Phil Martelly
Owner
A graduate of the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston, his passion for music is unmatched by few and is a driving force behind his bringing School of Rock to the Southern Mass/Rhode Island area. He is the definition of the word musician as he plays not one but several instruments: guitar, bass and drums. Phil has played with a lot of the area's hottest bands including Pappy Chulo as the opening act for none other than Incubus.
Shawn Garrity
Owner
Shawn's musical journey began at age eleven when his dad handed him a guitar and taught him a few chords. As he grew, so did his love for music. At fifteen, he joined a band and began writing music and playing original and cover songs at venues throughout New England. He studied jazz and classical music at Western Connecticut State University and earned a B.A. in Music Industry from the University of New Haven. Shawn's original band VulGarrity completed three nationwide tours and shared the stage with Mike Doughty, Days of the New, The Misfits, King’s X, Sponge, The Joy Formidable, Sleeper Agent, Psychostick, The Prodigals, Ra, Robert DeLong, The Heavy, Ra Ra Riot and Electric Six. Shawn's cover band Inside Out can be seen rocking out on stages in and around New England regularly. While Shawn enjoys listening to and playing a wide variety of music, he is most inspired by all things rock.
Meg Mello
General Manager
Meg is the General Manager at School of Rock in Norwood, MA. Outside of School of Rock, she loves doing all things art and checking out local bands.
Meg is also the assistant color guard coach for the Dighton-Rehoboth Marching Band and was a member of the band herself for eight years playing the flute. Some of her musical interests include Stevie Wonder, Adele, Macklemore, Paramore, and more.
Matt Earle
Music Director
Matt Earle is the Music Director at School of Rock Norwood and is currently a music production student in college. Matt began teaching drum lessons at School of Rock shortly after graduating from high school. He has also worked as a guitar tech at Noll Guitars and as a music instructor at the Boys and Girls Club in Warwick, RI.
Matt has performed with many groups but mainly performs with his original band, Indelego, and his cover band, Inside Out, around New England on a weekly basis. His musical influences include Jojo Mayer, Tigran Hamasyan, John Bonham, and Matt Cameron.
Matt Arenburg
Drum Teacher
Matt started playing drums at the age of 4 and joined the School of Rock in Seekonk, MA when he was 8 years old. He quickly became one of the youngest members of the school’s House Band and toured the east coast, playing over a hundred shows as a School of Rock student. Now an instructor, Matt plays shows with numerous bands and side projects of all genres. He is a fan of all kinds of music from prog to pop and his drumming influences include Neil Peart, Gavin Harrison, Marco Minnemann, Justin Tyson, and Stewart Copeland. His favorite bands are Rush, Porcupine Tree, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who, and Wilco.
Josh Giaquinto
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Drum Teacher
Josh is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and music producer. He started playing music when he was 10 years old and had his first drum lesson. By high school, he decided to pick up bass and eventually guitar when he was 17. Throughout high school, he performed with the marching band, Jazz band, and percussion ensemble. In 2015, he released his first solo album and knew he wanted his life to be surrounded by music as much as possible. He majored in music technology at Franklin Pierce University where he met his current band Milfoil, who has multiple albums on Spotify and plays shows in the New England area.
Conor Harrington
Vocal Teacher, Drum Teacher
Conor Harrington is a vocal teacher at School of Rock in Norwood, MA. He is a former School of Rock student and hopes to share his experience with others and help students sing how they want to sing.
Outside of school, Conor writes and performs with his bands, Indelego and Iowa Highway. Conor's main musical influences include Prince, Janelle Monáe, Car Seat Headrest, Bob Marley, and Amy Winehouse.
Adam Tomcho
Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Adam Tomcho is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Philadelphia, PA. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 4 and eventually switched to bass at age 12. Since then, he also picked up guitar and started writing original music.
Adam moved to Boston and began attending the Berklee College of Music in 2021 and is currently studying songwriting and music production. During this time, he has also performed, recorded, and written music with bands in a variety of genres, ranging from Latin rock to death metal. Some of his favorite bands include Alter Bridge, Tool, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, and Gojira.
Justin Hancock
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Justin Hancock is a Boston-based guitarist, singer-songwriter, and teacher. Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, he played saxophone before making the switch to guitar in his early teens. He was passionate about music at a young age, largely due to his parents raising him on artists such as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, and The Doors.
Justin was also very influenced by the music that came out in the '90s and began writing songs and performing in bands around the age of 13. After high school, he majored in Music at Westfield State University before transferring to Berklee College of Music in Boston. He graduated in 2009 with a degree in Professional Music.
Justin has performed all over the U.S. and other parts of the world, including Egypt and Costa Rica. Since 2010, the majority of his touring, songwriting, and recording has been with the award-winning rock band Hayley Jane and the Primates. They have toured the country multiple times, been featured in several national publications, and have performed at some of the most well-known venues and high-profile music festivals in the Northeast. They have shared lineups and bills with artists such as Trey Anastasio (Phish), Wilco, Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), My Morning Jacket, Weezer, Gregg Allman, Umphrey's McGee, Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule), Ben Harper, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Blues Traveler, Sharon Jones, Moe, Dweezil Zappa, Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers), Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes), G. Love and Special Sauce, and Stephen Marley.