Mick: Off the Record w/ Nicole Atkins

[michelej1]

Here's a teaser for the soon to launch Off The Record, a music conversation series between Fleetwood Mac chart colossus, Mick Fleetwood, and Brooklyn rocker Nicole Atkins, from the original rock 'n roll tequila, Cabo Wabo.

http://www.youtube.com/cabowabo


Check back on Tuesday October 11th (at
http://www.Youtube.com/CaboWabo >) for the full-length cut,
featuring:

- Why Fleetwood Mac almost never made it in the US
- Mick's fateful night out with the Grateful Dead in New Orleans
- The uncanny affinity between Nicole Atkins, Stevie Nicks and a well-known French
chanteuse
- The rumors around Rumours, the 10th best-selling album of all time
- Live performance from Mick and Nicole in Mick's hometown of Maui

[michelej1]

Mick Fleetwood, founder of Fleetwood Mac, launches his new tell-all video tomorrow
<http://www.Youtube.com/CaboWabo>


(Tuesday 11th October), as part of Cabo Wabo tequila's new Off The Record music
conversation series.

The 5 minute video features:

- Mick reminiscing about the high and lows of Fleetwood Mac
- Fleetwood Mac's band affairs and how they nearly caused the band to implode
- How Fleetwood Mac almost didn't make it in the US after a fateful night on acid
with The Grateful Dead in New Orleans
- Why Mick thinks Stevie Nicks' voice resembles that of French chanteuse, Edith Piaf
- Mick performing with rising Brooklyn rock singer, Nicole Atkins, in his hometown
of Maui, last month

MICK FLEETWOOD AND NICOLE ATKINS COME TOGETHER TO LAUNCH CABO WABO® TEQUILA’S OFF THE RECORD CONVERSATION SERIES

The Original Rock ‘n Roll Tequila Partners Rock Royalty with Rock’s Future To Share
Untold Stories of Music Industry Beginnings

SAN FRANCISCO (October 11, 2011) - Mick Fleetwood, founder of chart colossus
Fleetwood Mac, and singer-songwriter ingénue, Nicole Atkins, have been tapped as the first acts to front the Off The Record music conversation series presented by Cabo Wabo® Tequila, founded by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Sammy Hagar. The double-act came together in Mick’s hometown of Maui, at his new bar Fleetwood’s on Front Street (opening early 2012), to share tales of career beginnings, legendary nights on stage, song inspirations, tour secrets and rumored band romances. Their musical journey together was captured on video for Off the Record, and will launch through Cabo Wabo’s YouTube page on October 11th at
www.YouTube.com/CaboWabo<http://www.YouTube.com/CaboWabo>

Cabo Wabo’s Off the Record series pairs rock royalty with buzzworthy emerging
artists for an intimate one-on-one conversation, captured on film, giving the viewer
a personal, behind-the-scenes view into a life in rock and roll. Off the Record
allows music aficionados a chance to get the inside track on the untold stories of
the musician’s experience.

Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins make for a fascinating introduction to the Off The
Record program as they both epitomize the grandeur of blues and rock. Riffing off
comparisons with Fleetwood Mac front-woman, Stevie Nicks, and following her recent cover of the band’s hit, “Oh Well,” Nicole takes Mick to task on the greatness of Fleetwood Mac, amongst his other achievements. Taken en masse, Fleetwood Mac’s oeuvre can enchant purists, pop fans and stars alike. Nicole confesses: “Stevie
Nicks has had a large influence on my own songwriting and made me comfortable with my singing voice. Fleetwood Mac is that band that is able to write timeless hits
with a serious dark side. That's what I strive for in my songs - a contrast between
the light and dark.”

In the dimly lit bar setting that is Off The Record, Nicole finds out first-hand her
unknown tie to Nicks, how a fateful night in New Orleans with the Grateful Dead
almost got Mick barred from playing in the US before anyone knew his name, and how Fleetwood Mac’s many pronged and complicated relationships provided the backdrop that nearly tore the band apart, yet ultimately led to the band’s masterpiece, 1977’s Rumours.

