Hailing all the way from Boise, Idaho comes the electrifying band Messimer whose comprised of friends Luke Messimer, Dalton, and Reggie Mace. Luke's high tenor range and frantic delivery is perfectly complemented by the low and experimental rumble of Reggie's unique bass tone and Dalton's simplistic yet explosive drum style, all coming together in a sound that is a 1/4 "Revolver", 2/3 "Nilsson Schmilsson", a ton of "Pinkerton" and something entirely unique.
They released their single titled “Loose” the progressive rock single that has all the elements of a hit single from high energy to intricate vocals and striking instrumental chords. It immediately begins with a climaxing introduction from guitar to a fast pace rhythmic drum motion. Their ear-piercing belts and mind boggling vocal transitions shows a level of skill many bands can lack. You become instantly drawn to the arts of rock and some just like myself, may have the courage to see them live. Their live show is big and in your face with moments of unsuppressed intimacy and vulnerability, creating something not seen much these days in the world of live music. 2019 will see them release a plethora of exciting new music as well as performances in many cities West of the Mississippi. Messimer is definitely not a band to be slept on, so this is your official warning to check the band out ASAP!
Add "Loose" to your Spotify playlist here, and scroll further down for the bands exclusive interview!
How did Messimer form? Whose idea was it to start a band!
I (Luke) started performing solo under my own name after my old Portland-based project Northern Youth disbanded in 2016. When my now wife and I moved to Boise in 2017, I started looking to put together a backing band to continue playing those songs as well as some new ones I had written. I really only knew one person here in Boise: Reggie Mace. We had met in Portland at a wedding of some mutual friends and had some good music conversations. So when we landed in Boise, he was the first person I reached out to. Reggie took over on bass for me and his cousin Dalton filled in on drums. After 6 months or so, we kind of realized it wasn't a solo project anymore, it was a band. Since we already had a little following around town as Luke Messimer, we figured the easy way to go was to just drop the first name. And so, MESSIMER was born!
Explain how the production of “Loose” came about.
I made a little garageband demo of "Loose" in about 3 hours one day. The chorus just came to me half way through my day at work, so I just kept singing it over and over again until I could get home and lay it down. Then I brought it to the guys in practice and it just immediately clicked with everyone. We knew we wanted to put a couple new songs out soon and "Loose" just had that driving beat and sing-a-long chorus that made it hard to deny. We reached out to our buddy Josh Lewis, who is a young transplant from Scranton, PA. He's made himself quite the name for himself here in Boise as probably the best sound guy out there. He had done sound for us at a few shows and he just seemed to get us. He has a little studio in Garden City (a small neighborhood/suburb of Boise). We set up our gear, and recorded it pretty live. No click track and very minimal overdubs. Wanted to keep that raw rock n roll sound. I think we did 4 or 5 full takes, picked the best one, and there ya have it!
“Loose” showcases some rocking instrumental skills! Does everything you guys do is live in the recording studio? Or do you guys record with computerized instruments?
There is actually one computerized instrument! When doing overdubs, we just failed miserably at hand claps. They just sounded awful! I'd say that is weirdly not a strong suit for us. So before we got it to the distributors, I actually uploaded the WAV file to my old friend Garageband and added fake hand claps. It was the only way! I feel like they're quiet enough and tucked just enough in the mix that the average listener might not even notice, but my neurotic OCD-like subconscious would notice...
What's your favorite lyric line from "Loose"?
I really enjoy the second verse of this song. It's actually the first verse I wrote.
"There's nothing that you can do / There's nothing that I can say / If my memory serves me right it was you that said it anyway"
It just hits right. They might not be my best lyrics or most meaningful, but the way they flow with their call & response...well damn if they don't make me smile.
What can we expect from Messimer throughout 2019?
We have a lot going on this year. March 15 we have an acoustic song called "Morning Thought" coming out that has a very different sound. Then our 7+ minute epic "I'm not a Fool" comes out April 1. It's what I consider to be our current masterpiece. We're playing Treefort Music Fest here in Boise on March 22, then have some West Coast tour dates in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. After that we plan to release more music later in the summer and we have some more tour dates coming up and another festival or two that we're really excited to announce in the next couple months. 2018 was where we got our landless. 2019, we're using them.
Catch up with Messimer through the bands social media: