Lindsey Buckingham: A legend finds his 'Skin'

[MacMan]

Article published Mar 18, 2007

Lindsey Buckingham: A legend finds his 'Skin'
TODD MONEY, Staff Writer
http://www.goupstate.com/article/200...180306/-1/LIFE

"What am I doing anyway, telling myself it's not too late?"

The opening track from "Under the Skin," Lindsey Buckingham's latest solo disc, finds a man alternately questioning his significance in life and reassuring himself that "there's room for a man who is whole."

Not that there should be any question about Buckingham's artistic significance. Best known as the lead guitarist and one of three lead singers for Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham consistently buttressed that group's songs with sharp studio wizardry and arrangements, which tended to flow around his stunning finger picking.

With Fleetwood Mac's legacy in pop music evident -- 1977's "Rumours" is among the best-selling albums of all time -- Buckingham left the band in 1987 to concentrate on solo work. The results have given new meaning to sporadic. After 1992's immaculate but little-heard "Out of the Cradle" (a pair of efforts in the 1980s also brought modest sales and radio airplay), Buckingham settled down, got married (no, not to Stevie Nicks), had three kids, and stayed mostly out of the limelight, save for an occasional reunion tour and album with the band.

The bug to do things his own way didn't let up. When you separate Buckingham's songs from those of Nicks and Christine McVie, the group's other songwriters, it's his lyrical directness and introspection that make them stand on their own. While they seem simple, even calculated, there's usually the sense of something darker lurking under the skin, waiting to smash its way out. "Under the Skin" continues this trend, with 11 mostly quiet, acoustic guitar-driven tracks that reveal extra layers with each listen.

Talking with Buckingham, then, you get the sense that maybe, just maybe, the ever-tinkering artist has found a comfortable skin in which to thrive.

Q: You're about to start the third leg of touring for "Under the Skin." Can you talk about the experience of going out on the road and playing songs for people again, the old songs and the new ones?

A: Well, obviously, there's been kind of a lag time between the last time I did a solo album. There were intentions to have that come out sooner, but that seems to be part of my drill, of walking the tightrope between being part of a mainstream act (in Fleetwood Mac) and having to be accountable to and heed to that when necessary.

To get out there now is particularly gratifying … I've been able to hone my craft a little bit. I've got a certain mindset having to do with a more intimate approach. I think there's a kind of critical mass that's been hit a little more in terms of appreciation and understanding of what I'm about.

Obviously, playing smaller venues is a more intimate approach. We put a show together that started with the idea of resonating with "Under the Skin" and then branched out from there. Obviously, we have to do some of the Fleetwood Mac (songs), but the challenge is working them into a slightly lighter feel, and I think we've been able to do that real well.

Q: You already have a follow-up coming out next year?

A: Yeah, I've already decided to carve out this time of doing two albums in a row rather than waiting so long in between. I'm still writing some new things … a lot of people sort of think it's going to be a rock (album). I don't know if it will actually be that or not. It kind of depends on how everything feels as we go along.

Q: You've said before that "Under the Skin" is not a huge radio album, but you also seem pretty vindicated by what it actually became. Do you see yourself sticking with that kind of mindset for this next album?

A: The main thing, at this point in one's career … is doing what interests me and not trying to play any kind of particular game. Even if I were to make what I thought was the most radio-friendly and commercial album in the world, whether radio would be receptive to it at this point, I don't know. It's just not something that seems as appropriate as it once did. If you can't start with being very honest about what you want to do and how you feel about it … if you've been working long enough, you've kind of earned the right to be able do that.

Q. Do you listen to the radio nowadays?

A: Well … (laughs) I do once in awhile. I'll turn on (Los Angeles radio station) KROQ here, which is about as alternative as you can find. I don't pay as much attention as I used to, obviously.

It's sort of like, if you were a novelist, someone might call it late style, where someone has taken in the bulk of the influences they're gonna get. If James Joyce starts writing novels you can't read, at least he's doing something that he's interested in doing for his own sensibilities. I think, at some point, it always comes down to that.

Q: Are there any artists out there who particularly inspire you?

