News

Pete Townshend Unveils "Lifehouse Method"

The Who's Pete Townshend has announced the launch of the Lifehouse Method, the fruition of his decades-old vision of using technology to let anyone create a "musical portrait" unique to their personality and tastes. Townshend says that he originally came up with the idea in his art school days in the 1960s, and further expanded on it in the music that eventually became the foundation for the Who's classic 1971 album, Who's Next. He also claims that the song "Fragments" off the band's most recent album, last year's Endless Wire, was created using the technology.

The Lifehouse Method software, which was designed by mathematician/ composer Lawrence Ball and software developer Dave Snowdon under Townshend's supervision, can be accessed for free starting May 1st at www.lifehouse- method.com. Users can "sit" for up to three portraits until July 31st, after which Townshend hopes to launch a subscription-based service.

"This is a step in doing something which is a true, authentic, elegant artist process," Townshend added at a press conference. "I love what this produces and my vision for it now is that I think, yes, we could have a gathering in some future time where we could share our music together."

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
04.25.07