Prog Me: Adam Wakeman

OK COMPUTER I’ve got a MacBook Pro with Logic. I do use Pro Tools but for Headspace, we all use Logic. It seemed far easier to stay on the same platform so we can share files around.

MASTERMIND

People think I’ll be great at pub quizzes but I’m terrible. I don’t know much about music because I spent all my childhood practising! I could probably do okay on the New Orleans piano player Dr John [aka Mac Rebennack]. He’s kind of my hero so I know a bit about him.

RELICS

Including my father? It’s probably my Hammond C3, which is from 1964 – that’s my pride and joy. I bought one in pieces and took it to a guy called Clive Botterill, who worked for Hammond in the 60s, and he put it back together. The sound… it’s just a different way of playing. It’s fantastic.

SOUND AND VISION

Withnail And I is probably my favourite. If I was to put on some music right now, it would probably be a Dr John record, something like Such A Night. That’s timeless songwriting.

SUPPER’S READY

I’m a pescatarian so I don’t eat meat. I love a nice chargrilled vegetable pizza or a prawn vindaloo, which is my favourite. I like anything to drink: beer, wine, Guinness, real ale… I run a lot and I think I’d be about 20 stone if I didn’t!

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.