Pete Townshend may have had an illustrious career as part of a band – the Who – who, despite fraught internal relationships, managed to forever make their mark on rock 'n' roll history.
However, the veteran guitarist has recently admitted he's far from a natural collaborator – in fact, he was largely the Who's principal songwriter – and also revealed that performing is not something he particularly enjoys.
”Most musicians are not like me,” he tells Spain's RockFM. “Most musicians do two things that I don't really do or don't enjoy doing.
”One is they love performing. I don't love performing. I don't like being on a stage. I don't mind being on a stage. I don't hate it, but it doesn't fill my soul in the way that you see some performers, [where] just their soul is filled through being on the stage. That's not me.”
He continues, “For me, collaboration is something that I find very difficult. If I was in a studio, like with a really, really great musician, or with a group of really great musicians, I think I would find it very hard. I find it very difficult looking in the eyes of another musician. I find myself looking to my own energy to express myself.”
However, this doesn't necessarily mean he's not open to collaborating in other art forms. Townshend points to his recent work Quadrophenia, which is being turned into a ballet, as an example.
“I think one of the things about that is that that kind of degree of collaboration is an exploration of the human body, of dancing,” he ponders. “With music, I find myself wanting to stay in my box for a while. I've always made demos in my studio of songs that I want other people to record.”
Asked whether there's any musician who would tempt him into making an exception, he replies matter-of-factly, “After what I just said about collaboration, it's not what I would want to do.
”I'm playing with Roger [Daltrey] next week at the [Teenage Cancer Trust] shows at the Royal Albert Hall, and I think that's gonna be enough for me for this month…
“I mean, I loved working with David Gilmour on my White City album and we co-wrote together some songs, but that was an uneasy collaboration.
“I actually made it clear I'm not a natural collaborator. And I really enjoyed working with Eric Clapton back in 1973 when we did the Rainbow Concert together.”
“I think it's interesting ’cause so many musicians, so many new musicians that I really respect want to work with me,” he adds with a laugh. “And I wish I was more open to it. I could have fun with some of the greatest musicians in the world.”
Interestingly, Townshend did recently collaborate with up-and-coming Dutch artist Inge Lamboo – imprinting a quintessentially ’60s-style solo on her latest record.