Equally attuned to the experience of love gone bad, Mick turns the tables on New
Jersey-born Nicole. Her new album, Mondo Amore, was hatched in a time of extreme turbulence, a period which saw her parting ways with her former music label while also dealing with the painful termination of “a relationship that should’ve ended two years before it actually did.” Nicole cites blues and classic 60s psychedelic rock as longtime influences, a sound which Fleetwood Mac dabbled in early on. Not only does Mick probe Nicole about the genesis of what New York Times calls her “surrealistic songs“ and Rolling Stone her “forceful…melancholy,” he uncovers the driving force behind her music and her lifelong passion to perform.

Mick adds, “The Off the Record series is something long overdue and highly
invaluable to aspiring musicians and music fans alike. Bringing together musicians
of varying ages and genres to discuss common experiences gives a one-of-a-kind
insight into our craft and world. Not only will people get to see myself and Nicole
improvise a little on stage, but there will also be enough rock ‘n roll capers to
split a band! It’s only fitting that this should all be played out over a shot of
Cabo Wabo, my tried-and-true companion when making music in my new bar, Fleetwood’s on Front Street.”

Founder of Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar, comments, “Cabo Wabo Tequila's association with rock music is well known and we have always been strong supporters of new artists. Off The Record is another program like Cabo's Your Shot To Rock contest, aimed at finding the top unsigned rock bands in America, and aide in moving them forward to become rock stars. Having my friend and legend Mick Fleetwood in the mix, Cabo Wabo adds a new dimension to finding and spurring new artists to greater rock and roll heights.”


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn2/michelej1/FleetwoodDrumSet.jpg

[michelej1]

When asked how she and Mick Fleetwood were getting along at their first arranged meeting, Nicole Atkins responded nonchalantly, as if the two had known each other for years.

"This is what I do with my friends back in Brooklyn -- have drinks and talk about bands," she said. "So it's nice to talk music with the person who's actually in the band."

The pairing of "rock's royalty" with "rock's future" is the premise behind Cabo Wabo Tequila's Off The Record series -- a collection of filmed conversations and jam sessions between two musicians of similar stylings, separated only by their generations. Mick and Nicole were the first to test out this venture -- the former being the drummer and founding member of legendary rock group Fleetwood Mac, and the later, a Brooklyn-based blues-rock singer whose voice channels the same commanding tones as that of Stevie Nicks.

Mick and Nicole connected this past August at Fleetwood's on Front Street, Mick's newest restaurant venture set to open in early 2012 in his hometown of Maui. Over a glass of tequila and a few hours, they delved into untold stories of touring, music making and everything that falls between, as cameras recorded the landmark encounter.

"The Off The Record series is something long overdue and highly invaluable to aspiring musicians and music fans alike," said Mick. "Bringing together musicians of varying ages and genres to discuss common experiences gives a one-of-a-kind insight into our craft and world."

While the footage achieved is no doubt historical, contextually it's only a fragment of their immediate and undeniable chemistry, which rolled naturally even when the cameras were off. The full weekend spent on the lush Hawaiian island felt comparable to a tourist's attempts at capturing the Road to Hana in photos: though the video reveals a fascinating snippet of their many parallels, nothing can compare to witnessing the two musicians interact in person.

"How it came about couldn't be more perfect and more meaningful for what we get out of it," said Mick. "And that is the truth. There's probably a lot more than what ends up on the tape."

For three days, their banter flowed in a seamless nostalgic dialogue. Mick recounted scenes from years blurred by cities, songs and heavy doses of dangerous living and Nicole responded with effortless comparisons to her own parallel adventures. The two seemed cosmically destined to meet -- sharing influences, a love of the sea and a soft spot for the Peter Green era of Fleetwood Mac. Nicole even covered the band's hit "Oh Well" at her album release -- coincidentally, one of Mick's favorites from the Fleetwood Mac archives. For two artists with such complementary qualities, it's amazing to think that their paths could have just as easily not crossed.

"It's sort of uncanny, really," said Mick. "I knew a little bit about her, but nowhere near this. And that's made everything sort of fluid and seamless."

