Prog Me: Devin Townshend

This Month: Devin Townsend

OK COMPUTER?

It has to be Pro Tools; it’s my favourite instrument in general. Any digital audio workstation can do what it does, but I became adept at Pro Tools and it’s great.

MASTERMIND?

Psychology, although I’m not an expert. I enjoy thinking about motivations for my and others’ actions but it becomes a liability when I second-guess things. I’m pretty often in the ballpark though, I think.

RELICS?

I collect driftwood – not for any real reason and it wouldn’t bother me if I lost it.

SOUND & VISION

Ravi Shankar’s Chants Of India, Rapoon’s Darker By Light, Immunity by Jon Hopkins, Formula by OLD and Cowboy Junkies’ The Trinity Session are all favourites. As for TV shows,

I guess things like How It’s Made, House Hunters International and Antiques Roadshow. They don’t engage or offend me, which makes them relaxing after being engaged all day.

SUPPER’S READY!

Oh man, I love food. What I eat depends on the situation and how hungry I am, but I loooove food. And to drink? Water is good or maybe a non-alcoholic Beck’s beer. No booze but drinks are nice and black coffee is a staple for me.

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.