Christine interview - The Guardian, 10.06.16
 

Hi, Christine. What was it like growing up with the surname Perfect (1)?

It was difficult. Teachers would say: “I hope you live up to your name, Christine.” So, yes, it was tough. I used to joke that I was perfect until I married John.

Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage is being reissued as a box set for £50 (2). Does that seem like a fair price?

It’s a really nice item! It’s quality, isn’t it? It’s good value for money – you’ve got a lot of outtakes, a lot of previously unheard demo versions of songs, you’ve got the vinyl ... a CD, I believe, is in there? I mean it’s a nice package! I haven’t had a good look at it, but the label has given me one to take home. I get a free one!

Have you listened to the demos and outtakes?

No. I’m not a big fan of those things. I know people are interested but for my own personal enjoyment I prefer not to listen to them. My songwriting, when I’m writing, is nothing like it is in its finished form – but you have to start somewhere.

Is the new album finished?

No, it’s half-finished. It’s just seven tracks that we’ve got, and they’re only with guide vocals.

I’m sure I saw a news story about two years ago saying it was half-finished?

Well ... Yeah.

Is it the same half?

It is the same half. We’ve been doing a world tour! I’m going back in October to try and finish it. If it’s not finished by Christmas then I’ll go back after and finish it then. We do things in a weird way, I guess.

What’s your favourite of those new songs?

I don’t think we’ve given titles yet.

Would you like to now?

Er, no. I don’t think we’re supposed to. But I like them all, and that’s not a lie. We have a fantastic variety of songs and I’m very, very pleased with what’s happened so far.

Can we talk about Songbird? (3)

Yes, of course.

JESUS CHRIST, WHAT A SONG.

That was a strange little baby, that one. I woke up in the middle of the night and the song just came into my head. I got out of bed, played it on the little piano I have in my room, and sang it with no tape recorder. I sang it from beginning to end: everything. I can’t tell you quite how I felt; it was as if I’d been visited – it was a very spiritual thing. I was frightened to play it again in case I’d forgotten it. I called a producer first thing the next day and said, “I’ve got to put this song down right now.” I played it nervously, but I remembered it. Everyone just sat there and stared at me. I think they were all smoking opium or something in the control room (4). I’ve never had that happen to me since. Just the one visitation. It’s weird.

Have you inherited any of your mother’s psychic abilities?

Well, I believe they were real. She was a healer. I just wanted her to be an ordinary mum, so the less I knew of that side the better, but here’s a story I can tell you. There was an old friend of my dad’s, in Newcastle – this rich old lady who lived in a run-down castle. She had terminal cancer. She sent a pair of her kid gloves to my mother, who wore one during the night, and a couple of weeks later there was a phone call: the doctors were amazed that all the cancer was completely gone.

Did you psychically predict that I would ask you a couple of questions about your reissue before attempting to get information about the new album?

Aha! I did notice you sneaking those in. I was thinking, What’s he talking about? We’re supposed to be talking about – what’s it called? – Mirage.

It’s exciting when a band gets back together, though. Especially when elsewhere in pop you’ve got Abba, whose refusal to get on with it is bordering on trolling.

Why wouldn’t they get back together? I suppose they made all the money in the world – I mean, we’re not doing it for the money either – but I don’t know. Maybe the need for each other is not there. You see, I still think there’s a certain need for each other in our band. In a strange way. We’re umbilically tied together, somehow. Without one of us, we’re incomplete.

What’s your No 1 piece of house renovation advice? (5)

Well, I didn’t do it personally, but I oversaw it. It was a very old house; the beams had to be stripped. It’s subjective. Keep the wood beautiful, I suppose, but there’s so much I could say. That’s the worst question you could possibly ask.

Well, let’s see, shall we? Have you ever been missold PPI?

I just press delete on those texts.

You could have £20,000 sitting around!

I don’t believe any of those things. Anyone I don’t know, in my emails or texts, I just delete. If it’s someone legitimate they’ll send it again.

What are your favourite apps?

[Whips out iPhone in garishly decorated protective case] WhatsApp I adore. I use it all the time with my friends. I’ve got thousands of apps, and most of them I never use. Look at this! [Flicks though terrifying number of apps]

That’s quite an iPhone case, Christine. Did you stick those jewels on yourself?

It’s Dolce & Gabbana, dear!

It’s slightly alarming that you haven’t put any of your apps in folders.

Oh, I don’t do that. You’re talking to a complete phone moron. As long as I can make a phone call and do a WhatsApp, I’m fine. Oh, and I use it to learn a bit of Italian.

Would you like to conclude this interview in Italian?

Ciao, arrivederci. A presto!

Footnotes
(1) When still called Christine Perfect, Christine released an album called Christine Perfect. In 1984, as Christine McVie, she released an album called Christine McVie.

(2) Mirage was Fleetwood Mac’s 13th album. Released in 1982, it was seen as a return to poppier territory after the slightly-all-over-the-place Tusk. The remastered version – in expanded and deluxe editions – is out now on Rhino.

(3) Songbird was originally released as the B-side to Dreams, in 1977. Eva Cassidy had a bash at it a couple of decades later.

(4) Famous opium fans include word enthusiast Samuel Johnson, Piano Concerto No 2 In F Minor hitmaker Frederic Chopin, and US bigwig Thomas Jefferson, who used it to control diarrhoea.