The exceptional pairing could have never been certain, but with Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer and Van Halen frontman, Sammy Hagar, behind Cabo Wabo, it was clearly not left up to chance. Hagar founded the tequila brand back in 1996 and has since dedicated a large portion of its focus to showcasing talented up-and-coming artists. Another similar campaign run by the tequila brand is grounded on the same motives. Cabo Wabo's Your Shot To Rock, a battle-of-the-bands type contest, aims to propel the top rock bands in America into the limelight.

"Cabo Wabo Tequila's association with rock music is well known," said Hagar. "And we have always been strong supporters of new artists."

But the support coming from Cabo Wabo's Off The Record series runs deeper than just helping a new artist get noticed -- especially since Nicole is not really new to fame. The songstress, wise beyond her years, has already married and divorced a major label (Columbia) and just last year turned to indie label, Razor & Tie, to release her second album, Mondo Amore.

"Some people define themselves by the car they drive. I don't play music to impress people, I play it to share something," said Nicole. "That unwillingness to compromise what you're doing because art is really important. And if that's what your whole life is based around, then you're lucky."

Embarking fearlessly on this unchained, unlabeled phase in her career marks an ideal time for fans to get to know Nicole personally, making Off The Record's timing perfectly relevant for her.

While Nicole has been spending time renovating her career, Mick has been renovating in a more concrete sense. The musician has been busy readying his new restaurant, set in a building that dates back to 1916 (coincidentally the same year his mother was born). The aim is to transform the historic venue in appearance and appeal to a restaurant, music venue and cocktail refuge, fully stocked with Mick's own Private Cellar wines. Mick stresses that the establishment is going to be a "real working restaurant" rather than a "shrine for Mick Fleetwood," shifting the focus from his name to the names of the local artists that venue aims to attract.

There have also been hints to other stirrings in Mick's musical career. Rumors of a Fleetwood Mac album and tour and have been buzzing about, and although the details are constantly shifting (in typical Fleetwood Mac character), Mick has at least confirmed that it's something on their radar.

"Latest thing is I met with Stevie [Nicks], and in truth, her album is creeping along. It's going from one sort of thing to another and she's not sure she's going to be ready to tour next year," said Mick. "Right now, for the tour, I am deferring to Stevie, but at the very least, the tour will not happen until late next year. With Stevie, this is one of those things that you just don't know. For now, she's loving what she's doing, and in truth, we'll all see soon."

Removing themselves from their own personal happenings and their initial reasons for getting involved with Off The Record, Mick and Nicole found a more profound side to participating in the series. The two got an up-close-and-personal look at another artist shaped from the same mold and grounded by the same foundations, and in turn, they each got a closer look at their own personal knowledge and accomplishments.

"[Nicole] has done something really lovely to hand over. And I have a little bit of that, maybe more of it than I realize," said Mick, getting a bit teary-eyed. "I get reminded by people around me and I think, 'what have you done?' I'm being reminded about what I've done with our new little liaise here, which really makes me emotional."

There's no word yet who Cabo Wabo will pull together for episode two of Off The Record, but cheers to hoping it's two more artists, similar to Mick and Nicole in the sense that they can be inspired and driven by their introduction.

[michelej1]

Pop Matters
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/149718-him-her-nicole-atkins-and-mick-fleetwood/

You’ve heard pretty much everything you need to know about Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, but what you probably didn’t know before this clip is how close to deportation an earlier version of the band came after a gig with the Grateful Dead. You probably haven’t heard Edith Piaf mentioned this much outside of a theatre luncheon and you probably never thought you’d see Nicole Atkins and Mick Fleetwood jam. But there they are… and it’s pretty damn good. Sponsored by Cabo Wabo Tequila (Sammy Hagar started the company) the Off The Record shows promise even if it’s just an extended booze commercial.

[michelej1]

Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins Bond Over Blues, Tequila and, Yes, Dildos

by Dan Reilly, Spinner.com

http://www.spinner.com/2011/10/11/mick-fleetwood-nicole-atkins-off-the-record/

It didn't take Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins very long to figure out they had a connection. While sharing a bottle of tequila and bonding over a love of the blues, Atkins managed to impress the Fleetwood Mac drummer with some obscure facts about his legendary band's early, debauched years.

