Andrea
Torry Castellano is an American percussionist and the former drummer of The Donnas. She announced her retirement from drumming in July 2010. She was born on January 8, 1979, in Newark, New Jersey.
Torry Castellano – The Drummer of The Donna
Torry Castellano was the drummer of all-girl hard rock band The Donnas from 1995 until she announced her retirement in July 2010. She replaced Stacey Blades, who replaced Torry’s high school friend, Suzi Gardner. Castellano has also contributed to an eponymous song by the band.
Torry Castellano appeared in all of The Donnas’ music videos, until 2010. She did not appear in “Too Bad About Your Girl”, because she was pregnant with her first son at the time of filming.
Castellano’s first public performance with the band was in October 1995, at a club called The Phoenix in Toronto. She has been playing drums since the age of 12. She studied under jazz drummer Joe Morello when she was 14 years old and continued to study percussion at the University of Miami where she was part of their drumline. As a kid, Torry played snare drum in her school’s marching band.
Torry Castellano had long red hair until she cut it short sometime around 2005-2006. There were rumors that Torry dyed her hair orange but this was not true. Torry Castellano got her first tattoo in 2003, the number “14” on her left wrist. She has since acquired many more tattoos. She states that she is very interested in art and its history, science, music, nature/wildlife, dreaming, magic and mythology.
Before playing drums she played guitar for a year. At first, the girls only had one drum set, so Castellano shared with Brad Bobst. They had two sets of drums once the band started to get serious. She went to Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California where she graduated with the class of 1997. After high school, she attended UCLA before dropping out to pursue her music career.
During her time in The Donnas, Torry recorded seven studio albums, two EPs, and one DVD. Her favorite songs to play in the band were “You Make Me Hot” (from Pins and Needles), “Too Bad About Your Girl” (from American Teenage Rock ‘n’ Roll Machine), and “Fall Behind Me”, which she wrote.
The Donnas bandmate, Brett Anderson, said that Castellano’s look was not that of a “punk-rock girl” and it took her time to develop that edge needed in the band. The Donnas announced on their official website on July 8, 2010, that Torry Castellano had left the group due to wanting to spend more time with her family and her injury. On July 23, 2010, she announced on her blog that she was leaving The Donnas to pursue a career in photography.
Torry Castellano Projects
Late in September 2010, Torry began working as a photographer at Rolling Stone magazine. She is the first female staff photographer for the magazine and one of only six women to have ever been a staff photographer there.
On July 8, 2011, Torry released her first book of photos, “Taken By Torry”. The book features 200 images of celebrities like Katy Perry, Paris Hilton, Eminem, and Jessica Simpson.
Torry Castellano was interviewed for the 30 Days Out documentary of The Replacements reunion tour. She expressed her love for The Replacements and how they have been an influence on Torry over her career as a drummer.
At the age of 21, Torry Castellano purchased a house with her brother, Christian Castellano. They have both lived there since, and it is still being rented out to new tenants.
Torry Castellano has two sons with her husband Michael Stagliano (who is a contestant on season 8 of the show The Bachelorette). Torry’s second son was born in September 2008. Torry Castellano
Torry Castellano Retired from The Donna
Castellano announced on the band’s website that due to her shoulder she would have to retire from drumming and performing with The Donnas on July 9, 2010. It’s quite big news.
Although she decided to retire from The Donna, Castellano still attended events the band was involved with as well as promoted the last album she recorded with the band.
