Pete Townshend has seemingly spent most of his life on stage. As it turns out, it’s really not one of his favorite things.
The guitar icon touched on this interesting tidbit in an interview with Spain’s RockFM. He explains that there are two things he doesn’t really enjoy doing, unlike most other musicians. The first thing he mentions is being on stage. He clarifies that he doesn’t hate performing, per se, 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.”
The other thing Townshend doesn’t enjoy that many other musicians do enjoy is collaboration. He explains, ” … I find it difficult to collaborate. I find it very difficult looking in the eyes of another musician. I find myself looking to my own energy to express myself. So I’m very different to most musicians in that respect. On the other hand, of course, I really, really admire the process of collaboration.”
Townshend, undoubtedly, has a way with words, as evident by his songwriting. However, he showed that gift in a unique way recently via a statement announcing that The Who’s touring drummer, Zak Starkey, was rehired. This statement came after Starkey made headlines for being let go from his drumming duties after 29 years.
Townshend’s statement said, in part, “”News Flash! Who Backs Zak! He’s not being asked to step down from The Who. There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.”
Townshend continued, “Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral lineup and he has readily agreed. I take responsibility for some of the confusion … Maybe we didn’t put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage. The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with. Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologized. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer.”
Townshend concluded that the whole situation “blew up very quickly” and was put to rest.
