The Mesos - From Left: Trish McCormick Williams (guitar, backup vocals), Chad Phillips (drums), Dom Fortese (lead vocals, guitar), and Connor Langan (bass, backup vocals).
Listen to The Mesos and more local rock music on 97.9X’s “Locals Only” show with Lazy E on Sundays at 7:00 p.m.
The Mesos releases new single “Smack Daddy” on Feb 14, but you can catch a first listen Sunday, Feb 12 on “Locals Only”!
The Mesos is a punk rock band based out of Scranton who lives for the stage. This local band writes original songs that make you groove. Catch their music on 97.9X’s “Locals Only” show on Sundays.
“People should listen cause it’s different,” said lead vocalist and guitarist, Dom Fortese. “There’s just something about the way we do things, the fun. We are a big, dysfunctional family but we work hard and we love playing live.”
The Mesos’ influences stem from the old school punk scene of 70s NYC with a twist of early rock n’ roll, blues, and power pop. They lean into their quintessential garage sound and pride themselves on handcrafting jams that rock the whole venue. The Mesos causes a scene whenever they’re on stage…in a good way.
“I like to say we make music that is MADE to be PLAYED. There’s a wonderful feeling of seeing a crowd react to music you created,” said Trish McCormick Williams of The Mesos. “The energy we put out during live shows is only matched by the crowd we are playing for. It’s real and you can feel it. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
The band started the winter of 2018 in Dunmore, after Fortese’s previous band, The Kids Laughing at Pedestrians, broke up. Fortese thought he’d never play music again, but that’s when he found his bandmates; Trish McCormick Williams on guitar and backing vocals, Connor Langan on bass and backing vocals, and their newest member Chad Phillips (also of BLANKS 77) on drums.
So, where did “The Mesos” name come from? You’ll never guess, but it’s a perfect match for their grungy, punk band (or as Langan describes it, “soggy garage rock”) energy. “The pipes in my basement may have had asbestos dust all over them. The lung cancer you get from that substance is mesothelioma. So, ‘Mesos’ is what we are and what we’ll probably have at some point,” laughed Fortese.
Their sound is unique, but at the same time, The Mesos’ music works well on any live music lineup. “No one sounds like us. No one around this area does what we do which makes us stand out. We mesh well with everything. We can open up for a metal act and still be able to mesh with the fans,” said Fortese.
They’re proud to offer audiences something they haven’t heard before when they hit the stage. And most importantly, they love what they do. “It’s therapeutic, an outlet, and it’s just so darn fun,” said Langan.
“I can’t speak for everyone but we love doing this, we aren’t really good at anything else but working hard and having fun,” said Fortese. “I’d like to think people look at us as people and we don’t step on any toes, we just enjoy doing this and making the kids dance. That’s the most important thing.”
They’re just people like you and me. Fortese likes fishing and being in the woods, McCormick Williams enjoys animals and hanging out with her dog, Mojo, and Langan enjoys working on guitars and wood-working. They all love what they do and pull their strengths to create fresh tracks.
“Dom does most of the lyric writing and song ideas come from daily life for the most part. We all collaborate when writing the music and song structures. Many times, a random phrase or idea pops up and I’ll text Dom with the idea or just a phrase or title and we work it out from there,” said McCormick Williams.
Band members also handle everything themselves from management to booking, promotion to writing, but it’s all a labor of love. The Mesos works hard both on stage and behind the scenes to get their music out there…so go out and listen!
You can catch The Mesos live at their upcoming shows in March. They’ll play The Kennel at The West York Inn in York, PA on March 18 for “Rockabilly Rawkus is Back,” where there will also be a pin-up contest. Then, the band is playing one of their favorite local venues, The V Spot on March 31 with Kali Ma & The Garland of Arms, The Boog, and their favorite vinyl-spinning DJ, Honeyman Lightning.
“We are releasing a new single on Feb 14 called “SMACK DADDY” — a song about the pitfalls of getting mixed up with the wrong people and substances,” said McCormick Williams on what fans can expect from The Mesos in 2023. “We plan on hitting the studio again this year, maybe a full album.”
Follow along with this quirky punk rock band and get a first listen of their upcoming single “SMACK DADDY” on Sunday, Feb 12, on 97.9 X’s “Locals Only” Show with Lazy E at 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
