Tony Lovato

Anthony "Tony" John Capiretto Lovato (born June 20, 1980) was the vocalist/guitarist for the pop-punk band Mest.

In 2006 after Tony moved to L.A, he started his new project "A Permanent Holiday". Since then they've released a few demo on their myspace while still in the studio working on their debut record.

In 2007 he was arrested for stabbing another man. Murder charges were dropped when the stabbing was deemed to be in self-defense.

In April 2008, Tony announced the name change of his band from 'A Permanent Holiday' to 'Kisses For Kings'. They have released one new song under the new name so far.

Musical career with Mest

Tony Lovato, his brother Steve Lovato, and their cousin Matt Lovato founded Mest in 1995. He wrote the majority of the lyrics for their self-released debut "Mo' Money, Mo' 40z". Their major label debut, "Wasting Time", came out in 2000 on Maverick Records, followed by their 2001 effort, "Destination Unknown". Their self-titled third major label album was released in 2003, and their fourth and final, "Photographs" was released in 2005.In October 2008 Mest is having a reunion tour.

Formative years in Confederate Storm

When Tony was 13, he played drums in a band called Confederate Storm. Initially, the other musicians were skinheads as a fashion statement, but they came to embrace that controversial subculture's racist attitudes, and the group's songs included some controversial lyrics. Tony was eager to set the record straight concerning this.

"Kids bring this up all the time, and the record label and publicity people are like, 'Let's not address it,' " Tony says. "But I'm an honest person, and the more honest you are with your fans, the closer they feel to you--it's not like you're some singer who [messes around with] little girls, then turns around and acts like he's a Christian."

Tony says he grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood, and his first girlfriend was African-American. Then his family moved, and he found himself isolated until he was drawn into the skinhead scene. Eventually, he started to think about its poisonous attitudes. He then split and paid the price, being ostracized and getting involved in fights. (He compares his experience to the film "American History X")

"When you're 13, you don't think for yourself, and you just go with the flow with the kids you hang out with," Tony says. "The scariest part about Nazi skinheads and that cause is that they get you at a young age, and they warp your mind. After two years of that, I was like, 'This just isn't right.' It wasn't like it wasn't cool anymore, and that's why I got out of it. I realized: 'This is [messed] up, these people are [messed] up, and I am being ignorant and rude to people.' "

In the liner notes to the band's first Maverick album, Tony writes, "Sorry to everyone I hurt in the past from my ignorant ways--I hope you can forgive me."

Friendship with the Madden brothers

Tony wears a ring on his left ring finger (often mistaken for a wedding band) as a tribute to his best friends Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte. They each have one and inscribed on it is the word 'Brothers'. Tony was featured in Good Charlotte's videos "The Festival Song" and "The Anthem". Tony also appeared in the video for "The Anthem" along with his cousin Matt Lovato.

tabbing

On March 25, 2007, Tony Lovato called 911 and confessed to police that he had killed Wayne Hughes, his current girlfriends ex-boyfriend, by stabbing him in the torso several times. He claimed that Hughes had assaulted him and he was defending himself. He was arrested on the scene without a fight. [http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2531473520070326]

On March 27, 2007, Tony was released from jail and homicide charges against him were dropped. A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office stated "We determined that the suspect and victim had dated the same girl back-and-forth for over a year. The victim sent several threatening messages to the suspect. Apparently, there was some mutual combat and Tony attempted to separate himself from the victim when the victim challenged him to a fight. The victim followed Tony to an isolated spot in the underground garage and tried to fight him. Tony defended himself, and there was insufficient evidence to show that it was not a justifiable use of reasonable force in self-defense." [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1555743/20070327/mest.jhtml]

ee also

*Mest