A ROCK legend has launched his first novel.

Pete Townshend, guitarist with The Who, visited Brighton on Thursday to discuss his new book, The Age of Anxiety.

In conversation with music journalist and author Chris Charlesworth at St George’s Church in Kemp Town, Mr Townshend talked in depth about his creative process, and how writing a novel compares with composing a song or writing a rock opera.

He said: “In pop and rock music, it’s really important that the storyteller leaves the ending open, because the function of music is to feed in with what is happening in your world.

“I’m sure there are people here who will have come up with their own endings or after-stories for Quadrophenia.

“But this is not rock and roll.”

Mr Townshend said he wanted to be absolutely certain he had a “rock-solid story with a rock-solid ending” for his novel, which focuses on a young rock star named Walter, and includes themes of drug abuse, creativity, anxiety, and “psychic miracles” performed by women in the story.

When asked how his own life had influenced the book, Mr Townshend said he wanted to write about things he knew about, and joked he had considered writing the book entirely about a plumber, but thought better of it.

Mr Townshend said he believes creativity is a mysterious force.

He said: “I think it’s a dark art because you don’t know how it works.

“You are all here tonight to hear me talk about something because I’m able to create something which connects with you.

“It might console you or disturb you, or enable you to make a connection with other people.

“I often ask myself, how do I pull that off?

“It’s what I would call craft. You have to sit and wait until the idea comes.”

Mr Townshend explained that as a member of The Who in the 1960s, he instinctively knew how young mods felt, but for this book he carried out research by interviewing people in pubs.

He said: “I’m pretty good at getting people to talk, and what I found was that people were terrified.

“At that time, which was in 2008, there was the financial crash and a lot of fear about terrorism.

“Everyone was worried.

“So I thought, this is my project.”

Mr Townshend acknowledged that in 2019, the world is even more aware of the climate crisis, and there is a heightened sense of anxiety.

He said: “We know things are going wrong but we don’t know what we can do to help, and that scares me.”

After the discussion Mr Townshend took questions from the audience and talked about the perils of social media and the burden of fame, on which he said: “I f***ing hate it. It gets in the way of what I do.”

An avid reader, Mr Townshend said he gets through about three books a week, with writers including Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster and John le Carre among his current favourites.

His novel is only one part of a broader project, with a multimedia production in the pipeline.

He said: “I wanted my last project that I really care about to be a big piece – a magnum opus.

“I have written 40 songs to go with this book, and the soundscapes have already been completed by composer James Morgan.

“You will hear more of The Age of Anxiety in coming years.”

The book is available to buy in bookshops and online now for £20.