Three Headed MonsTOUR w/ Hawthorne Heights - The Ataris - Mest

Having formed in the unlikely musical breeding ground of Dayton, Ohio in 2001, Hawthorne Heights learned early on that adaptation and diligence were the keys in the development of a successful career. Playing relentlessly from the start on self-booked tours across the country gave them some initial national exposure. But it wasn’t until they signed to Victory Records in late 2003 that Hawthorne Heights became the face of a whole new generation of music fans.

As one of the first bands to utilize social networking to gain a fan base, Hawthorne Heights developed a huge MySpace following that became a catalyst that would launch them from underground heroes to international superstars. As the voice of a genre, the band became regulars on MTV, their signature hit Ohio Is For Lovers the anthem for the new wave of “emo”. Their debut album The Silence In Black And White soon went Gold, and with their second album If Only You Were Lonely, the band scored Victory Records’ biggest ever debut, landing at #3 on the Billboard 200 in 2006. The band appeared on Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, and became magazine cover stars, sending sales of The Silence… to Platinum status. It was the dream many bands hope for, but few seldom achieve, and Hawthorne Heights were living it.

Sadly, as with every success story, the good times came at a cost. In November 2007, while in the midst of legal disputes, tragedy struck within the Hawthorne Heights family. Casey Calvert, the much loved guitarist and resident “screamer” of the band lost his life while on tour due to an accidental overdose of medications prescribed by his doctor and dentist, which proved to be lethal combination. The effects on the band were evident, both personally and musically, and the decision to carry on was the toughest they would ever have to make.

On August 5 2008, Hawthorne Heights return with Fragile Future, a brand new album. Although the sound is still distinctly Hawthorne Heights, the music, as with the band, has understandably evolved.

“After spending the last 2 years in a deep dark place, we decided to try to find the bright lights again with Fragile Future,” noted singer J.T. Woodruff. “We, as a band, noticed that everyone has tremendous ups and downs, so we wanted this record to communicate that. We chose the title Fragile Future, because it sums up the current state of our band, as well as what is going on in the outside world. We must all make good choices to create a better situation in our lives.”

“With the loss of Casey, and no plans to replace him, we’ve had to make some obvious changes to our sound on this record,” added drummer Eron Bucciarelli. “Originally there were less screams planned for this record than the second one, but sadly we never got the chance to do even that. This forced us to take a creative approach to certain songs. We’ve beefed up the guitars in parts, added gang vocals, choirs and all sorts of effects to still capture some of the energy that Casey brought.”

With their trademark strong melodies and hooks still intact, Hawthorne Heights have broadened their sound to emerge with a collection of 12 deliciously genre-free songs that will set the airwaves alight across the world. Hawthorne Heights may have already set on the path to global domination, but with the release of Fragile Future, the road in front of them will lead them to the biggest, most impressive heights of all.


The Ataris are four friends creating words and music in the basements and dive bars of the world, while young souls pile into the microphone and spill beer into our effects pedals.

Honest stories and organic sounds, chock full of heart, sincerity and beautiful mistakes. Played loud and recorded to analog tape.

Sixteen years of traveling the world, several broken down vans and five full length studio albums. The Ataris album "So Long, Astoria" included the tracks "In This Diary" and "The Saddest Song" and sold upwards of 850,000 copies earning the band it's first gold record.

The Ataris' singer/songwriter Kristopher Roe released his first full length solo acoustic album "Hang Your Head in Hope" in November 2011.

All songs were recorded in one take, no edits, no overdubs, using vintage 1940's ribbon microphones and a 1948 Gibson J-45 guitar.
The album contains familiar tracks stripped down as well as a several brand new songs which will later appear on The Ataris forthcoming
album "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" in actual full band arrangements.

"Hang Your Head in Hope" is available FREE of charge only from The Ataris' Bandcamp page. http://theataris.bandcamp.com/ Donations are welcome and very much appreciated.

The Ataris are currently finishing up vocals for their new album "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" Two brand new tracks from the album are available also available exclusively on our Bandcamp page. The album will be released on the Gainesville, Florida label Paper + Plastick. An actual release date will be announced here once the vocals have been completed and the remaining songs are mixed.