"She definitely was aware of some things that most people aren't aware of," Fleetwood tells Spinner. "Fleetwood Mac, without going into the gory details, was a very pornographically wild bunch of lads in our show. We had accouterments that would appear on stage, such as dildos and things, and we were so not about that as far as the reputation of being a serious blues band. We actually had a lot of crazy fun, and I have to say, she is very much aware of that other side of Fleetwood Mac that never was reported, never went on a live album. The Sex Pistols didn't have too much on us, and yet, no one ever really knows that. She's very well informed. I'm going to be paying her vast amounts of money to keep quiet."

The pairing came about thanks to Off the Record, a new musician-on-musician interview series sponsored by Sammy Hagar and Cabo Wabo Tequila. For the series' kickoff episode, Fleetwood and Atkins met up in Maui, where the drummer lives and is opening a restaurant, Fleetwood's on Front Street. As Atkins tells us, she wasn't intimidated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

"[It's] very casual," she says. "We have a lot of musical influences that are shared. All me and my friends do in Brooklyn is get drunk and talk about Fleetwood Mac and Bobby "Blue" Bland and B.B. King and Derek and the Dominoes, so now it's just nice to do it with Fleetwood Mac [laughs]. And I've never been to Maui. I've been on tour in a 15-passenger van since October, and I literally just ended touring a day before I left for Maui, so I was like, 'Wow, this really paid off.'"


Courtesy of Cabo Wabo
It didn't take Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins very long to figure out they had a connection. While sharing a bottle of tequila and bonding over a love of the blues, Atkins managed to impress the Fleetwood Mac drummer with some obscure facts about his legendary band's early, debauched years.

"She definitely was aware of some things that most people aren't aware of," Fleetwood tells Spinner. "Fleetwood Mac, without going into the gory details, was a very pornographically wild bunch of lads in our show. We had accouterments that would appear on stage, such as dildos and things, and we were so not about that as far as the reputation of being a serious blues band. We actually had a lot of crazy fun, and I have to say, she is very much aware of that other side of Fleetwood Mac that never was reported, never went on a live album. The Sex Pistols didn't have too much on us, and yet, no one ever really knows that. She's very well informed. I'm going to be paying her vast amounts of money to keep quiet."

The pairing came about thanks to Off the Record, a new musician-on-musician interview series sponsored by Sammy Hagar and Cabo Wabo Tequila. For the series' kickoff episode, Fleetwood and Atkins met up in Maui, where the drummer lives and is opening a restaurant, Fleetwood's on Front Street. As Atkins tells us, she wasn't intimidated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

"[It's] very casual," she says. "We have a lot of musical influences that are shared. All me and my friends do in Brooklyn is get drunk and talk about Fleetwood Mac and Bobby "Blue" Bland and B.B. King and Derek and the Dominoes, so now it's just nice to do it with Fleetwood Mac [laughs]. And I've never been to Maui. I've been on tour in a 15-passenger van since October, and I literally just ended touring a day before I left for Maui, so I was like, 'Wow, this really paid off.'"


Watch Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins' 'Off the Record' Chat

While Atkins obviously knew plenty about Fleetwood, the drummer admits he didn't know about her at all beforehand. "I had some ideas [for participating artists], in truth, but it would have been a little nepotistic," he says. "I like the fact that it was someone coming to me and me being turned on by something that I was not readily aware of, which to me is really what this program is all about. [It's] somewhat the handing of the baton in terms of Nicole being someone fresh on a journey and someone who's been doing it for donkey's years, being me. I'm hoping that it will be thought provoking and inspiring to anyone watching it."

To that end, Atkins sought Fleetwood's advice on how he's dealt with professional struggles, especially when it came to tumultuous periods in Fleetwood Mac. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based singer-songwriter is no stranger to sudden career changes, as she went through breakups with her boyfriend, her band and her label during the summer of 2010.

