PAX217

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title: "PAX217" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["alternative-rock-groups-from-california", "christian-rock-groups-from-california", "musical-groups-from-orange-county,-california", "musical-groups-established-in-1995"] description: "American Christian rock band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAX217" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American Christian rock band ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]

Field	Value
name	PAX217
background	group_or_band
alias	Pax
origin	Orange County, California, United States
genre
years_active
label	Forefront
associated_acts
::

| name = PAX217 | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = group_or_band | alias = Pax | origin = Orange County, California, United States | genre = | occupation = | years_active = | label = Forefront | associated_acts = | website = | current_members =

• Dave Tosti
• Jesse Craig
• Josh Auer
• Joey Marchiano
• Bobby Duran
• Chris "Tito" Duran
• Aaron "Skwid" Tosti | past_members =
• Ethan Luck
• Dan Sessum PAX217 is an American Christian rock band from Orange County, California. The band's music gained popularity in the Christian rock scene in the early 2000s. PAX217's lineup consists of David Tosti on vocals, Jesse Craig on guitar, Josh Auer on bass, Joey Marchiano on drums, Chris "Tito" Duran on keyboards, and Bobby "Bobbito the Chef" Duran on turntables. Former members include Ethan Luck on guitar, Dan Sessum on guitar, and David Tosti's younger brother Aaron "Skwid" Tosti, who later played in Hawk Nelson, on drums. The band began in 1994 and broke up in 2005, but reunited in 2010.

Name origin

The name comes from "Pax" which is Latin for "peace" and the Bible verse Ephesians 2:17.

Musical styles

The band's style is a mix of punk rock and rap with some reggae influences, and has been compared to 311, Skindred, P.O.D., and Earthsuit.

Career

PAX217 was formed in 1994 in Orange County, CA by Dave Tosti, Ethan Luck (who was replaced by Dan Sessum, Thaddeus Williams, and later by Jesse Craig), Josh Auer, and Dave's younger brother Aaron Tosti. They recorded a demo tape and months later signed with Forefront Records. In August 2000, Aaron left the band and was replaced by Joey Marchiano. Brothers Chris and Bobby Duran later joined the band on percussion and turntables, respectively. With Forefront, they released two albums: Twoseventeen on March 2, 2000, which featured No Place Like Home and AM (which was included on the soundtrack of the film Extreme Days), and Engage on May 21, 2002. They released an independent EP titled Check Your Pulse in Summer 2004. The same year, Chris and Bobby Duran left the band. PAX217 held their last concert on October 21, 2005 in Chino, CA.

The band reunited nearly five years later on July 2, 2010. They also played a one-off reunion show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA on February 18, 2013.

On February 17, 2017, the band announced another reunion show. This was confirmed on March 11, 2017, when The O.C. Supertones announced on Facebook Live that PAX217 would be the special guest for the 20th anniversary of Supertones Strike Back Celebration. The concert was held on June 3, 2017 at Shoreline Church in San Clemente, CA. PAX217 released an album of this performance, along with a previously unreleased track, in February 2018.

Related acts

AVNER

AVNER was a short-lived pop punk band formed by bassist and vocalist Josh Auer and drummer Joey Marchiano after the breakup of PAX217. Todd Cooper played lead guitar and sang background vocals for the group. Jesse Craig joined the group as a 2nd guitarist for a few months before moving on. They were best known for their comical stage demeanor and lively commercials/promotions/interactions with fans. AVNER broke up shortly after Marchiano signed on to tour as a roadie with some large-name acts and Cooper married Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek in 2008.

