At the Hilversum Academy of Music he was taught by Dutch guitar legend Wim Ovengaauw. ‘An inspiration, a coach; we talked more in the pub around the corner than we actually played together but he taught me to keep an open mind to more musical styles’. Wim showed me the thumb-grips – that way you have an extra finger and you can grab wider chords – it cost me a year of pain in my thumb!’ Van Iterson still plays one of Wim Overgaauw’s old Gibson’s (an ES-125). ‘There were a lot of guitars hanging on the wall at his place. I picked this one because it felt the best; then he said ‘take it with you, I’ll have it back some day’’. A year and a half later, Wim Overgaauw died. Since 1995 Martijn van Iterson has been his successor at the academies in Amsterdam and The Hague.