(5) During her 16 years away from Fleetwood Mac, Christine renovated a massive, subsequently flogged Kent property. She now lives in London.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...ere-incomplete

Ah ah, what a lovely lady!

Such a neat interview! And I appreciated the interviewer following up about the new album and not letting her off the hook. So they've been working on the same 7 songs for 2 years? And no titles? Hmmm...

Hmmm. She's being rather coy about it all. I was under the impression we already knew a couple of song titles. She could at least throw us a bit of a bone.

So, the album's only half done--but they expect to finish it around Christmas? Did I get that right?

Yup, and she was very clear it's that same half that was done back in spring 2014. So they worked on it for a month then and looks like they plan to work another month now and finish it. I hope it all goes according to their plan and we get that brand new album in spring 2017!

All completely new cowritten songs recorded in all together 2 months - not bad for a band with the longstanding reputation of working in the studio for years to finish an album.

Who hired Christine to promote Mirage Deluxe?? :laugh:

Dying.

We've got seven tracks for a new album
 

NME article with Christine's quotes about new album from the Guardian and/or Rolling Stone, juxtaposing them with Stevie's old quotes about not knowing about the album -


Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie: 'We've got seven tracks for a new album'

Band recently reissued 1982 album 'Mirage'

DAMIAN JONES, 26TH SEPTEMBER 2016

http://nme.assets.ipccdn.co.uk/image...article_x4.jpg

Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie has confirmed the band are working on a new album.

Though the band toured extensively through 2014 and 2015, with McVie returning to the fold for the first time in a decade and a half, they have not released a studio album since 2003's 'Say You Will'.

The singer said the band have already recorded a batch of songs and they are hoping to work on more in the future.

“We cut seven songs in the studio already for the start of a brand-new studio album, which we did probably nearer two years ago," she said. "We shelved that temporarily and then went on the road and did the tour. And now, actually, I think we're going back in, in October to try to finish it off. Stevie (Nicks) hasn't participated yet, but hope springs eternal. She's going on a solo tour at the moment.”

She also said that the band have plenty of material to choose from.

“Lindsey (Buckingham) and I, we have plenty of songs,” McVie told Rolling Stone. “There are tons more in the bag that we have yet to record. And they're fantastic. So we're going to carry on and try to finish the record. And then maybe if Stevie doesn't want to be part of that then we can go out and just do some smaller concerts.”

When asked if they would consider playing without Nicks, she added: “As a four-piece, yeah. With a view of doing a huge world tour after that, with Stevie.”

Nicks recently shared her thoughts on the possibility of Fleetwood Mac heading back into the recording studio which at the time, seemed uncertain.

"Is it possible that Fleetwood Mac might do another record? I can never tell you yes or no, because I don't know. I honestly don't know," she added. "It's like, do you want to take a chance of going in and setting up in a room for like a year [to record an album] and having a bunch of arguing people? And then not wanting to go on tour because you just spent a year arguing?"

They recently reissued their 1982 album 'Mirage'. The deluxe remastered version of the LP includes a three-CD and DVD set with a disc of B-sides, titled 'Outtakes And Sessions' as well as a live collection culled from two nights at the LA Forum in October 1982 on the 'Mirage' tour. The package is completed by a vinyl copy of the album and a DVD in 5.1 surround sound, as well as a booklet with extensive liner notes and photos from the era.

Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/fleetwood-ma...epPCVZHEtoS.99

This is so interesting to me... we fans devour the outtakes, the demos, the alternate takes, and the remastered songs. But Christine (and no doubt Stevie and Lindsey) have yet to put the darn CD in their player, not even to comment on it. Not a criticism of them, just a realization of how wide the chasm is between the musician and the fan.

They hear themselves sing all the time. They hear the demos and unreleased stuff a lot. We rarely, if ever, hear that music. (Well, maybe not the fans on this board. You all seem to know anything ever recorded ;) ) So I don't think it's as much a matter of disinterest as of exposure. My 2 cents. :)

Kevin

What's interesting is, that we hear Mick and Christine. After the tour, still not a word from Lindsey.

I don't know everything ever recorded. In fact, I only just learned about All Over You today.

Lindsey Keeping Quiet
 

Perhaps it has has been realized that keeping quiet is in the best interest of "the band."

He is a hermit

He's out and about viewing real estate....

I'm sure it's no accident Lindsey is silent. I think the band knows any pressure from Lindsey on Stevie is just going to send her running in the opposite direction. Good for Chris for turning up the heat, though.

I've heard lots of musicians/recording artists say they don't listen to their own stuff. People in the arts tend to pick apart their own work. I have a fine arts background and understand it a little bit. Other people will compliment your stuff, but all you can see are flaws, or things you wish you'd done differently.

It's not just musicians. Most actors say they never watch their own movies & tv shows for the same reasons.

Just one thought on all of the current posts on Mirage/new album(?)/tour/the four going out without Stevie etc..............who would have thought even a year ago that Christine would be the source/focus of so much information AND doing so many interviews?
I think that it's great and shows how committed she is to this band -almost like she's making up for lost time!

Who could not love this lady? Elegant is too mild. Great interview...I bet she's a boatload of laughs after a bottle of vino:)

Unlike the other b who is ruining there last chance to properly make a final statement.

Maybe they locked Lindsey up.

I have to disagree with Christine when she says the Mirage deluxe set is good value for your money.

If one of them is gone they're incomplete. Awww.

Michele