Elena Bernal was chosen for Stevie Nicks’ edition of MTV FANatic. Elena interviewed Stevie and shared what an inspiration Stevie has been to her.
Transcription
Stevie Nicks: Well, how are you?
Elena Bernal: I’m just fine, how are you?
Stevie: Good.
Elena: I brought these for you [hands her a dozen white roses].
Stevie: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Elena: I’m a little nervous, so just bear with me.
Stevie: Oh, that’s alright, no problem.
Elena: I was wondering, how does success differ for you as a solo artist, apart from Fleetwood Mac?
Stevie: Well, ah… being in Fleetwood Mac, you know, is being one of five. So it’s more like, ah, being in a big family. Being a solo artist is like being an only child. So there’s really good things about both and bad things about both. I don’t really like being so, ah, so much the boss. And that’s because I was in a band for so long that I never was the boss, and so to be the boss is a whole nother ball game.
Elena: Ah, was there ever any tension about including any of your solo work in Fleetwood Mac concerts?
Stevie: I thought that was great. The fact that they even wanted to ever do any of my solo work on their stage. So, ah, I was delighted that they offered to even do two songs, you know.
Elena: If you had to pick a favorite song by Christine and one by Lindsey, which ones would you pick and why?
Stevie: Christine. My favorite song of Christine’s is a song called “Oh Daddy”. That was written about Mick when he was going through his divorce with his children and everything, and it was very, kind of a sad, sad time, you know. And that song to me is very Chinese-Tibetan, you know. It has all that kind of mystic thing. And I think that the melody is the most beautiful, that she’s written. And I also love doing that on stage. For Lindsey, my favorite song… Well, I’m kinda, I’m gonna have to think about this one for a minute.
Elena: That’s okay [laughs].
Stevie: Okay, my favorite song is the instrumental that he wrote, that’s called “Stephanie.” And it’s really only called “Stephanie” because I suggested that it be called “Stephanie”.
Elena: Okay.
Stevie: And he didn’t really have a name for it. And Lindsey really doesn’t care that much about words or names, so he went for that.
Elena: You’ve been a tremendous inspiration to me. And you, through your music, were there for me at a time when I was losing everything around me. I was outted when I was in high school when I was sixteen years old. Which is a difficult time for everybody. And at that time I lost all of my friends. My parents were freaking out, to say the least.
Stevie: Right [softly].
Elena: And I really didn’t have anything else. One of the things they did do also was to throw away all my music. Anything they could find to blame this on was eliminated.
Stevie: Right.
Elena: And I basically scrapped money together, and I bought two albums. I bought Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits and I bought Bella Donna. And listening to your music, helped me learn to love myself and others and accept what was going on, and just make it through that time. I just wanted to thank you for that, it means the world to me.
Stevie: It means the world to me, you know. When I write those songs, I hope that somehow they’ll find a home somewhere and that they’ll mean something to someone except, you know, besides just me.
Elena: A lot of fans have tried to figure out and get to the meaning of “Sara.” What is the meaning for you?
Stevie: Well. “Sara” was pretty much about Mick. So, he was the ‘great dark wing’. And it was about everything that was going on at that particular time, too. But he was the reason for the, you know, the beginning of it.
Elena: If there was one thing you could go back and change in your life, professionally or personally, what would it be?
Stevie: I really wouldn’t change anything. I’m really very happy with everything, you know. The bad parts, the drugs, all that stuff. I could say, you know, ‘Isn’t that sad that that happened?’ and okay, I’ll go back and change it, but if I changed it, would I be sitting here right now? Would we be, would this be happening? Would Fleetwood Mac have just made The Dance? Would I have just done the boxed set? Would that have all happened if we had changed just one little… grain of sand of destiny? Would it all have gone another way? So I don’t think that I could change anything, so I can’t regret anything.
Elena: Many of your fans try to imitate your fashion sense. How do you feel about women who dress like you?
Stevie: I think it’s great, you know. I think that you should wear stuff that makes you look as tall and as slender as possible. Whatever that may be, and it’s usually gonna be black, you know.
Elena: How does it feel to be considered a living legend?
Stevie: [Pauses and then says with a smile] It’s a lot better than being a dead legend? You know, I mean — poet, priestess of nothing, legend — it’s really nice. I mean, it’s really nice to have people say that. It tends to make you feel old. But if you can get over the old thing, then it’s pretty neat.
Elena: Many women look to you as a role model. How do you see yourself?
Stevie: I think I’m a pretty good role model. I mean, I am now, you know. I was pretty crazy for a long time. But even then, you know, I tried to be somewhat of a… I mean, I never wanted to do anything, you know. I didn’t certainly want people to go out and do what I was doing. I wanted the best for everybody. My intentions were always really good. If people wanna end up being like me. It’s like, go into rock ‘n roll, you know, get a guitar, learn how to play. And end up crazy and eccentric and having a good time, it’s a pretty good life.
Elena: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me today. It means the world to me.
Stevie: Oh, you’re welcome, you’re welcome.
Elena: And thank you for writing, keep writing.
Stevie: I will. I keep my journal every night, you know, I go, and then I go back and take all the stuff that’s happening out of it and put it into rhyme or poetry, an’ make it into something, so there’s kind of a constant running thing of what’s going on with everybody. So thank you so much [reaches out and holds Elena’s hands].
Elena: Thank you.
Stevie: Thank you.
MTV / August 20, 1998
