Mick On Mac:

How Rock's Most Volatile Lineup Decided To Get Along

by Rex Rutkoski

"This band has had emotional ties with one another. These are people that cried and laughed and cried for years. This is a very special, powerful, moment for us, this whole reconvening of Fleetwood Mac." --Mick Fleetwood

After emerging from their own heart of darkness, these are the best of times for that enduring institution known as Fleetwood Mac.

That cheerful assessment comes from one of the band's namesakes and founders, Mick Fleetwood.

The magic is back, he insists. "This band is playing better than 20 years ago, and so we should. We have perfected our craft as people and players and performers. It's a very vibrant situation," the 50-year-old Fleetwood says.

"It doesn't for one moment feel like firing on three cylinders at all. This thing is totally cohesive, and it's a good show."

The centerpiece of the group's reunion was the live MTV special and release of THE DANCE, the recording of that concert. The album offers renditions of 13 Big Mac classics, from "Dreams" to "Rhiannon," "Don't Stop" to "Tusk," as well as such tracks as "The Chain" and "Silver Springs."

The album, produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Elliot Schiener, also features four new songs, including the Christine McVie composition "Temporary One," Stevie Nicks' "Sweet Girl" and two new Buckingham tracks, "Bleed To Love Her" and "My Little Dream."

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the band's landmark RUMOURS album and the 30th anniversary of the founding of the original Fleetwood Mac.

Mick Fleetwood draws from that bank of memories and shares his thoughts about the future in this conversation. Fleetwood Mac will perform at a sold-out Gund Arena this Monday, November 24.

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SCENE: How is the tour going?

Mick Fleetwood: It's been going very well. It's really gratifying starting a tour, and it's all basically sold out. And it was from the moment tickets went on sale. That and just having had a number one album, we couldn't be wanting for anything. It's just fantastic. The audience is great. They are wilder than ever, and understandably so. The demographics is very spread [out] -- people in their late 40s and so forth and also a lot of young people out there, which is great for us. It's a really nice vibe. There's a sense of history that takes place at a concert. People bring their memories. They are remembering being at college and seeing Fleetwood Mac and things like that. There's a sentimental value aspect, too, in addition to a great rock and roll show.

SCENE: You've said that you were always uncertain whether a reunion of this nature would ever happen. Did it surprise you when it finally happened?

MF: Yes, but Lindsey and myself had worked together for nearly a year in the studio prior to this. A lot of healing had taken place. We reaffirmed a great relationship between just two guys, and musically we were having a lot of fun in the studio doing the work on Lindsey's album. And that allowed this to even be contemplated. It became a reality. Chris came in and did keyboards. John came in and did some songs. We had all creatively been aligned before any business had been discussed in terms of us going on the road. Obviously, the tongues started wagging when half of Fleetwood Mac was working in the studio. At that point, we all started saying it was not a question that we would never do it, but it was a question of when. We realized we were having fun doing it, and it was a real possibility. And Lindsey had a great comfort with not being threatened with the wheels and world of Fleetwood Mac. He spent a long time on his own reaffirming who he was as a musician and person. He realized that what he represents artistically would not only survive in Fleetwood Mac, but survive when we stopped doing it. We are blown away by the results. I felt pretty comfortable this would not be a failure. I had no idea it would be received to the accolades and proportions that it has been. It's a great scenario to be involved in.

SCENE: What's your favorite moment in concert now?

MF: I think it's walking on the stage knowing people are just literally adoring you. There's no better feeling than that. Everyone is so very well represented during the show. It's two-and-a-half hours of really well-balanced material, some quirky stuff, some classical stuff. It's five people, five players, five singers. That's what the show is. It's about five people, not about bombs going off, not about dancers coming out in G-strings. It's about Fleetwood Mac and their music.

SCENE: When it comes down to it, what is the strength of Fleetwood Mac? MF: When it does function, we've always paid a lot of attention and taken a lot of care with what we do. That integrity, which is how I hope people see it, is there. As strange and as crazy as we've been, there was always an underlining thing that if we do it, we've got to do it really properly. A lot of care and attention is given to the albums, making albums, and a lot of passion certainly is demonstrated there. The passion word is what makes this band pretty damn unique in the way people identify with the individuals in Fleetwood Mac. There is something really human about us as a bunch. The music is one thing. As glitzy as this business can get, there is still something really accessible with these people in Fleetwood Mac. You can feel people really identify with the painful moments and happy moments this band has had.

