Allister

Allister
From L to R: Mike Leverence, Kyle Lewis, Scott Murphy, Tim Rogner
Background information
Also known as	Phineas Gage (1994–1997) Pheanus Peenus (1997–1999)
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Pop punk
Years active	1994–2007 2010–2014
Labels	Drive-Thru, Universal J
Associated acts	Scott Murphy Scott & Rivers MONOEYES Showoff Now She's Gone The Fold PARR5 Ellegarden The Get Go Tim Rogner Weezer Rivers Cuomo August Premier Hey Einstein We've Got Ours MxPx
Members	Tim Rogner Scott Murphy Kyle Lewis Mike Leverence
Past members	John "Johnny" Hamada Eric "Skippy" Mueller David Rossi Chris Rogner

Allister was an American pop punk band from Chicago, Illinois. The four-piece formed in 1994 and were one of the first bands to sign to Drive-Thru Records. Besides releasing five studio albums – 1999's Dead Ends and Girlfriends, 2002's Last Stop Suburbia, 2005's Before the Blackout, 2010's Countdown to Nowhere, and 2012's "Life Behind Machines — Allister made a cameo appearance in the 2004 film Sleepover. On March 6, 2007, the band announced their intention to go on hiatus. In 2010, Allister reunited after a three-year break, and have been touring and recording since.

Allister was formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1994 under their original name Phineas Gage by James B. Conant High School classmates Tim Rogner (vocals, drums) and John "Johnny" Hamada (guitar, vocals), with Eric "Skippy" Mueller (bass) joining 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 28-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, and has been writing an MP3 blog called Can You See The Sunset From the Southside. Rogner replaced Mueller on the rhythm guitar, and David "Dave" Rossi joined on drums in April 2000; Rossi commonly performed without a shirt. Hamada eventually quit as well around 2002, after tracking some songs for the group's follow-up record. Rogner's younger brother Chris filled Hamada's shoes on lead guitar.