The scandal drummer: How detergent boxes became rock’n’roll

Before Andreas Keller played drums for the Spider Murphy Gang, he built a kit out of detergent containers and caused such a racket in his hometown that neighbours organised a petition against him.

The 59-year-old from Rhineland-Palatinate now sits behind the drums of the German rock’n’roll institution known for “Skandal im Sperrbezirk.” He lives in Landshut but repeatedly returns to the Palatinate, where he grew up. “I listen to music every day. I can’t live without music,” Keller told the German Press Agency.

“

I listen to music every day. I can’t live without music.

His musical path began with stamp collecting in Rodalben. Then he saw The Who’s Keith Moon on television: wild, explosive and seemingly out of control. “That energy was great,” Keller recalled. He made drumsticks and assembled his first kit from washing-powder drums. His family home stood on a hill, allowing the noise to carry across the town.

“

That energy was great.

Keller’s father, the painter Klaus Heinrich Keller, supported his son’s musical ambitions. Andreas moved into the basement, lined it with foam and practised constantly. He joined his first bands, competed in a youth contest in Koblenz at 14 and eventually won admission to a music school in Los Angeles. He earned the money in factories before flying to California at 21 with two suitcases.

In Los Angeles, teachers including Jeff Porcaro, who later became a celebrated studio drummer, opened Keller to a different musical world. “It was like a tsunami,” he said. After returning home, he continued moving between styles and settings, playing jazz, rock, African, Brazilian and Turkish music in studios, on stages and on television. He says he has played with or tried out for more than 500 bands.

“

It was like a tsunami.

The next major milestone will come in 2027, when the Spider Murphy Gang celebrates its 50th anniversary. Keller says that performing with good musicians feels like flying, and that playing eventually becomes a form of meditation.

“

When you stand on stage with good musicians, it’s like flying.