Allister

Infobox musical artist
Name = Allister


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Origin = Chicago, Illinois, USA
Genre = Pop punk
Years_active = 1996–2007
Label = Drive-Thru
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Current_members = Tim Rogner
Scott Murphy
Kyle Lewis
Mike Leverence
Past_members = Eric Mueller
John Hamada
Chris Rogner
David Rossi
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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.

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) the following year.

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 have since joined the band The Get Go.

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.

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 Soundtracks" (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 "" (2006)

ee also

*Drive-Thru Records
*List of pop punk bands

External links

* [http://www.allisterrock.com Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/allister Allister's profile] at MySpace
* [http://www.purevolume.com/allister Allister's profile] at PureVolume
* [http://www.burningstars.net/allister06.html Burning Stars interview with Tim and Kyle]
* [http://www.the-mag.me.uk/Music/Bands/?Band=Allister&BandId=5 Allister reviews on The Mag]
* [http://www.canyouseethesunset.com Skippy's blog Can You See the Sunset?]