‘Providing more hooks to music than Captain Hook himself’

Back Alley Pep Rally (BAPR) is a three-piece powerhouse originating out of Dayton, Ohio and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Starting up in 2016, they released their rough demo ‘(Black Album),’ consisting of rough tracks that were recorded using nothing but an Apple iPhone 4S. After this release, the band focused the remainder of 2016 gathering a solid lineup, which later played the Mesa Music Festival in November of that year. This original lineup consisted of Dan Mehal (Vocals), Justin Rissmiller (Guitars) and Sabian Pack (Drums). Soon after performing at the festival, Sabian made an exit leaving the band to consist now of Dan and Justin. The duo began recording the band’s first self-titled album all while looking for a permanent replacement for drums.

The entire album was composed, produced, mixed and mastered by the band themselves. Release for their self-titled debut was February 21st, 2017 through T&R Recordings of Dayton, Ohio. To support the new album, the band set on their first West Coast tour in March 2017 and co-headlined the tour with The Beast of Bailey Downs. Dru Shaw, close friend to the band would join the tour to support with drums and later with bass and vocals while Dan took a brief hiatus. Aaron King would later join in with the band on drums where multiple local shows and another West Coast tour took place during the remainder of 2017.

2018 was a busy year for the band. It started with a Live EP release from the band, ‘Weekend At Weiner’s.’ This release showcased the new lineup at the time that now consisted of Dru Shaw (Vocals & Bass), Justin Rissmiller (Vocals & Guitars) and Aaron King (Drums). Upon this release, the band toured much of the remaining 2018 year throughout the West Coast and ended it with a bang with the releases of two new singles, ‘A Reptile Dysfunction’ and ‘Spankenstein.’

2019 kicked off with another tour throughout Nevada and California. The completion of this tour was met with the departures of both Dru Shaw and Aaron King as well. Dan Mehal would then soon return from his hiatus and rejoin the band, where he and Justin would begin work in the studio on the band’s second full length album. Tony Garcia joined the band shortly after to support with drums. Release for their second full length album '(Green Album)' was October 1st, 2019 and has been met with much success with over three million combined streams and over 3,500 physical copies sold to date. A tour to support this release was set up for 2020, but the pandemic derailed those plans.

Since the pandemic, the band has spent the last few years releasing follow-up singles, as well as another Live EP. In addition to those releases, the band performed at the annual Apocalypse in the Desert Music Festival in 2023 and also played a handful of shows in 2024.

On November 7th, 2025, the band released their third full-length album, known as (Blue Album). This is the band's first full album release in over six years. Plans for a tour to support this album are currently in the works, with announcements set to arrive in the coming months.

Back Alley Pep Rally is:

Current Members:
Dan Mehal- Lead Vocals, Bass & Production (2016-2017, 2019-Present)
Justin Rissmiller- Guitars, Backing Vocals & Additional Production (2016-Present)
Tony Garcia- Drums (2020-Present)

Past Members & Touring Members:
Aaron King- Drums (2017-2019)
Dru Shaw- Lead Vocals & Bass (2017-2019), Touring Drums (2016-2017)
Nick Runnings- Touring Drums (2017)
Sabian Pack- Touring Drums (2016, 2019) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.