The Ledge - Interview with Lindsey on IndependentMail.com

"Lindsey Buckingham talks Fleetwood Mac, new solo disc"

By Russell Hall
Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Think “classic rock,” and chances are Fleetwood Mac will spring to mind pretty quickly. Fact is, however, main songwriter Lindsey Buckingham is still at the top of his form. His latest solo CD, “Gift of Screws,” has earned rave reviews for its mix of bluesy riff-rock, propulsive anthems, and intricate fingerstyle-guitar balladry. Speaking by phone just prior to the news that Fleetwood would reunite this spring, the 59-year-old Buckingham shared his thoughts about his career thus far.

Russell Hall: Did you have an over-arching theme in mind for your new album, “Gift of Screws”?

Lindsey Buckingham: Well, several songs, in one way or another, seem to reflect what’s happened to me in the last 11 or 12 years. In earlier times, I saw many of my friends — who were spouses and parents — not be very present for their families. I didn’t want to be one of those people, and I wasn’t ready to embrace those things anyway, in a post-Fleetwood Mac environment. But then I met a beautiful lady who became my wife, and we had three beautiful children. The whole corner you turn, emotionally and otherwise, from that, is reflected in a lot of these songs.

RH: Does your work as a solo artist ever inspire new ideas for your work in Fleetwood Mac?

LB: It’s been interesting trying to stake out pieces of turf that I can call my own. Part of my individuality got swallowed up in the group mix. Hopefully, any time you move forward some of that will come back to the band. Making the “Tusk” album was one of those times. On that album I ejected the huge machinery that was expecting “Rumours Part 2,” and did something more challenging. It was a matter of continuing to take risks when suddenly risks weren’t something that anyone wanted us to take.

RH: Do you ever consciously try to write toward the strengths of the individual members of Fleetwood Mac?

LB: Not really. Every time I reach a point where I feel a song is either fleshed out enough to be called a song, or I’ve got enough lyrics to get over that hump, I just feel grateful. (laughs) Just having the songs at all is a victory for me. It doesn’t really work that way, in terms of trying to direct a style towards a person or even a group. it’s usually the group mentality — and the group politics — that determines which songs gets accepted. People often ask if I write differently for Fleetwood Mac than I write for myself. There’s no line there that I can see.

RH: Does it generally happen that the songs you feel have promise are also the ones the other band members think have potential?

LB: Yes, usually. But if you look at the people in the band, it represents a fairly significant range of tastes. You can have a situation where everyone agrees a song is great, but it doesn’t fit someone’s tastes. In some ways it’s surprising we’re even in a band together, given how differently we tend to look at things. But the other side of that is, the synergy created by all those differences is what makes us what we are.

RH: You’ve made the point that in other art forms — fiction, painting, and so forth — artists often hit their stride in late middle age. Is that possible in your line of work?

LB: I honestly don’t know. We’ve never had a Sinatra of rock and roll. Sinatra was a “bobby soxer” idol who had some “down” years, and then he came back in his late forties and became the quintessential Frank Sinatra for adults. I don’t know if rock music resonates in the same way, but there’s no reason it couldn’t.

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