"The thing that drew me to him is that he's gone through so many incantations of Fleetwood Mac, so many lineup changes, but he has kept going, like, 'This is what's important to me and this is what I do, no matter what,'" she says. "I've gone through a lot of lineup changes in a short amount of time, and even with the label, [but] it's never been a question of, 'What do I do next?' It's, 'How do I move this forward?' because it's what I love to do, and it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do since I was like 7. I have to find people to play with that I'm inspired by. We have that in common, in that the different people that join our band, they become our muses."

Fleetwood, for his part, believes Atkins has the perfect mindset to have a long, successful career.

"I'm not worried for her, because she's not that person, when you become a living cartoon of something you're not, like, say, Keith Moon," he says. "Fantastic drummer, but people don't remember his drumming. They remember him driving a car into a swimming pool or attacking a hotel room with a chainsaw. It's somewhat of a drag because he was an incredible musician. That was his fault, really, and I'm sure he was sort of OK with it, but I do know that he created a monster that was actually sort of a distraction from his true talent.

"I can't stop saying, 'Believe in the passion of what you're doing,'" he adds. "She is about that and will have fun. I can tell you this right now: She will not get lost. It won't eat her up and spit her out."

[michelej1]

Billboard, October 11, 2011 by Gary Graff, Detroit | October 11, 2011 5:00 EDT

http://www.billboard.com/news/mick-fleetwood-talks-off-the-record-supergroup-1005399412.story#/news/mick-fleetwood-talks-off-the-record-supergroup-1005399412.story

Mick Fleetwood Talks 'Off the Record' & Supergroup With Steven Tyler

On paper, Mick Fleetwood would appear to play the sagely mentor and Nicole Atkins the eager padawan for the initial episode of "Off the Record," a new music and conversation series that debuts today (Oct. 11) on sponsor Cabo Wabo's YouTube channel. But Fleetwood says their summit meeting in Hawaii went quite another way.

"Nicole is not just someone who is gloriously talented and maybe totally unknowing or super-innocent in terms of what she's getting into -- or what she was already in," Fleetwood tells Billboard.com. "I would probably have been worth half a damn with some decent commentary that might have been helpful, but we did not go there because she was not one of those people. It was so apparent she didn't need any of that at all, so we went into, in essence, another level of dialogue, which was great."

The show finds Fleetwood and Atkins essentially interviewing each other, with Fleetwood focusing on "how you hang onto...and reaffirm your personal integrity with what you're doing" and Atkins fishing for some vintage Fleetwood Mac stories out of the percussionist. Fleetwood was also surprised and pleased that Atkins "had a real awareness of early Fleetwood Mac, which... was really mind-blowing for someone that young."

"It's been like a surreal fit of destiny, just listening to what he was talking about," says Atkins, who's covered Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" in her shows. "I just feel truly honored in my career so far to get to know a lot of my heroes, and it really puts a lot of what I do in perspective to hear all of these stories from people who have had careers their whole life. With someone like Mick, he's gone through so many (band) lineup changes and he just kept going, and that's what I do so it's really nice to get to know people like that on a personal level and keep the things they tell you in your mind as a back-up when things don't always go as planned."

Atkins has largely wrapped up touring to support her latest solo album, "Mondo Amore," and has already started writing songs for her next album. She recently released a digital live EP, "Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea...Til Dawn," recorded at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and available for free at her web site.

Fleetwood, meanwhile, is busy opening his new club, Fleetwood's On Front, in Maui, and recently assembled a supergroup called The M.O.B. -- featuring Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Fleetwood Mac co-founder John McVie and guitarist Jonny Lang -- to record a version of "Sharp Dressed Man" that kicks off the new "ZZ Top -- a Tribute From Friends" album. "I knew about (ZZ Top) before I met them, and they are the real deal," Fleetwood says. "They come from a great love of blues, and they've always expressed a real regard for Peter Green and the original Fleetwood Mac, which led to this long-term friendship and regard. So this was totally my pleasure to do. I was not only flattered to be asked but excited to be part of it"

Fleetwood also harbors an ambition to reassemble The M.O.B. (which he says is not a specific acronym) in the future. "I have musical fantasies all the time," he says with a laugh, "but we had a lot of fun doing this, and I truly, truly do have a vision of somewhere, somehow walking on stage and actually putting something together with (the group). It's nothing on a boiler plate right now, but it's certainly something in my mind, and I think everybody else's, too."

