Patrick Meese, seen here fronting his band Meese at the Monolith Music Festival at Red Rocks in 2007, is no longer linked to Atlantic Records. The label dropped Meese in December. Photo by John Moore, The Denver Post.

The scuttlebutt/gossip making its way around Denver’s streets – that local pop act Meese had been dropped by Atlantic Records after only one record, last year’s “Broadcast” – is true, The Denver Post has learned.

“We are no longer on Atlantic Records,” guitarist Nate Meese told The Post on Sunday. “We got dropped. You might say it was a forced ‘mutual’ agreement.”

But, he went on to say, “We have more positive stuff going on right now than we have had in years.”

Nate and his brother, Pat, the band’s singer/pianist/guitarist, have a sense of humor about the situation – now. They’ve been playing together since 2005. They got the news from Atlantic in December. They’ve been keeping it mostly quiet as they’ve dealt with the blow within their camp, which includes their manager/friend Alex Brahl of Red Light Management.

Sadly, Meese’s major-label farewell is a familiar story to most bands that go that route.

“Both of our main champions at the label got fired last year,” Nate Meese said late Sunday. “They were the people that brought us there. The new people we had working with us didn’t really see eye-to-eye with us so much. It was never a question of work ethic or if we got put on the back burner, though. There’s nobody to point a finger at. Everybody worked their ass off, from the band to everyone who has been remotely involved with us. It came down to our guys not being there anymore.”

While it took some time to deal with the mixed emotions of being dropped, it didn’t feel like a bad break-up, Meese said.

“It wasn’t personal,” he said. “It was business. It is the music business.”

The action has inspired a new creative burst for the brothers Meese and their band. Off tour since November, the Meese brothers have been writing like mad – together and apart. They received some good press in Alternative Press, and they’re “99 percent sure” of a big tour they’re truly excited to announce in the coming weeks.

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