That is ALL.

Thank you. See you all on tour.


Since forming in a working class suburb of Chicago in 1995, Mest have been tearing up the punk rock scene. Playing in local Chicago punk clubs, the group self-released their debut album, "Mo' Money, Mo' 40?z". The band got their first real break when frontman Tony Lovato sent the band's album to Goldfinger's John Feldmann who helped them get signed to Maverick Records, and produced their major-label debut, "Wasting Time", which was released in July 2000. Since then the band has released 3 more albums on Maverick — 2001's "Destination Unknown", 2003's self-titled disc, and 2005's "Photographs"– and toured the world as part of the Warped Tour.

"Mest was a band that was always known for their live show. It didn't matter if we had 10 or 10,000 kids at the show, we always put everything we had out on stage every night," remembers Mest singer Tony Lovato.

Tensions between the band members about the musical direction of the band, growing up, starting a family and not wanting to tour as much caused the band to break-up in 2006, and Mest announced their breakup, as well as a farewell tour entitled "So Long and Thanx for the Booze." With the band broken up, Lovato spent the next couple of years battling the demons that had built up in his closet. Years of alcoholism and drug abuse had been quietly concealed by living on the road as a part of a traveling circus, but now Lovato was left alone with his addictions staring him in the mirror.



"When I got off the road, I was partying pretty hard and it went from recreational use to a daily thing. It got to the point where I wouldn't leave my house for two or three days at a time, because I had such bad anxiety," remembers Lovato. "I remember going on a binge of drugs and booze that didn't stop for a few days. I went to take a shower and my heart just kept racing faster and faster. It was at that point that I knew if I didn't do something to change the way I was living I would be dead. I needed to deal with a lot of the issues that I was covering up with drugs and alcohol. I needed to learn how to be a human being again and regain my life."

After spending some time working on himself, Lovato was inspired to start writing music again. He joined up with new Guitarist Mike Longworth and new Drummer Lil Rich Gonzales. The experiences he had over the past few years had provided him for the perfect place to be creatively reborn. The end result was a series of pop-punk songs that paid tribute to Mest's past, but pushed the band forward into a future that was wide open. Now after fine tuning the material on the road, Lovato and Mest are ready to have their fans scream the songs from the rooftops as they release their new album, "Not What You Expected."

"As an artist you have to constantly evolve and if you don't then you will become stagnant. It was impossible to write the same kind of record as I did in 2002, because I'm just not in the same place in my life," said Tony. "If I were to try and write the same album, it wouldn't be genuine and fans would be able to see right through it. This album is just the next evolution of Mest and I think it shows how we've progressed as musicians, and creative people."

"Not What You Expected" is a return to the care-free days of listening to bands like Green Day, Blink-182 or Social Distortion blasting with the windows rolled down. It's punk-rock with infectious guitar riffs and sing-along choruses that instantly transports you to another place, away from all the world's problems. More importantly it's a return to form for a band that has been sorely missed in music.

"When I got back out on the road playing shows, people would always come up and tell me how much of an influence Mest was on them. It is the most humbling and most flattering thing to have someone come up to you and say that you inspired them to want to go out and play music," he said. " Then, to have guys from bands like A Day To Remember or Escape The Fate who inspired me to start writing again tell me how I influenced them was a great feeling."

Lovato brought the circle of inspiration back around when he asked new friend Tom Denney from a day to remember to co-write a song with him. The track is "Radio (Something To Believe)" and is an ode to all the bands that the duo grew up listening to.

"I can't recall who was more stoked to work with whom. I would say that I was, but he would probably say he was more excited," laughs Lovato. "It's a really cool experience to work with someone when you have mutual respect for each other's songwriting and records. Jeremy, from A Day To Remember, jumped in the studio to record a part for the song, which was amazing. That's what music has always been about; supporting one other.


Whats up we are a pop punk band from Harrisburg Pa. We believe in hard work and having fun. We don't have famous friends we are not critically acclaimed and no one in this band was ever in some famous band who's name we could drop or coat tail we could ride. But we will get up earlier than you and work longer and harder. That has to count for something. If it doesn't then at least we had a hell of a good time trying and made some amazing friends along the way.