Also on tap is a Fleetwood Mac tour for 2012, although Fleetwood no longer sounds as definite about it as he did during the summer, especially with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham busy touring to support their respective solo albums. "It's sort of in that usual old mold (of) not quite knowing," Fleetwood says. "In terms of aspiration, I'm always there for Fleetwood Mac and of course love the band and hope we work and stuff like that. But we thought we were going to go out this year and we ended up not doing that...I would say we're in a waiting game, and that's fine. We get used to doing that. I'm sure you will be hearing about Fleetwood Mac in some context, hopefully not too long from now."

[michelej1]

Stereogum by T. Cole Rachel, October 12, 2011
http://stereogum.com/838711/progress-report-fleetwood-mac/franchises/progress-report/

Name: Mick Fleetwood

Progress Report: Iconic rock and roll drummer chats about tequila, Hawaii, befriending Nicole Atkins, and the future of a little band called Fleetwood Mac.

As a lifelong devotee of Fleetwood Mac, I jumped at the chance to chat with drummer extraordinaire and founding band member Mick Fleetwood. In addition to his percussion duties in the mighty Mac, Fleetwood busies himself a variety of side projects — including a soon-to-be-opened restaurant in his current hometown of Maui and playing shows with his side band, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. Fleetwood was also recently tapped for an appearance in “Off The Record” a newly launched web series (sponsored by Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo tequila, no less) that pairs iconic rock musicians with emerging artists to talk about music-making. It was both funny and very surreal to chat with Fleetwood about his involvement with Cabo Wabo (he and Sammy Hagar are longtime bros), his pairing with Nicole Atkins (he liked her vibe), and the current goings on with his day job in Fleetwood Mac (they are Rumoured to be recording and touring in 2012). Mick has a reputation for being not only a great drummer, but also one of the most charming guys in the business, which proved to be true. He was friendly and chatty, even when I had to cut the interview short by dropping the phone and running out of my hotel due to a fire alarm.

STEREOGUM: Hey Mick. Are you in Maui right now?

MICK: Yes. I’m here. This is my home.

STEREOGUM: First of all, I’m so curious. How do you know Sammy Hagar?

MICK: Well, I was aware of him way back in the day, even before he had joined Van Halen. Van Halen was on Warner Bros, which is the same stable that Fleetwood Mac currently resides in. I got to know him after he took over as the lead vocalist, which was really a pretty terrifying thing—to take over as lead vocalist for an already well-established band and replacing an already famous, bigger-than-life lead singer. I got to know him as the years went on and he would often come out to Fleetwood Mac shows. I really respect him. He really puts his heart and soul into his work—he does that with Cabo Wabo and he did the same thing with Van Halen. He carried them into an entirely new chapter in their career … and that’s not an easy thing to do. He’s a greater singer than people realize. He’s way more talented than most people realize. His music is often overshadowed by his personality. He’s just such an open, gracious person … and one of the happiest people I’ve ever met. I really respect and love him.

STEREOGUM: So is that how you got involved with “Off The Record?” Via Sammy?

MICK: They approached me — or my people, as it were — and I thought it looked like fun. The Cabo Wabo people had done a lot of homework and found a bunch of emerging artists that might be a nice fit. Around that same time, Sammy came to Maui. He phoned me from the airport when he landed. So when I saw him a few days later we talked about it and he told me I should definitely do it … and that was how I got involved. It sounded like fun for me. Plus, I’m opening a restaurant here in Maui next year, so I figured I might get some tequila.

STEREOGUM: So how did you get paired with Nicole?

