album, Mo' Money, Mo' '40s. The band got its first break when Tony wrote to Goldfinger lead singer John Feldmann and got a response. After listening to a demo tape, Feldmann agreed to let MEST open for Goldfinger, got them a record deal with Maverick, and produced their major label debut, Wasting Time, which was released in July 2000. A year later, Mest returned with a cameo-filled (Young MC, Save Ferris' Monique Powell) spiky-punk second album entitled Destination Unknown. A self-titled third album, which included a cameo from Good Charlotte's Benji Madden, appeared in June 2003.