Travis Hawley, Nick Fotinakes, Matt DePauw, Kevin Menesez and Mikel van Kranenburg were raised in Templeton, California,[2][3] and they all met in middle school.

The band traveled and performed at high schools and college campuses on weekdays, and music venues on weekends within the same city.

[7] Night Riots sought to raise money through crowd funding website Indiegogo to release their upcoming extended play (EP), where they accumulated $12,000.

[11] On January 20, 2015 their EP Howl was released and the band was spotlit by Live 105 in San Francisco as one of "Aaron Axelsen’s Top 16 New Acts To Watch In 2015".

[16] Night Riots was featured on Alt Nation's 2016 Advanced Placement Tour with The Hunna and The Shelters, running November through December.

In Summer 2017, Night Riots played two dates on All Time Low's Young Renegade Tour, in replacement of SWMRS.

[29] Night Riots' foundations lie within punk rock; they cite bands AFI and Thursday as their biggest influences.

[2] They also draw influence from Billy Idol, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Arctic Monkeys, Atmosphere, The Cure, U2, The Killers, Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, Bruce Springsteen, INXS and Dave Gahan.

[2][5] The band changed its name to Night Riots in order to represent "its darker side as it explores the deeper aspects of music with varying tempos and somber, haunting melodies juxtaposed against uplifting choruses.

[4] Hawley distinguished Night Riots' music from PK by describing it as indie pop rock with a "dark undertone", comparing the sound to U2, The Strokes, and The Killers.