Lindsey Buckingham Talks Musical Inspirations

Lindsey Buckingham is opening up about what inspires him during the creative process when making music. The musician goes into detail about the topic in a video shared to social media, captioned, "Remember, you always have choices."

"The thing about new music or about continuing to make any music at all is that you are again presented with a choice," he states in the video clip. "Do you follow your instincts? Do you following your gut? Do follow your vision? Do you take risks? Or do you find yourself somewhat caught in repeating formulas or concepts of yourself that have been defined externally for you?"

Buckingham then talks about an artist who once said to him, "I just don't get excited about making my albums anymore. I don't get excited about writing." Buckingham responded, saying, "Well, you know, you have taken that road of fulfilling expectations that are foisted on you to some degree."

He adds, talking about Fleetwood Mac: "I had the luxury to be in a hugely successful band that could have swallowed me alive. But, I somehow was able to use the opportunity from that to reject some of what that was about on a commercial level, on a monetary level, even on an artistic level."

It's always great to see a legend such as Buckingham opening up to the world about the creative process. Buckingham's guitar playing is so distinct. Inside Fleetwood Mac, he was the restless engine, sanding down pop songs until they gleamed and then adding a rock edge to them. Buckingham plays guitar like he's arguing with it and winning. In Fleetwood Mac, his fingers snap and glide, no pick, all nerve. He turns rhythm into lead and lead into architecture. There's tension in every note and a little bite. That's what makes him one of the best.