James Croot.
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 Mom and Dad were there. I want her to know I hope she comes this time. Let me buy her Mom and 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 Karat Gold Tour.
When asked what she thinks of the artist born Ella Marija Lani YelichO’Connor, the multi-Grammy 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-foot1 style icon with the distinctive voice and symbolic lyrics has been an inspiration to the generations of female singer-songwriters 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.