Rob Scallon


Robert Andrew Scallon is an American YouTuber, musician, and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for several viral videos featuring his music, including heavy metal songs played with traditionally non-metal instruments.

Early life

Scallon was born on August 26, 1990, in Champaign, Illinois, and was raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. As a child, he and his friends would visit their local Guitar Center and play instruments, although would never buy any due to lack of money. He was given his first guitar, a nylon-string classical, as a gift from his friend's father. He used it to write his first solo songs and it was featured in many of his early videos.
As a teenager, Scallon played drums in a metal band called Gas Mask Catalogue.

Career

YouTube career

Scallon began uploading to YouTube in February 2007, and began to develop a following in 2008. His popularity launched as he began to cover metal songs with folk and country instruments. Most notable are his renditions of songs on banjo, including "Raining Blood" by Slayer, "Master of Puppets" by Metallica, and "Psychosocial" by Slipknot, the latter featuring a cameo appearance by Corey Taylor. His videos have featured collaborations with Andrew Huang, Boyinaband, Davie504, Doug Walker, Jared Dines, Leo Moracchioli, Mary Spender, Sarah Longfield, Michael Angelo Batio, and Alex Rüdinger.
Scallon is also part of two collaborative projects with Andrew Huang. The first is called First of October, a novelty band that records an album within one recording session every October 1. The second is called Sonic Boom, a YouTube music show where the pair take on a variety of musical challenges, often utilizing unusual instruments, time limits for creating full songs, and other factors.

Music career

Scallon has released several solo albums. While most are self-released, his EP Anchor and LP The Scene is Dead are sold through DFTBA Records. His releases have featured instrumentalists such as Jeff Loomis, Rabea Massaad, Ola Englund, and Pete Cottrell. He plays drums in the band Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers, and their debut album Incongruent peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart in 2014.
Scallon released a signature series of guitars with Chapman Guitars in 2017. Three more guitars were added to his line in 2020. In 2022, Scallon ended his partnership with Chapman and launched a new line of guitars with Schecter.
Scallon, in partnership with Sweetwater Sound, received a Guinness World Record for the largest guitar effect pedalboard in 2019. The rig included 319 individual pedals, 34 pedalboards, and over of cables. On January 1, 2021, Scallon launched GuitarQuest, a paid online course to teach people how to play guitar. Later that year, he released the song "MudHook" featuring Unearth drummer Nick Pierce.
On September 26, 2024, Scallon released Crowded Rooms, an album mixing heavy metal and Midwest emo.

Video game development

On June 10, 2023, Scallon announced that he has been working in partnership with Ritual Studios development studio to produce a pixel-art adventure video game called Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson. The main character and game's universe are directly inspired by Scallon. Gameplay will be focused on rhythm-based combat with RPG elements. Australian industrial metal band Northlane will be contributing to the soundtrack.

Personal life

Scallon's younger brother, John, also played music as a teenager. He left his instruments behind for Rob when leaving for college. Several instruments in Scallon's personal collection are custom made through collaborations with other content creators.
Scallon began dating actress, comedian, and YouTuber Tamara Chambers in 2012. They married in November 2020. They have collaborated on various projects, such as a 2012 Good Mythical Morning episode introduction and a 2014 cover of Pharrell's "Happy".
In July 2024, Scallon uploaded a video confirming that he suffers from bipolar I disorder, having been diagnosed with it the previous year.

Discography

;Studio albums
  • Summer
  • The Ride Home
  • The Winter's Months
  • Rob Scallon
  • Aldine
  • The Scene Is Dead
  • Crowded Rooms
;Extended plays
  • A Purple Cello EP
  • Anchor
  • Metal Mad Libs 1-6
  • Sunday Uke Group
;Singles
  • "Anchor"
  • "We Wish You A Backwards Christmas"
  • "Musical Mad Libs"
  • "Musical Mad Libs 3 - #Swagyolo"
  • "iPhone Beard Metal"
  • "A Collapse"
  • "Procrastination Bass'in"
  • "The Wheezy Song"
  • "A Westbound Train"
  • "Frantic Disembowelment "
  • "Raining Blood "
  • "War Ensemble "
  • "Aerials "
  • "Chop Suey "
  • "Spill The Blood "
  • "Progressive Metal Town"
  • "Homehomehome"
  • "Metal in Inappropriate Places "
  • "Angel of Death "
  • "A Half Hour of Acoustic Guitar"
  • "I Fucking Love Christmas "
  • "Envy"
  • "Torque Soul"
  • "Royale"
  • "Half Hour of 12 String Guitar"
  • "Sunken Ships"
  • "Unconditional"
  • "A False Closeness"
  • "Master of Puppets"
  • "Harp Metal"
  • "Ragtime"
  • "Sitar Metal"
  • "Everything Song"
  • "Psychosocial"
  • "Rain "
  • "Balalaika Metal"
  • "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe"
  • "Djazz"
  • "I Should Spend More Time With You"
  • "Amy's Song"
  • "Theorbo Metal"
  • "Don't Go"
  • "Rich & Sad "
  • "Anchor"
  • "MudHook"
  • "Slappity Slappity Slap"
  • "Mutter "
  • "Song for Some Friends"
  • "Unconditional"
  • "Keys to the Lamborghini"
  • "Psychosis"
  • "I Fucking Hate Traffic"
;Collaborations
;with Gas Mask Catalogue
  • Blind. Deaf. Mute.
  • Promise Land
;with Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers
  • Incongruent
;with First of October
  • Ten Hours
  • Gourmet Ravioli
  • Gotta Record Everything Good
  • CHAOS
  • Across The Road
  • Round 6
  • One Week
;with Sonic Boom
  • "Slide With You"
  • "Que Pasa"
  • "Protect Your Neck"
  • "we had to shed our skins when we saw the other sun"
  • "i'm here whenever you need me"
  • "Silence"
  • "If I Die Tonight"
  • "Pizza Blades"
  • "Gone"
  • "Dead To Me/Love Klutz"
  • "Reality"
  • "Cute Murderous Kittens"
  • "Clouds in the Ocean"
  • "Flippin' Out!"