SCENE: There's been some great loyalty shown by fans...
MF: Fantastic. You cannot ask for a better situation to have had that loyalty.

SCENE: Where do you see all this heading after this tour? Is this more than just a one-time reunion?

MF: We don't know. One of the things we vowed when we started doing this [again] is we weren't going to get the pressure cloud we had for so many years, where we are going out for two-and-a-half years. We all have our lives, and we want to keep our own well-being. With that in mind, we want to do our own things and certainly remain open to other possibilities. We are now in the position where we have a lot of options. And those options being there, there is no doubt this band could go someplace in the future and make a fantastic studio album. All the craftsmanship and writing skills are intact. We are getting along great. It's a much more . We're not sitting around pressing the wrong buttons. We know each other far too well. We don't want any of that negative side that basically this band has had. We worked too hard for too long. All the relationships were so intermingled. It was too much basically. We survived it. We were able to do that in good humor. We are good friends. This band has had emotional ties with one another. These are people that cried and laughed and cried for years. This is a very special, powerful, moment for us, this whole reconvening of Fleetwood Mac. It's a very happy tour. It's gratifying. It's going very well. Whatever happens now, this, at the very least, has been a fantastic excursion for Fleetwood Mac and, I hope, for people who enjoyed the band. I would always say we are so musically equipped to make more music. If you ask me what I would like to happen, I would tell you I would love us to do that. Whether that happens or not, I don't know. If nothing happens, we've had a great run.

SCENE: Do you have any idea what the public's perception of Fleetwood Mac might be?

MF: I feel they see a lot of regular people [in us], with a lot of regular human weaknesses and strengths, just a bunch of people struggling to make it.

SCENE: When someone next century sits down to write a definitive history of music in this century, what should Fleetwood Mac's place be in the history of rock?

MF: With all the variety of music and people who have been in Fleetwood Mac, the group has always been a real home where the framework of Fleetwood Mac has allowed a real nurturing of some fantastic talents who came in and out of the band during its career. I think that's what Fleetwood Mac really represents -- a fantastic framework for people to blossom in.

SCENE: Do you feel the band has helped advance rock music?

MF: There is a lesson to be learned from us -- that it's perfectly cool to take a lot of trouble with what you do. Rather than look at it as an indulgence, look at it as resources and time spent doing what you want to represent. We've never been scared of making a new album and spending so much time in the studio making an album.

SCENE: What were your goals in making THE DANCE?

MF: Once we decided to do the MTV thing, it was a good problem to have when you have three singer-songwriters, and you've got to find the right way to balance their strengths. It was fun recreating the old work. It was very gratifying to know we still had all those chops working together if we want to turn on the new creative part [for a studio album].

SCENE: You certainly can't call Fleetwood Mac a dinosaur band.

MF: You absolutely can't. All the cynics who may have been out there when we started pretty much have come full circle in almost an apology type thing, which is well taken or realized. I don't get that dinosaur feeling at all from the reviews and the atmosphere at the shows. People are really happy we are doing this now. It is not the "D" word. This is alive and very well. Lindsey said one of the things that makes this band survive on a real version of surviving is that there is a certain darkness to some of the work we did, which made the other side commercially popular. We are commercially popular music, and yet we are not. We have survived because there is an underlying thread of realness. Crafting of a pop song is certainly something that, as a band, we've become really good at. Songs that are accessible, that's what a popular song is. But yet there's depth there. All these songs have a darkness to them that is not flippant. We have fun with what we do, yet there is an underlining thing that is taken seriously, that balance we have ended up wandering into or crafting, I'm not quite sure which it is sometimes. [laughs] That's a fair description of what we are and why we are still here.

SCENE: What haven't you done in music that you would still like to do?

MF: As a musician and player, I would love to play with and certainly produce Peter Green, the original guitar player in Fleetwood Mac. That would be one hell of a pleasure personally to work with Peter again. That would give me a great deal of pleasure.
SCENE: It would be great to introduce him to a younger generation that might not be aware of his talents.

MF: Yes. He gave me a lot back then in terms of confidence and understanding what's important musically. Now he's playing again and having fun playing.