A: Sure, how can you not like Gnarls Barkley? For years, I was inspired by Eminem. I love what Thom Yorke does, I love that whole sensibility. I seem to be going back and re-examining things from my past. An album like "Under the Skin" probably had as much to do with listening to something like "Blue" by Joni Mitchell and thinking, "Gee, that's really not too far away from someone just sitting in their living room." … Yes, there's more than one instrument from time to time, but not a whole lot.

For me, that idea also came from having taken songs like "Big Love" and "Go Insane," which were ensemble pieces initially, and made their way to the stage as single guitar-and-voice pieces and were connecting very profoundly with the audience. I had a reason to translate that to recording, while keeping some kind of assertive production value over that, so that it's still a record, as we used to call it.

Q: We couldn't wrap this up without asking about another Fleetwood Mac tour, and there have been, um, rumors of that.

A: I think (the potential) is always there. I can't imagine Fleetwood Mac would be hitting the road any earlier than, say, the fall of next year. But who knows? Someone could knock on my door at midnight and twist my arm. … I can think of worse things. It's nice to know somebody wants you out there.

Q: Are you in touch with other members of the band?

A: We talk, but we don't talk very often. I'll speak to Mick (Fleetwood) a couple of times a year, and Stevie the same. I never had that much contact with John (McVie) anyway, and of course, Christine, she's pretty much burned all of her bridges.

But, you know, it's cordial. There's a lot of love there, and maybe some issues still left to work through. After all this time, that's part of the beauty of Fleetwood Mac.

[danax6]

Originally Posted by MacMan

For years, I was inspired by Eminem.

Please stop saying that.

A: I think (the potential) is always there. I can't imagine Fleetwood Mac would be hitting the road any earlier than, say, the fall of next year. But who knows? Someone could knock on my door at midnight and twist my arm. … I can think of worse things. It's nice to know somebody wants you out there.

Ah, so that's a step down from 'let them knock'. He's saying he might be persuaded.

[Madness Fades]

Ah, an excellent interview. some good new questions and gome new answers too. which is a change!!
"fall of next year" Sounds good to me.
I can live with that.
I am totally blocked, Paddys day you gotta love it.
cant even read what im typing,

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by MacMan

It's sort of like, if you were a novelist, someone might call it late style, where someone has taken in the bulk of the influences they're gonna get. If James Joyce starts writing novels you can't read, at least he's doing something that he's interested in doing for his own sensibilities. I think, at some point, it always comes down to that.

a new one!!!

[danax6]

^^
That made me laugh also. Now we have a painter, a movie maker and a novelist.

[Mari]

Mwah, Gnarls Barkley? Does he mean that or is he just trying to sound 'cool'?

[Nico]

Originally Posted by Mari

Mwah, Gnarls Barkley? Does he mean that or is he just trying to sound 'cool'?

I've noticed that a lot of "older" artists will name-drop currently popular musicians as a way of connecting to, possibly, a younger/hipper fanbase...perhaps Lindsey really likes GB, I don't know. All I know is that I've read so many interviews with him mentioning all these great old artists he adores, and then he throws a few newer ones in- and of course those are always the more mainstream popular ones. I remember when Paul McCartney couldn't stop going on about Eminem and Coldplay...until the former got too pretentious and the latter became uncool to discuss. Now I think he's on about the Killers.

But I really do think LB loves Eminem truly, and I'm GD glad he loves Radiohead. That's just plain good taste.

[BTFLCHLD]

I wonder what he means by this:

and of course, Christine, she's pretty much burned all of her bridges.

[#1LiddyBuckFan]

^^ I was wondering the same thing....hmmmm.

[ragandbone]

I don't think KROQ has been and "alternative as you can find" since maybe 1981. I guess he means commercial radio.

[Mari]

Originally Posted by Nico

I've noticed that a lot of "older" artists will name-drop currently popular musicians as a way of connecting to, possibly, a younger/hipper fanbase...perhaps Lindsey really likes GB, I don't know. All I know is that I've read so many interviews with him mentioning all these great old artists he adores, and then he throws a few newer ones in- and of course those are always the more mainstream popular ones. I remember when Paul McCartney couldn't stop going on about Eminem and Coldplay...until the former got too pretentious and the latter became uncool to discuss. Now I think he's on about the Killers.

But I really do think LB loves Eminem truly, and I'm GD glad he loves Radiohead. That's just plain good taste.

Agreed on Radiohead