Band members

;Current

• Dave Tosti – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (1994–2005, 2010–present)
• Jesse Craig – lead guitar (1997–2005, 2010–present)
• Josh Auer – bass guitar, backing vocals (1994–2005, 2010–present)
• Bobby Duran – turntables, sampler, programming, backing vocals (2000–2004, 2010–present)
• Chris "Tito" Duran – percussion (2000–2004, 2010–present)
• Aaron Tosti – drums, backing vocals (1994–2000, 2010–present)

;Past

• Ethan Luck – lead guitar (1994–1996)
• Thaddeus Williams – rhythm guitar (1997–1998)
• Dan Sessum – lead guitar (1996–1997)
• Joey Marchiano – drums, percussion (2000–2005, 2010)

Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:100 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till: TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals,_keyboards id:backing value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:lead value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:rhythm value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:turntables value:purple legend:Turntables,_sampler,_programming id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:percussion value:claret legend:Percussion id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:other value:gray(0.6) legend:Other_release id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1994 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1994

LineData = layer:back color:studio at:03/02/2000 at:05/21/2002

LineData = layer:back color:other at:07/01/2004 at:02/01/2018

BarData = bar:Dave text:"Dave Tosti" bar:Ethan text:"Ethan Luck" bar:Dan text:"Dan Sessum" bar:Jesse text:"Jesse Craig" bar:Thad text:"Thaddeus Williams" bar:Josh text:"Josh Auer" bar:Bobby text:"Bobby Duran" bar:Aaron text:"Aaron Tosti" bar:Joey text:"Joey Marchiano" bar:Chris text:"Chris Duran"

PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Dave from:01/01/1994 till:10/21/2005 color:vocals bar:Dave from:01/01/1994 till:10/21/2005 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Dave from:07/02/2010 till:end color:vocals bar:Dave from:07/02/2010 till:end color:rhythm width:3 bar:Ethan from:01/01/1994 till:06/01/1996 color:lead bar:Dan from:06/01/1996 till:06/01/1997 color:lead bar:Jesse from:06/01/1997 till:10/21/2005 color:lead bar:Jesse from:07/02/2010 till:end color:lead bar:Thad from:03/01/1997 till:06/01/1998 color:rhythm bar:Josh from:01/01/1994 till:10/21/2005 color:bass bar:Josh from:01/01/1994 till:10/21/2005 color:backing width:3 bar:Josh from:07/02/2010 till:end color:bass bar:Josh from:07/02/2010 till:end color:backing width:3 bar:Bobby from:10/01/2000 till:10/01/2004 color:turntables bar:Bobby from:10/01/2000 till:10/01/2004 color:backing width:3 bar:Bobby from:07/02/2010 till:end color:turntables bar:Bobby from:07/02/2010 till:end color:backing width:3 bar:Aaron from:01/01/1994 till:08/01/2000 color:drums bar:Aaron from:01/01/1994 till:08/01/2000 color:backing width:3 bar:Aaron from:08/01/2010 till:end color:drums bar:Aaron from:08/01/2010 till:end color:backing width:3 bar:Joey from:08/01/2000 till:10/21/2005 color:drums bar:Joey from:08/01/2000 till:10/21/2005 color:percussion width:3 bar:Joey from:07/01/2010 till:08/01/2010 color:drums bar:Joey from:07/01/2010 till:08/01/2010 color:percussion width:3 bar:Chris from:10/01/2000 till:10/01/2004 color:percussion bar:Chris from:07/02/2010 till:end color:percussion

Discography

• Twoseventeen, 2000 (ForeFront)
• Engage, 2002 (ForeFront) U.S. No. 191
• Check Your Pulse EP, 2004 (independent)
• Live Album 6.3.17, 2018

Music videos

• "Prism" (from Twoseventeen)
• "A.M." (from Twoseventeen)
• "No Place Like Home" (from Twoseventeen)

References

;Footnotes

;Sources

References

1. "Pax217 Frontman David Tosti Explains Band's Breakup; Hints at Upcoming Solo Project [INTERVIEW 1]".
2. "PAX217 - Last Concert.".
3. "PAX 217 "This is who we are"".
4. "PAX217 announces reunion".
5. (March 2022). "PAX217 on Facebook".
6. (March 11, 2017). "The O.C. Supertones". The O.C. Supertones <via [[Facebook]].
7. (12 March 2017). "The O.C. Supertones Announce Final Show and "Supertones Strike Back" 20th Anniversary Celebration - News".
8. (March 2024). "PAX217's Facebook About Page". PAX217/[[Facebook]].
9. "PAX 217 at ''Jesus Freak Hideout''". Jesus Freak Hideout.
10. [{{AllMusic
11. "Pax217".

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