MICK: They had a list of around 20 different artists for me to consider and I was just really drawn to Nicole. I really didn’t know anything about her or have any preconceived notions about her beforehand. The video is really all about her. She really didn’t need any mentoring from me — she’s already worked really hard and really knows what she is doing — but I saw this person who just made this great record totally on her own and who could now possibly be taken right off the rails by success. Maybe I could give her some advice about how to keep your feet on the ground in this business, which is something I have experience with. It was really just this fun conversation about art and creativity. I hope she becomes wildly successful. It was also nice to see someone who just totally loves what they are doing and will be doing it forever, regardless. That was the Fleetwood Mac model, basically. We didn’t know what was gonna happen. We never thought we would become really rich or anything. We were just happy to put food on the table and be able to travel. It was basically just fun to talk about the creative process with someone and play a little music with them. Plus, I feel like I made a new friend. A really talented friend.

STEREOGUM: It’s interesting hearing you talk to Nicole about your early days in Fleetwood Mac. Do you ever tire of young musicians wanting to hear you tell about the making of Rumours again and again?

MICK: No, not really. I’m usually happy to talk about it. You know, previous to that album John McVie and I had already encountered a certain amount of success, especially in Europe, with Peter Green in the early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. Talking about Rumours used to kind of piss us off because that’s all anyone ever wanted to know about, which was really our own fault for having been so open about everything that went on during the making of that record. You know, the all of us falling in love and out of love within the ranks of the band. It became this soap opera around Rumours, which is obviously a well-worn story at this point. We wanted to talk about the music and all anyone wanted to hear about was who was jumping into bed with one another. It wore very thin, but there was nothing we could do about it … it just became part of the fabric of Fleetwood Mac. In truth, looking back on it now … I’m OK with it. I think we all are. In knowing all that stuff, people became personally involved in our story — and with us — as real people. People feel like they really know us as individuals — or like characters from some sort of funny play — and they sort of do. It ended up being this very pleasant, soulful, organic thing between our fans and us.

STEREOGUM: It’s very interesting talking to you about this. I’ve interviewed some of your bandmates in the past — most recently Stevie — about the weird phenomenon of having your life become totally mythologized. Few bands have experienced that as acutely as you guys have. Stevie seemed to be really into that idea. People love Fleetwood Mac and Rumours so intensely — obviously, because of the songs — but also because they have such an attachment to the people who made those songs and relate so intensely to what you guys were going through at the time. It’s fascinating. Maybe less fascinating if you were one of those people who experienced it firsthand, but still.

MICK: Yeah. Nicole and I talked about that a lot, actually. There are times when you wonder if you’ll honestly ever be able to play music again, but those experiences end up benefiting you later on … it just doesn’t always feel that way.

STEREOGUM: I heard you were opening a restaurant in Maui. How has that experience been for you? The restaurant business might even more harrowing than the record industry.

MICK: It’s hair-raising, I can tell you that. If I still had any hair it would have all fallen out. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I already have a small wine company, but this will be a really good dining experience with a music component and it’s located in a really beautiful setting. The experience of bringing it all together and putting a team together … that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 10 months or so. We hope to be open by March of next year. I’m really involved though, it’s not just my name. In addition, I have a great blues band that I play with from time to time and occasionally we’ll just take off for a couple of weeks and do a kooky little club tour in Australia or something like that. Beyond that, when Fleetwood Mac comes roaring back, which it will, I will answer the call with my drumsticks in hand.

STEREOGUM: There have been statements from your various bandmates that Fleetwood Mac will be getting again in 2012 to start touring and possibly recording. You guys have been doing this for so long, can you imagine a time when you’ll want to stop?

MICK: I can imagine the possibility of that. As an old geekster, I look at people whom I consider mentors and inspirations — people like BB King and John Lee Hooker … you know, I can remember listening to BB King back when Fleetwood Mac first started! You look at them and think, well, they never stopped. They’ll just play until they drop because that’s what they do. People like Bob Dylan or Elton John continue to tour and play endlessly — not because they need the money, God knows they don’t — but because that’s what they must do. I don’t think I’m necessarily that kind of person. I’m interested in having a nice life, an actual life, outside of the business. You know, if Fleetwood Mac has the opportunity to do a couple of more big world tours over the next, say, seven years or so, I’ll be there. The band is great right now. Everyone is healthy and happy. Where we go wrong always has to do with getting everyone on the same page and in the same place at the same time. Since 1967 that has always kind of been my job to keep the band going; even through all the transitions and through the crazy success … and I actually get tired sometimes. It’s slowing down a bit, that mad desire to always rally the troops. In the past I had to be the one to say, “Hey! Come on guys! Let’s go! We’re all really liking each other right now so let’s go do this and that the other!” Now I prefer to defer more to Stevie. We all know that we’re never going to walk onto a stage without her there, so now I’m more likely to just say “Stevie, tell me when you want to do this and we’ll all turn up.”

