
Natasha Scharf
Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.
Latest articles by Natasha Scharf

Watch Enslaved's winter solstice clip of Caravans To The Outer World
By Natasha Scharf published
Enslaved to release new studio album Heimdal in March 2023 - special two-disc edition to feature Blu-ray of The Otherworldly Big Band Experience livestream

Toto: "Keith Emerson was the man!": the unlikely influence behind Africa
By Natasha Scharf published
Toto’s David Paich reveals how Emerson Lake & Palmer helped forge his band's sound

Tarja to release Best Of collection – listen to new song Eye Of The Storm here!
By Natasha Scharf last updated
Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen will release Best Of: Living The Dream in December 2022

Maynard James Keenan: “Pink Floyd’s Animals changed everything”
By Natasha Scharf last updated
But Tool mainman Maynard James Keenan admits his passion for Pink Floyd wasn’t an immediate process

Poly-Math share live video for new single Velociter – watch it here!
By Natasha Scharf published
Poly-Math's new album Zenith due in November with UK and Ireland shows scheduled to coincide

O.R.k. announce European tour dates for spring 2023
By Natasha Scharf published
Colin Edwin and Pat Mastelotto's band O.R.k. confirm 12 shows, including London gig at Prognosis - new album Screamnasium is out now

Tubular Bells 50th Anniversary Celebration to be released on DVD and Blu-ray
By Natasha Scharf published
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's lavish reworking of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells due out in November

Galahad and Abel Ganz announced for Prog For Peart 2023
By Natasha Scharf last updated
Prog For Peart festival returns to Abingdon for two days in July 2023 – Zio and Doris Brendel Band also confirmed to play

Riverside announce new album ID.Entity – stream first single I'm Done With You here!
By Matt Mills, Natasha Scharf published
Polish proggers Riverside release eighth album ID.Entity in January 2023 and it'll contain some of their most energised material in a decade

Nytt Land share "Western" version of U-Gra - watch the video here!
By Natasha Scharf published
Dark folk project Nytt Land give tracks from their recent album a new sound on Ritual: Blood Of The West EP – out in November

Tributes pour in for Clannad co-founder Noel Duggan
By Natasha Scharf last updated
Clannad's Noel Duggan has died suddenly at age 73. The band were due to wrap up their In A Lifetime: 50th anniversary farewell tour in Dublin this December

Marjana Semkina and Anna Murphy launch Maer's Sister - watch the video here!
By Natasha Scharf published
Iamthemorning's Marjana Semkina and Cellar Darling's Anna Murphy release their first single as Maer

Watch Yes' Jon Davison make a cameo in Glass Hammer's new video All Alone
By Natasha Scharf last updated
Glass Hammer enlist former singer Davison and more for the latest clip from current album At The Gate

Pond make a splash with Live At The BBC EP
By Natasha Scharf published
Tama Impala buddies Pond release prog-pop EP – listen to Take Me Avalon I'm Young here

Threshold keyboard player announces his autobiography in time for Christmas 2022
By Natasha Scharf published
Threshold's Richard West to publish Maybe A Writer: My Life In Threshold via Kingmaker in December

Kansas celebrate their half-century with Another Fork In The Road – 50 Years Of Kansas
By Natasha Scharf published
Kansas record new version of Can I Tell You for 3CD 50th anniversary compilation album

The curious tale of The Claypool Lennon Delirium
By Natasha Scharf published
Sean Lennon + Les Claypool = Prog, psych and Sgt. Pepper’s all rolled into one

Are Pink Floyd about to recreate the Animals sleeve at Battersea Power Station?
By Natasha Scharf last updated
Cryptic message appears on Pink Floyd's social media accounts hinting that something special could be taking place at Battersea Power Station in late September

Get immersed in James Johnston and Steve Gullick's haunting album trailer for Everybody's Sunset
By Natasha Scharf published
Faust collaborator James Johnston and teams up with photographer Steve Gullick for the epic Everybody's Sunset

Asia and Eloy album art jigsaws due this out autumn
By Natasha Scharf published
Pull apart Rodney Matthews' classic covers for Asia and Eloy... and piece them back together with these new jigsaw sets

Dead Can Dance's Peter Ulrich to release his memoirs
By Natasha Scharf published
Drumming With Dead Can Dance & Parallel Adventures due in November with foreword by Lisa Gerrard

Rick Wakeman to perform his classic solo albums at two London shows in 2023
By Natasha Scharf last updated
Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble's The Return Of The Caped Crusader concerts at the prestigious London Palladium in February 2023 will focus on some of his best-known material

Watch Haken's Charlie Griffiths tackle lead vocals on new clip for Digging Deeper
By Natasha Scharf published
Latest track is taken from Charlie Griffiths' debut solo album Tiktaalika – out now!
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