Imagine this. You’re a young musician and you’re celebrating your 20^th birthday. But instead of the usual birthday cake with 20 candles, you have your arms around Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, onstage in front of 10,000 screaming fans. A dream? Maybe for some, but for Tony Lovato, lead singer and guitarist of Mest, it was undoubtedly "the coolest birthday I’ve ever had."

Everything after that would seem like icing on the cake, but for Lovato, it was only the beginning. Frontman for the band Mest, Lovato’s been living the life of a rock star and has toured with notable bands such as Lit, Blink-182, Sum 41 and of course, No Doubt. Joined by bandmates Matt Lovato on bass guitar, Jeremiah Rangel on guitar and Nick Gigler on drums, the boys are currently promoting their sophomore album Destination Unknown and releasing their first single, "Cadillac," on Maverick Records. Yet after being together as Mest for more than six years, singer Lovato still insists "I’m not a rock star yet."

The may not be a household name, but Mest is a group of talented musicians who love playing their own mad style of music. Songs with a punk-inspired sound yet flavored with a bit of reggae, hip-hop and pop-rock. Lovato explains. "We’re gonna start calling our music confusion rock because sometimes we’re like, ‘What the hell are we doing?’" Whatever you want to call it, the music is based on strong melodies, upbeat, fast rhythms and revealing lyrics that make you want to get up and mosh in the pit.

Mest’s humble beginnings started on Chicago’s East Side, where cousins Tony and Matt Lovato lived across the street from each other. At age 7, they picked up guitars and started playing together. Fast forward to high school, where friends Rangel and Gigler were found and rounded out the band. They immediately started playing gigs at local punk clubs, yet school and music didn’t seem to mix for Tony Lovato, who ended up getting kicked out of school his sophomore year. "There was a lot of teen angst, fighting with my parents constantly, fucking punching holes in the walls. The only thing I knew I could do in life was to play music."

Betting his life on a good hand at music, Lovato pursued his musical dream and did his time by playing in dive clubs, being paid with free beer and getting into the occasional fistfight. Fate stepped in when Lovato met one of his musical idols, singer John Feldmann of the band Goldfinger.

"I met him a few times at different shows and kept giving him demos. At one point he gave me some phone number and said ‘keep in touch.’ I did, and kept sending him new demos. He heard the song "Electric Baby" from the first record and was like, ‘If they can write more songs like this, I can probably get them a record deal.’ That’s what he told me eventually."

After little response, Lovato managed to meet Feldmann at another gig, and this time he offered Mest an opening slot for Goldfinger at the House of Blues. After seeing Mest play live and hearing their potential, Feldmann got a hold of Maverick Records and got them signed to a demo deal a week later. But the friendship that Mest has with Feldmann goes way beyond just a business relationship. Lovato admits, "He’s a big influence on my life, sort of a mentor to me. He means a lot to our whole band because if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be who we are. I owe the guy my life."

Indeed, Feldmann produced their album Wasted Time, which also produced the radio single "What’s the Dillio?" With Destination Unknown, Lovato writes more of what he calls "fast, fucking distorted rock," each song revealing a true story of Lovato’s life. Songs like "Chelsea," the real name of a girl he was seeing and missing at the time, or "Opinions," which is about being bombarded with what other people think. Opinions he gets from record executives, from fans, to critics who review their band.

"It gets so frustrating writing all these songs and then you bring them to the producers or the band and they don’t think they’re good enough. Record labels that are like, ‘No, this isn’t a good song, this isn’t a hit.’ Sometimes I want to say, ‘Let me hear one or your songs that you wrote, or let me hear you play the guitar!" And Lovato’s take on the opinions of critics? "Opinions are just like assholes, everybody has one."

But for now, Mest is on the road and teaming up with more outstanding bands, hoping to one day headline. Making friends along the way has helped Mest recruit talented friends such as Young MC, Save Ferris singer Monique Powell and Gabe McNair (the horn player from No Doubt), who all did cameos on Mest’s new disc. But it’s not just their talent that Lovato appreciates, but also the lessons he’s learned from them about how to be a rock star, even if it means not acting like one.

"The one thing I’ve learned is to keep your head on your shoulders. When you meet kids, don’t be a dick to them. Being yourself and being real. Just realizing that when you go home, you’re a normal person again. Being honest and not being a rock star."

Rock star or not, Lovato is both a devoted musician and a fan. He recalls meeting Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day at a music festival in Washington, D.C. and working up the nerve to tell him, "Dude, you’re a huge influence to me and my band," as well as reminiscing about Gwen Stefani, and admitting his crush on her. He was even shocked with she first called him Tony, with his first reaction being, "Holy shit, she even knows my name." Yet in the next breath, Lovato moves from fan to lead singer of Mest, and talks about all their hard work and their ultimate goal as a band.

"I stay involved in our band’s choices, I’m on the phone everyday with my manager. I want to tour with good bands, with the credible bands. All the bands that I’ve liked, have been bands like the Clash, Social Distortion, Green Day… these are bands that have had longevity in their careers. I want to be another band like that."

Spoken like a true rock star.