STEREOGUM: Well, she’ll never stop. She is always on tour.

MICK: Yeah, she’s like a BB King type. She is always working. She works herself too hard, in my opinion, but she can always always go out and tour. That’s her life. She loves it. She is one of those people. But touring on her own she doesn’t have to deal with the trauma of balancing four differing opinions and the worry of everyone getting along. It took years and years before she and Lindsey could end up on a page that they could both comfortably exist on … and they know how to do it now. We’ve moved past that point of me having to be the slave driver. Plus, it’s really not appropriate anymore. We’ve more than given ourselves to the world of Fleetwood Mac. It will be back and it will be great.

[michelej1]

Miami New Times
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfade/2011/10/mick_fleetwood_viral_video_lsd_stevie_nicks_awkward_sexual_tension.php

LSD and Stevie Nicks: An Extremely Detailed Breakdown of Mick Fleetwood's New Viral Video

By Matt Preira Fri., Oct. 14 2011 at 9:30 AM Categories: Pop Gossip

Tequila, Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac, and Brooklyn coffeehouse singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins ... It sounds like the beginning of a joke.

But no, it's the basis for the inaugural Cabo Wabo Tequila Off The Record webseries, where "up-and-coming" music artists pair with wash-ups to shill hooch.

In this dark, weird new age of viral marketing, nothing makes sense. But something is always for sale. Check the jump for an extremely detailed breakdown of a magical five minutes with Mick Fleetwood that only fermented agave could engender.

0:01
Just seems like a little viral marketing at first. But as the interview progresses, you'll soon realize tequila is not only this magic moment's sponsor: it's the only way anyone could convince Mick to sit down with what's-her-name.

00:12
Actually, from the scalding lechery in his eyes, it seems like what's-her-name earned the Mick Fleetwood stamp of approval the second he realized she had ta-tas.

0:39
OK, I guess we can stop being dicks and address our hostess by her name: Nicole Atkins. Can someone Ask Jeeves, "Who the hell is Nicole Atkins and why is she so googly-eyed?"

00:57 Mick imparts some ol' timey wisdom: If you're hanging out with the Grateful Dead, you "don't not" take acid.
1:40
"When I was your age, we had to walk 15 miles in a hailstorm to a dried-up well, which we then had to throw ourselves down because there was no ladder, not even a bucket. And then, once at the bottom, we had to stand on each other's shoulders and pass our equipment upward. When I was your age..."

1:57
The "biggest record ever" line -- coy sideways glance and all -- is the kind of egomania we've come to respect from Mac-related media. Thanks for keeping **** consistent, Fleetwood.

2:46
"What got us through it was the music." And by music, he means drugs.

2:55
Atkins begins to talk about her own new album. Quicksand fills our nostrils, mouths, esophagus, throat, stomach, and soon floods our bowels.

3:21
In the clip's "realest" moment, Mick Fleetwood seductively strums a mandolin while Nicole Atkins checks Facebook on her smart phone.

3:52
Look, let's be honest, the only reason any of us are here is BOOZE.

4:08
This video is actually the start of a new intervention TV show where aging rock stars help rock star simulacrums realize that they've never actually listened to music.

4:16
We could have told you Nicole Atkins has a song called "Brooklyn's on Fire" from the first look at her.

5:12
Oh, yeah, sure, we'll watch this hair-in-the-face Nicole Atkins diddy. P.S. This doesn't sound like Edith Piaf or Stevie Nicks. WTF MICK?!?