by Mike Doherty
Spinner
After Stevie Nicks released 'Trouble in Shangri-La' in 2001, she thought she'd never record another solo album again. The process was tiresome and besides, she still had her longtime band Fleetwood Mac to satisfy her musical creativity.
Now, 10 years later, she's back with 'In Your Dreams' -- a rich, dynamic album co-written and co-produced by Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart, and featuring Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood on drums and ex-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and vocals. From a San Francisco hotel room, on a rare night off from her recent tour with Rod Stewart, Nicks told Spinner about gaining inspiration from a lost friend, how recording this album changed her life and why she and Lindsey are like Bella and Edward from 'Twilight.'
On your recent tour with Rod Stewart, was there a friendly rivalry between the two of you? Would you ever tell him before a show, "I'm going to go out and wipe the floor with you tonight?"
Oh no, you would never say something like that to Rod Stewart [laughs]. Even though he's only a few years older than me, he is from a generation before me. Rod Stewart was a big rock star before Lindsey [Buckingham] and I even moved to Los Angeles. He was one of my big inspirations: Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Janis, Jimi ...
You and Lindsey got a record deal in 1972 as Buckingham Nicks. Would you have been signed in 2011?
The music business is in terrible shape right now because artists don't sell ten million albums anymore. [Labels are] not making all that money, so they can't have a whole slew of bands that they're helping and developing. Lindsey and I were really lucky. I was just a waitress for four years, and he wasn't [working]. It was okay because we worked on our music, we had a four-track Ampex tape recorder, and we were able to survive.
But I don't see how the kids can do it today. I feel sorry for them. I want it to happen, because in 20 years, I don't want everybody to be just listening to the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin; I want this generation to have their own rock stars that last. But it's going to be very hard for the kids that are popular right now to still be doing this when they're 40.
We're so used to hearing about how your albums have had difficult gestation periods, but you've said that making 'In Your Dreams' was great -- it must be a relief.
Well, this is how it should be. When you make records with Fleetwood Mac, they're difficult. That's not to say they're not amazing -- they obviously are, and that's why I am famous; every time I drive up to my gorgeous house, I go, "This is the house that Fleetwood Mac built." So did we argue? Yes. Did we have fights? Yes. But was the music that came out of it fantastic? Yes. However, it was difficult.
Even making my own records -- between 'Bella Donna' in 1981 and 'Shangri-La' in 2001 -- was difficult. [With this album], I have been reminded that you can make great music and have a good time doing it, and that you don't have to be heartbroken and freaking out. [You can] go back to your poetry from the last 30 years, and if you want those passionate, crazy moments, you can find them in your writing.
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