Billboard interview
 

http://www.billboard.com/news/lindse...05330702.story

Lindsey Buckingham on Solo Work, the Mac and 'Glee'
by Jim Allen | August 27, 2011 10:00 EDT

Artists in this Article

Lindsey Buckingham

Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac had already been a band for eight years before Lindsey Buckingham joined the group in 1975 (along with then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks), but it was Buckingham's voice, guitar and pen that helped make the band one of the best-selling rock acts of all time. With Buckingham onboard Fleetwood Mac cut such era-defining, chart-topping, multiplatinum monsters as Fleetwood Mac (Reprise, 1975) and the monumental 1977 follow-up Rumours (Warner Bros.). The latter produced four top 10 hits, including the No. 1 single "Dreams," "Don't Stop" -- later the theme song for Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign -- and "Go Your Own Way."

But it's the left turns of Buckingham's solo career, which began with 1981's Law and Order (Warner Bros.) and often finds him working as a one-man band, that mark him as a musical maverick. His sixth solo album, Seeds We Sow, continues that tradition as Buckingham explores a broad spectrum of sounds from intense, drum-machine-driven grooves to solo-acoustic splendor and even a cover of the Rolling Stones' "She Smiled Sweetly." On Sept. 6, Buckingham will self-release the album, the first indie set of his 38-year recording career.

How do your Fleetwood Mac duties and your solo career fit into your life?

You could say that Fleetwood Mac was the mainstream big movie, and the solo thing was the independent film. If you have the choice to be able to do both, it becomes clear that it's the independent film that's going to be your source of growth, where you're going to be able to tap into your higher aspirations as an artist, whereas the other thing eventually will become more about upholding the brand.

Have you ever wished you could just be Lindsey Buckingham?

It would certainly make things a lot easier. But just because it's easier doesn't mean it would be more enriching. One of the things that makes [Fleetwood Mac] very interesting is that we don't necessarily belong in the same band. We have a set of reference points as individuals that aren't necessarily the same, and it's the differences that come together and make something that's interesting.

You wrote, performed, produced and mixed everything yourself on Seeds We Sow. Are you a control freak?
There's some element of wanting to control the situation, but some of that comes from giving up a certain amount of control on the other side of the coin, too. Because making albums with Fleetwood Mac is not a solitary endeavor. Working with a band is a more conscious political process. Working on your own, sometimes you start slapping the paint on the canvas and the work will lead you.

How did you go from lifelong major-label artist to self-releasing Seeds We Sow?

My deal with Warner Bros. had expired. Trying to shop this album was kind of like starting over. I actually started [shopping] with Warner Bros. [chairman] Rob Cavallo, who is a friend of mine and is in this new position over there. Rob liked it a lot, and then he had to go back and deal with the people in Burbank [Calif.], and when I talked to him on the phone, he started talking about the numbers he had to make quarterly, and I thought, "Well, that's the end of that." I did talk to a few independent labels and finally decided that what they were doing was something I could probably just as easily do myself.

Bill Hader recently played you in a recurring "Saturday Night Live" sketch, and "Glee" did a Rumours tribute. What's behind the sudden TV interest?

Your guess is as good as mine. When I heard about ["SNL"], my initial reaction was, "Gee, that's kind of obscure." I can only assume someone in the cast was a big fan. I did a walk-on at the end of the season. Irving [Azoff, Buckingham's manager] and I were talking about how funny it would be to just show up on the sketch, and we called Lorne [Michaels], and I guess one thing just led to another. "Glee" I knew ahead of time they were going to do it. I've never seen the show -- my guess is, it's probably not my cup of tea -- but there was no reason to say "no." It's a compliment, to be sure.

After 38 years of making records, how do you keep the process fresh?

If you make choices that help you remember who you are and why you got into this in the first place, and if you maintain your idealism and your sense of wanting to keep growing ... you have the potential of hitting a stride fairly late in your career. You may hit a certain point where any number of things suddenly comes to fruition. And I feel like that kind of happened with this album.

Thanks elle! That wasn't so bad at all. There were a few lines I hadn't read already. I like it that he didnot see Glee, and the remark - probably not my cup of tea- made me smile. Still, he added the compliment remark, what he would have left if this happened ten years ago.

bring on the album!

I like this interview. I didn't quite understand how the SNL thing came about and I didn't know his side reached out to the show and not vice versa. Also, while I knew that Azoff represented FM, I didn't know that he was Lindsey's personal manager and that Lindsey could talk to him about career things that only involved LB, so that is helpful to know.

The Glee thing amused me because I had been reading comments which I think Lee Lee made about the Glee experience (and Justin Bieber), so I wondered if that was a show seen in the Buckingham household. Maybe it's seen by some and not by others. I did tape the Rumours episode of Glee, but I haven't watched it yet. But I have to admit that I've seen clips from other episodes of that show that aren't half bad. I saw the able-bodied actor who plays the wheelchair bound character . . . he did some kind of Michael Jackson song (Pretty Young Thing I think) and it was good. And I've seen Jane Lynch clips on talk shows and she is hilarious and mean in a topical way that makes me double over in mirth. So, I think I might like Glee. It's just some snobby, inaccurate perceptions that I have that keep me from watching.

Also, when Lindsey said that they are people that don't necessarily belong in the same band, I think he was talking about 5 people and not just 4. At least, that's a comment he made when they were 5. Ha, I am psychotic. I read an autobiography on the Dionne Quintuplets and it was called "We Were Five" and the title only makes me think of FM.

Michele

I actually really liked his answer to this one. Especially the part I underlined. It tells me that though he may publicly downplay it, Fleetwood Mac still helps him grow as an artist and takes him in directions he may not have even thought of on his own.

I agree. That's how he made me feel when he said that for SYW he guesses he could have gotten John to back off in places, if he'd wanted, but he didn't, because he appreciated the tension of thinking someone would step all over your lines and then they don't.

Teamworks invades your barriers and extends beyond your comfort zones. Creates tension and more than a little resentment. But the final product is worth it and something you could not have achieved on your own.

And I think the communal sacrifice and fruits were greater, when they were 5 than it is now that there are just four of them. Michele

Greater Fruits !!!
 

Michele...We agree with the last sentence you wrote! :]
The 5 voices were a great blend! Chris's luscious musical contributions are sorely missed!! :nod: Cammie and the girls!

The thing I like is, this comment, versus Stevie's recent interview talking about watching Glee, loving it, and loving being in it. :)

They're such creatively different people, and this comes back to what we've said in this thread and others recently about the Mac working as a unit of contrasts, or "reference points" if you will. I just made that up myself, by the way ;)

[QUOTE=Spikey;1011463]The thing I like is, this comment, versus Stevie's recent interview talking about watching Glee, loving it, and loving being in it. :)/QUOTE]

Those two just can't agree on anything. I really like to imagine Lindsey and Stevie fighting over the remote. Maybe in a parallel universe. :D