Still going her own way
Fleetwood Mac’s first lady of rock ‘n’ roll hopes concerts might provide Perfect Places for the singersongwriters to meet, writes James Croot.
‘ If I have a little extra time on this trip, I would just love to stay somewhere by the sea.’ STEVIE NICKS
While Stevie Nicks will perform to tens of thousands of Kiwis during her two concerts in November, there’s three she’s particularly hoping will be there. The 69-year-old American singer songwriter admits that she was disappointed after her last appearance in Auckland in late 2015 as part of Fleetwood Mac, that she didn’t know Lorde and her parents were there until after the show.
‘‘She didn’t let me know she was coming,’’ Nicks opines down the phoneline from a sunny south of France. ‘‘I remember it rained the entire show – like Niagara Falls. It was an amazingly difficult, yet incredibly euphoric performance. Everybody was in apricot, blue and pink rain ponchos. But then I found out after I left that Lorde and her Momand Dad were there. I want her to know I hope she comes this time. Let me buy herMomand Dad tickets and I can meet them all.’’
Nicks will be joined by The Pretenders, including their legendary singer Chrissie Hynde, for concerts at Auckland’s Spark Arena (November 21) and Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium (November 24) as part of her global 24 Karat Gold Tour.
When asked what she thinks of the artist born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, the multiGrammy Award nominee and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer says simply ‘‘she is so good’’.
‘‘She is a little odd too, and that why I like her.’’
Influenced herself by the likes of Grace Slick and Janis Joplin, the 5-foot-1 style icon with the distinctive voice and symbolic lyrics has been an inspiration to the generations of female singersongwriters that have followed her since she first joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975.
Beyonce, Courtney Love, Belinda Carlisle, The Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crowe, Taylor Swift and Delta Goodrem have all cited Nicks as someone whose career and skill they would love to emulate.
Humbled, Nicks excitedly recalls her recent collaboration with Lana Del Ray on the latter’s new album Lust for Life. Nicks features on the song Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems.
‘‘It’s really a good song and we worked on it for three nights and we had a lot of fun. I think we’re going to be very good friends and I’m really excited about that. She is really something. She’s a very different girl. I told her ‘you’re an odd duck’. I had to assure her that that is a very good thing, ‘because the odd ducks are the ones that really stand out and she is not like anyone else – she’s very different.’’
So impressed was Nicks by the multi-talented del Ray that she believed the singer-songwriter could also have another career as a film director.
‘‘She is so talented. It’s one thing to write all your songs and sing them, quite another to write your music videos and have people go along with it. I tried it once with [1983’s] Stand Back. It was such an epic failure that I thought ‘I’ll never do that again’. I had to make the video over with real people who knew how to make it. It’s very hard and she writes them herself and then she directs them. I was like, ‘Lana, this is what you should do – make movies and direct them and then do the soundtrack’, because she’s that good and she has an oddly beautiful voice. I just want everybody to hear it.’’
But although Nicks is excited about the number of talented young women making strong statements on the world through their songs, she worries about how hard it is today for them to get their music heard.
‘‘Yes, you can put your music out on the internet, but it’s not like it was in the 1970s when we signed with a record label and they were willing to put a tonne of money into your work and really back you up.
‘‘People try to tell me that the internet is great for music and give me lectures on streaming and Spotify. However, I still don’t even know what half those things are because I don’t have a computer and I’m not on the internet. I don’t think it’s good for the music industry all all, but it is what it is – just because Stevie Nicks doesn’t like the internet or computers doesn’t mean people are just going to throw them away. I’ve finally come to the place where I understand and am comfortable with what it now is.’’
However, that doesn’t stop her wishing computers and the internet had never come to be.
‘‘I know all the people that love them will disagree with me, but I just think it is such a very unromantic world now because everyone is either always on their phones, always on their computer, or always on their iPod. And I think, ‘are you living your life? Living in the minute? Do you have to film everything? Take a breath and look at how beautiful it is around you’.’’
One of the things Nicks loves about New Zealand and keeps drawing her back is its natural beauty.
‘‘I feel good when I’m there. It kind of reminds me of England and Wales. It’s craggy and mountainy and green and it’s so romantic and beautiful. I would love to have a little house there near the ocean and go there and write songs.
‘‘If I have a little extra time on this trip, I would just love to stay somewhere by the sea.’’
Surely that’s one of the great things of being an established performer now, she can pretty much choose her own schedule?
‘‘That’s true. This south of KRISTIN BURNS France thing I’m doing now only happened because I got an offer to do a corporate show. I’ve never been here before. But one of the reasons I decided to do it was because Chrissie Hynde said she loved this part of the world and ‘you should go there sometime’.
It’s clear that Nicks has great affection for her tour mate. The pair have been packing arenas and stadiums off and on for almost a year now.
Nicks admits that she wasn’t sure that Hynde would agree to teaming up and was really thrilled when The Pretenders’ frontwoman said yes.
‘‘I wanted to make sure she knew right from the beginning that I didn’t think she was opening for me – that it was an overall ‘vibe’ between us. My show is two-and-a-half hours and Chrissie does close to 90 minutes.
‘‘It’s been so much fun and we’ve done so well. It has sold out everywhere. It’s the biggest tour I’ve ever done.’’
Another bonus, Nicks says, is that she and Hynde have become really good friends
‘‘It’s just a gas to be with her. She’s fun and really smart. I don’t think she likes everybody, but she likes me and I like her so we are a good team. We also both have very strong beliefs and are very strong in what we do.
‘‘It has been more fun for me than really any tour I’ve been on ever, because it’s like a girl power tour.’’