role:: Drums
Biography
Rob Kellenberger grew up in a home with seven siblings and no TV. His parents were two strict Apostolic Christians who did all they could to prevent him and his brothers and sisters from experiencing what religious people sometimes refer to as “the sins of the world.”
The upshot of Kellenberger’s cloistered youth was that everyone in the family learned music. His father played guitar and his mother played both piano and drums. In lieu of cartoons or evening news, the family would gather around their matriarch at the piano, accompanying her in vocal harmony, like midwestern von Trapps.
Although his parents were considerably orthodox, they also loved music. Despite their fears of the outside world and its influences, Kellenberger and his siblings were allowed to listen to the radio. Casey Kasem was popular in the home. His sister got into AC/DC, but for Rob there was only one person he wanted to be. Clarence Clemons. Big Man. Sax player beside the Boss. The one the Boss could always lean on.
Informed by the director at Elementary School that they had no need for any more saxophonists, Rob began to learn drums with his mother’s support instead. In High School, alongside Matt Stamps, Dan Andriano, bassist of the Elgin post-punk band Flowers, and Kelly, singer of a band called Gladhand, would eventually create Slapstick.