Pete Townshend interview in an spanish paper

[L. Bird]

Repost from Whochat Forum:

>Hello everybody, I'm going to translate you a little interview published in 
>a Spanish paper. I apologise in advance about potential errors in my 
>English. The original one, in Spanish, can be found at 
>www.elmundo.es/metropoli/2006/07/21/musica/1153432828.html


Q.- This is the first time you are playing in Spain, how do you feel about 
being on the road again?

PT - I was looking forward for it with a lot of excitement. I really wanted 
to arrange a tour because we publish a new album. All this is about being 
alive and creative nowadays, and not only playing our old music. And also, 
I'm very very happy to play in Spain.

Q.- You've just reviewed the legendary 'Live At Leeds' concert. How was it? 
Which memories do you have from the original show?

PT.- It was a beautiful night full of memories... I made me feel proud. My 
friend Sir Peter Blake (a famous English pop art artist and creator of 
Beatle's 'Sgt. Pepper's' cover) has done the new 'Live at Leeds 2’ cover and 
Andy Kershaw, a BBC radio conductor, helped me run the event. It has made me 
feel loved. From the original show I don't remember much. I was concerned 
about the recording, and, of course, there were a lot of technical problems, 
such as ‘clicks’ on the tapes and things like that. Of course, the album was 
very successful and it has become a Who classic but, on those days, The Who 
were not very different as how we are today: A very good band even in a bad 
day.

Q.- It has to be difficult to choose within so many Who songs. Which songs 
are you playing live?

PT.- We have about 3 hours of music people have listened to in a moment of 
their life. We will choose some of them and also some new ones. But in Spain 
we are going to make a rendition to our older music, our classics.

Q.- Is there a song you don't feel like playing live anymore?

PT: No. During a few years, when we were relatively young still, we deleted 
'My Generation', but now we feel like we can play it again.

Q.- How do you feel now about the 'My Generation' verse "Hope I die before I 
get old"?

PT.- It is a verse that has been mistaken a lot of times. When I wrote it I 
wanted to say I didn't want to be like the old people of the generation 
before mine.

Q.- Which is the best show ever in your career?

PT.- For me, It is Isle of Wight, in 1970. We played 'Tommy' after a long US 
tour, playing it every night it was amazing in front of that gigantic amount 
of people.

Q.- And the worst one?

PT.- Woodstock.

Q.- It has to be strange to play without Keith Moon and John Entwistle...

PT.- No, no. they are with us in spirit, mixed up with the music. Pino 
Paladino on bass and Zak Starkey on drums play very brightly and honoured 
Keith and John, but they don't try to imitate them.

Q.- You are publishing a new album after 20 years, what's the reason for it?

PT.- After John's death we were only two of us. I consider The Who should 
continue as the name of the band, but it was absurd to think we were the 
same band. I needed to make something risky.

Q.- How did you feel in the studio?

PT.- Unluckily, Roger and I didn't recorded a lot of stuff together. I 
recorded my part in my home studio and later on Roger did the vocals in a 
bigger one. Anyway I can tell I love the recording process.

Q.- How are the new songs?

PT.- They are very personals speak about t 1000 different things, even 
terrorism. I've written about Judas, the pope, about a friend of mine who 
died recently being a drug addicted... But there also some of them about 
more optimistic subjects, such as helping a friend who is passing through 
rough time or to thank people who supported me when I had problems.

Q.- 'Wire and Glass', the new single, it is more than 9 minutes long. Are 
you worried about not being played too much on the radio or television?

PT.- The radio doesn't play our music, who cares? It's important as a media, 
but only for new artists.

Q.- the plot is about a band who gets successful via the internet, something 
that is very common this days, what do you think about this phenomenon?

PT.- It is the present and the future. I've been talking about the net since 
1971, before it was even invented.

Q.- Which type of music do you like to listen this days?

PT.- Sigur Rós, Sufjan Stevens, Primal Scream, Scarlatti, Bach, Béla 
Bartok's piano works, Joni Mitchell's Travelogue', Thomas Newman's 
soundtracks and always, good flamenco.

Q.- A lot of bands talked about the Who influence , can you see your legacy 
in any of the actual bands?

PT.- Oasis is the only big one. But there have been many others through the 
years: Nirvana, Blur, Pearl Jam... Any band active for such a long time make 
influence in others, but in the end we only have one thing clear: The 
audience is all that matters. On the stage I don't feel flattered. It's me 
the one who is at the audience feet. There are many bands that don't 
understand that. In fact, Most of them.


Ok. That's it. Looking forward for you posts, polytika 
www.polytika.blogspot.com