Pete Townshend says “somebody needs to occasionally slap Rick Rubin”: “One minute he’s telling us to do whatever we like and the next he’s telling us we mustn’t do this”Pete Townshend has taken a swipe at legendary producer Rick Rubin for the latter’s supposedly mixed messages on creativity.
Speaking on the Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt podcast, the Who guitarist and principal songwriter shares his thoughts on the creative process and how creativity doesn’t just belong to those who make a living with it.

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“You see a lot of stuff on YouTube and Instagram, people nagging you about the way that you have to be creative,” Townshend begins [via Ultimate Guitar]. “Somebody needs to occasionally slap Rick Rubin, because, one minute he’s telling us that we need to do whatever we like, and then, on the other hand, he’s telling us that we mustn’t do this, and we mustn’t do that.”
“The book of rules for me is… I’ve dabbled with all of those methods. I’ve carried complete big, recording studios on the road with me sometimes, and then sometimes I’ve used little cassette machines. I’ve recorded in all kinds of different ways. And if I fancy going into a studio with a huge orchestra, I’ve done that too. But what’s most interesting is the paper. The paper, the photograph, the writing.”
Townshend adds that creativity is “not just about rock stars, pop stars, singers, musicians, artists, or whatever. It’s about everybody.”
“This is why I think so many people who are successful in the arts and music tell people [that] everybody is creative. I think everybody might well be creative. It’s just that they don’t necessarily feel creative,” he explains. “And a lot of them, I think, feel lucky that they don’t go through the kind of trials and tribulations that they see big stars go through.”
That said, if there’s one thing Rubin and the other “pundits of creativity” have gotten right, it is that whatever you do has to spark joy.
“As Rick Rubin so rightly says, and many other pundits about creativity, it has to be fun,” Townshend says. “It has to be enjoyable. It has to be something that you love to do, and it also has to be something that you like what you do. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that anybody else will like it.”

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