Prog Me: Anneke Van Giersbergen

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Five things that rock our prog stars’ worlds...

OK COMPUTER?

My iPad and iPhone are my connections to the world – I can do everything on them! I use GarageBand to record demos and an amplifier simulator app, which I plug my guitar into while I’m travelling.

MASTERMIND?

When I was young I knew everything about Prince and Madonna! Now, I know a little about everything and I pick up a lot about different instruments from my bandmates.

RELICS?

My husband Rob [Snijders] and I bought some 17th century dining chairs as a wedding present back in 2003. They came from an antique store in Holland and we reupholstered them so they look really beautiful now.

SOUND & VISION

I always go back to the classics – The Beatles’ Revolver and Pink Floyd’s The Wall. I don’t watch much television so

I tend to catch up with shows on Netflix while I’m travelling. I’m really getting into Suits and Breaking Bad, but there are so many episodes and so little time!

SUPPER’S READY!

I love Mexican food and I really love Greek and Turkish food as well because it’s so light and fresh. Whenever I’m abroad, I eat better than when I’m at home. I like my herbal teas as well, especially green tea and chamomile tea.

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

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.