Prog Me: Daniel Tompkins

This month: Daniel Tompkins (Skyharbor/TesseracT)

OK COMPUTER?

My iPhone is essential for keeping in contact with people; I’m on Skype all the time to Keshav [Dhar, Skyharbor] in India. I also use Logic Pro all day, every day for recording ideas, programming music and mixing.

MASTERMIND?

I’m a vocal coach so my life for the past six years has been all about vocals. I could talk for hours about how the voice works and how to be a good singer.

RELICS?

I used to be a police officer so I have some really cool memorabilia from the job… I can’t say too much about it but it’s definitely stuff I keep under lock and key!

SOUND & VISION

There are two albums I’m always drawing inspiration from: El Cielo by Dredg and Enigma’s The Cross Of Changes. I don’t have much time for TV but when I do, I sit down with Netflix and watch things like Dexter and Lost. As for films, I love Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit. I also saw Interstellar recently which was mind-blowing.

SUPPER’S READY!

I absolutely love fine English ales. There’s this amazing cask ale called Chatsworth Gold which is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. I’m pretty boring when it comes to food but you can’t beat a good roast chicken dinner, with gravy of course!

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.