Allister
was a pop punk band from Chicago, Illinois. The four-piece formed in 1996 and were one of the first bands to sign to Drive-Thru Records. Besides releasing three studio albums — 1999's Dead Ends and Girlfriends
, 2002's Last Stop Suburbia
, and 2005's Before the Blackout
— Allister made a cameo appearance in the 2004 film Sleepover
. On March 6, 2007, the band announced their intention to go on hiatus.
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ALLISTER TICKETS
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History
Allister was formed in
Chicago, Illinois under their original name Phineas Gage by high school (James B. Conant H.S.) classmates
John Hamada (
vocals/
guitar) and Tim Rogner (vocals/
drums) with Eric "Skippy" Mueller (
bass) in 1996. The following year, they changed their name to Allister, paying homage to
Alasdair Gillis from the Canadian TV show
You Can't Do That on Television
. Upon being submitted a short demo tape,
Drive-Thru Records decided to put out their debut release: a 7 inch
vinyl record containing four songs, titled
You Can't Do that on Vinyl
(1998). Before the end of the year, Allister added another guitarist to the band, so Mueller took over guitar duties while Scott Murphy joined on bass.
In 1999, Drive-Thru Records released the band's full-length CD
Dead Ends and Girlfriends
with that very line-up. The catchy 32-minute album, which was recorded with a production budget of a mere $700, featured playful yet promising pop punk tunes, along with covers of the
Fraggle Rock
theme song and the
Backstreet Boys' "I Want It that Way". Within the following years, Mueller quit Allister. Hamada eventually quit as well, after tracking some songs for the group's follow-up record. Rogner replaced Mueller on the rhythm guitar, while Rogner's younger brother Chris filled Hamada's shoes on lead guitar and David Rossi joined on drums.
With the aid of producer Chris Fudurich, the band recorded their second full-length album
Last Stop Suburbia
in 2002, showcasing a certain degree of growth in the songwriting of Rogner and Murphy. The album featured several fan-favorites, such as "Radio Player", "Overrated" and "Somewhere on Fullerton" (an ode to the legendary Chicago punk venue, Fireside Bowl), though the band had to part ways with both Rossi and Chris Rogner, who would concentrate on his own band August Premier. The band added Kyle Lewis (guitar) — formerly of
Showoff,
Now She's Gone and
The Fold — and Mike Leverence (drums); formerly of
PARR5, the following year.
Last Stop Suburbia
reached #9 on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart.
[1]
In 2004, Allister toured the world (including
Europe and
Japan) and scored a small guest appearance on the big screen in the film
Sleepover
, before releasing their third album
Before the Blackout
(2005) and supporting it by co-headlining the "Before the Blackout, after the Breakup Tour" with
Fenix*TX.
The group released a
cover EP titled
Guilty Pleasures
only in Japan in late 2006, which was supported by a simultaneous Japanese tour. Before the departure, Rogner learned that he was becoming a father and decided to take a job where he was more available to his family. Allister decided to go on hiatus following another Japanese tour throughout March 2007 — for which former Allister member Chris Rogner took his brother's place — and a farewell show in Chicago. Murphy and Lewis joined the band
The Get Go, though Murphy recently left the band.
In 2008, Scott Murphy recorded his solo EP entitled
Guilty Pleasures II as a continuation of the band's past work. The album contains a number of Japanese and English cover-songs. The very popular song '
Voyage', by Japanese megastar
Ayumi Hamasaki was also included. Murphy released another follow-up EP,
Guilty Pleasures 3, on
December 3,
2008.
Since 2005, former Allister bassist/guitarist Eric Mueller has written a popular MP3 blog called
Can You See the Sunset.
Members
- Tim Rogner – vocals, guitar
- Scottie Murphy – vocals, bass
- Kyle Lewis – guitar
- Mike Leverence – drums
Former members
- Eric "Skippy" Mueller – vocals, guitar
- John Hamada – vocals, guitar
- Chris Rogner – guitar
- David Rossi – drums
Discography
Albums
- Dead Ends and Girlfriends
(1999)
- Last Stop Suburbia
(2002)
- Before the Blackout
(2005)
- Sleepover Soundtrack
(2005)
EPs
- 5 Song Demo Tape
(1997)
- You Can't Do that on Vinyl
(1998)
- Guilty Pleasures
(2006)
- Guilty Pleasures II
(2008)
Non-album tracks
- "We Close Our Eyes" – released on the original soundtrack to Sleepover
(2004)
- "Shima Uta" – released on the Japanese version of Before the Blackout
(2005)
- "Walking the Plank" – released on Hair: Chicago Punk Cuts
(2006)
See also
- Drive-Thru Records
- List of pop punk bands
References
- Billboard, Allmusic