Maclean's magazine new interview with Stevie
 

When In Doubt, Be Stevie Nicks

The iconic singer releases a record amid fierce interest in her work and persona

By Elio Iannacci // Maclean’s Magazine
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A night owl by nature, Stevie Nicks was unable to sleep on a recent Saturday night in Manhattan and had scheduled a late interview to help pass the evening. So 1:30a.m. found her looking out on the terrace of her rented penthouse atop the Palace Hotel, with a hypnotic view of the Rockefeller Plaza. Amid a torrent of recollections - of her band, Fritz; of the duo she later created with former lover and Fritz guitarist, Lindsey Buckingham; and, of course, of Fleetwood Mac - Nicks began to hum a hip-hop tune. “Which rapper is it that I love who says, “Mo' money more problems?” she asked, pausing in the midst of Notorious B.I.G’s biggest hit. “He spoke the truth. Don’t I know it!”

Nicks’s truth is peppered with tales of fate and near-fatalities: Fleetwood Mac’s opulent success, the long nights of work wrought with “enough alcohol and cocaine to guarantee years of addiction,” the speculative stories that followed them around for years (orgies and paganism were favoured topics).

The history is relevant; her recent solo album, ‘24 Karat Gold’, reinterprets demos written before, during and after Fleetwood Mac’s rise. In it, Nicks doesn’t simply cover her own work; she acts as a musical necromancer who resurrects old sounds and personal stories of burned love, life on the road and facing demons. The song Twisted, first released on the soundtrack for the 1996 disaster-drama Twister, flicks at the appetite for danger all five band members shared. “It was originally written about a group of tornado chasers who dedicate their lives to hunting down storms,” she said.” The parallels to Fleetwood Mac are so there.” The mix of emotion, narcotics and creative egos brought forth a bounty of songs, and turbulent romances. Nicks ended her relationship with Buckingham in 1975, and had an affair with drummer Mick Fleetwood. Christine McVie, the band’s keyboardist-vocalist, left the guitarist for the sound engineer. “After the show, we wouldn’t go out,” Nicks said. “”Christine would drink wine spritzers and I’d drink tequila alone in our adjoined rooms. The boys were angry at us and we had to see them in the morning to work.”

Nicks’s record is timed to a Fleetwood Mac reunion; the group is booked for more than 40 dates in Europe and Australia, and McVie rejoins them after a 16-year hiatus. On tour, Nicks and Buckingham who share time alone on stage during the ballad Landslide, remain uncomfortable co-workers. “Fences will never be mended with Lindsey and me,” Nicks said. “We don’t agree on anything. If something is going on and I’m doing something that Lindsey doesn’t like, his manager tells my manager. I don’t care what he thinks.”

The distance is working for Nicks. The solo project, produced by former Eurhythmics guitarist-producer Dave Stewart, contains some of the best recordings she has made in two decades. The work riffs on the witchy reputation she has propagated referencing Welsh mythology and wearing sorceress-style shawls, and which is enjoying something of a moment. Nicks had a cameo on the HBO series American Horror Story: Coven last year and was a guest judge on The Voice. “I could never be Madonna”, she shrugged. “It’s too much work to be a chameleon.” She will not be dressed by stylists - “They steal your personality” - or coerced by P&R people (“Nobody has the balls to tell me what to do”). Her ’70s bohemian look is referenced by fashion designers ranging from Rodarte to Ralph Lauren. Her duets with Dixie Chicks and Taylor Swift are awards-show rating draws. The 18-year-old- editor Tavi Gevinson gave this advice to her platoon of millennial followers in a TED talk: “When in doubt, just be Stevie Nicks.”

The 66-year-old Nicks does not own a cell phone or a computer, but she’s aware of the momentum behind her. She wants to record a sequel to 24 Karat Gold. She plans to launch a capsule collection of clothing, a jewellery line a perfume. “I spend so many late nights mixing scents with cinnamon”, she said. She had advice for the young, scantily clad singers she sees backstage at award shows. “It’s degrading, and it makes women appear to be fancy little hookers. If you are not at least somewhat of a feminist, you’re going to be taken advantage of.”

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a clothing and jewelry line in addition to the Rhiannon movie the goldfish and ladybug animation she's going to be busy

Light engineer, not sound engineer. Christine was seeing Curry Grant.

She is an ambitious woman, isn't she? I really do hope that each project can somehow come to fruition...

Rhiannon movie (or miniseries)
Goldfish & Ladybug animated project
Autobiography
Art & Painting exhibition
Songs From the Vault Part 2
Clothing line
Perfume collection

Sadly, I can only see SFTV part 2 and an art exhibition of her paintings as things that are likely to truly come to pass...

...and "maybe" her participation in one final Fleetwood Mac album...

Could the writing be on the wall? Another interview and not a peep about FM recording.
“Nobody has the balls to tell me what to do" Sounds like this applies to FM as well.

She does seem especially aggressive in this interview,

That damn top, does she ever take it off long enough to wash it?????

Sounds like to me that it's possible Stevie did all of these interviews around the same time...and obviously around the time of some tension between herself and Lindsey. Hopefully it's blown over since.

based on what she's wearing you're probably right. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I also think...if at the end of the day she still doesn't want to work on the Fleetwood Mac album, they should totally release what they have as some sort of collection and mince ZERO words in the press as to why she wasn't involved. Lindsey isn't all over the press barking at her. If she can dish it out, she better be able to handle it dished back to her.

Yes.Lindsey in particular.I know she's been getting alot of compliments about her having trimmed down,but I think she looks a little sickly.She looks better with a little weight on her IMO.

That's just a funny angle. Her figure is fine, look at these two pics from the MSG concert tonight:

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She looks beautiful and very healthy, imho.

You can be scantily clad and not be a little hooker and also be a feminist, especially in the world of ROCK MUSIC. I'm not saying that the same rules apply in a business office setting, but when you have a stage persona, you can be perfectly legit, while scantily dressed. There shouldn't be the stigma today that there was 30 years ago. It would be nice if people could stop judging women based on what they wear.

If you're dressed in your underwear (or less) and you have no talent, you're asking to be disparaged, but there are plenty of talented people who dress provacatively as well.

Michele

But on stage she has layers of lace,shawls, chiffon and God only knows what on making her look a little bulkier,the look I prefer.She looks great either way but just a little frail looking trimmed down,IMO.

Just my off the cuff thoughts:

Stevie will be participate on Fleetwood Mac's last album. In a strange way, I hope they don't undertake a massive tour for the new album; just a few exclusive shows featuring their new material, a TV special /DVD documentary/Live DVD, and some TV show appearances. End it all with an understated dignity.

Songs from the Vault Volume 2 would be awesome. I'm so glad she is considering it. She could do a Songs from the Vault tour and just feature songs from both vault albums, but that won't happen.

A Rhiannon movie? Why?
What the heck would that be? First off she would need a find a great script writer to flesh out a flimsy concept, sell it to a production company, then get the green light to film it. It seems like very unlikely project.

She could record Goldfish and Ladybug, and hire an animator to create a cartoon video. I'd love to see Stevie in animated form. The song /video could be released online in digital format, and maybe as a feature on Songs of the Vault Volume 2. It would be nice if it had some sort of affiliation to a children's organization -- perhaps a children's charity, book, movie etc...

If there is ever an autobiography, she would need a co-writer. I prefer a biography written by an esteemed scribe. It would have more objectivity, rather than being a
vanity project.

Perfume and Clothing line? That would be somewhat interesting. But penguins like myself have no need for such items.