Fleetmac Wood Talk True Love and the Power of Stevie Nicks in an iEDM Exclusive Interview

"I did a bit of journalism. I interviewed one of my heroes once. I realized at the end of it that I wasn't recording any of it. We still had a good time," Alex Oxley boisterously laughed.

Oxley, alongside his wife Lisa Jelliffe, form Fleetmac Wood. When paired together, the duo never fails to deliver a guaranteed epic party. An epic party involving lots and lots of groovy tunes from the legendary Fleetwood Mac. 

It was quite a journey with a lot of twists and turns before Fleetmac Wood became a reality. "I used to work for a record label and got into the whole press side. A little bit of radio as well. I always DJ'ed," said Oxley in an exclusive interview with iEDM.

"I've had a very colorful career, working for a bunch of independent companies. A lot of exciting experiences," he continued.

A person couldn't help but smile when learning about how the two first met. It gives hope to ravers all around the world when searching for their ideal rave mate.

Oxley stated, "We met at a music festival called Secret Garden. It was just the best festival in my opinion. They just had their final year. Well, who knows what they will do next?"

He then talked about the magic that was in the air. "We had an instant connection. It was love at first sight for me. We hung out and we started DJing together. We were playing a few different parties in London and Lisa got this idea about wanting to do this Fleetwood Mac thing," Oxley said.

Oxley took a deep breath before dropping a loaded question. "I was like, 'Okay, this sounds like a lot of fun, but who is going to want to listen to the same band the whole night?'"

That's when Jelliffe jumped in to continue their story. She replied, "I said, 'Listen. Trust me on this. People go back to house parties and listen to 'The Best of Fleetwood Mac' all night long.' It is a thing that happens. People don't want to say that they do that but they secretly really want to listen to it."

Jelliffe explained the rise of Fleetwood Mac's amazing comeback. "There seems to be a lot of young fans who are really into it. Five years ago it was a bit different. We came from a DJ background. We love disco, techno and house," Jelliffe said. She continued, "It was like combining those worlds. There was this real, vintage remix community appearing on SoundCloud at that time. We were contacting these really great producers to do this party and make it on a deadline." 

Once the ball got rolling, there was no stopping Fleetmac Wood's incredible vision of giving new life to older classics. "It was a fun creative project. It would have been very easy to play Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits...but that's boring. We went really deep into their back catalog to find their lesser known stuff. They had so many hits. We were really digging deep into their music and bring it to the dance floor," Jelliffe smiled.

Jelliffe went into detail about what it takes to throw a successful party with an interesting twist. "I like ideas. I'm a creative director and that has been my career for a long time. You want a party to be a talking point and you also don't want it to be so serious. Sometimes you just want to sing along and it doesn't have to be cheesy," she explained.

Jelliffe continued, "You can still have beautiful music. Beautiful, well-crafted, incredibly produced music. I think its about surprising people. As a DJ, you should always play at least one track that scares you."

Oxley laughed with a hint of seriousness, "Being too comfortable is really boring."

The lovable duo is all in favor of people pushing it to the limit and wearing outfits that are far from boring. "We really encourage people to dress up. Stevie is not a gender. She is a state of mind," Jelliffe nodded.

She then exclaimed, "We get lots of fabulous boys wearing shawls. She's fluid. It's not just girls. Men can be inspired by Stevie as well. Men can have that Stevie vibe. It's about being creative."

Besides wanting to see stylish people burn up the dance floor with nonstop energy, Fleetmac Wood wants to bring people together through the common love of Fleetwood Mac's music.

Jelliffe said, "It's about the crowd having that connection with Fleetwood Mac. Maybe for them, it's about having a connection with their parents over the song, 'Landslide.' It might be a very special song to them. Maybe they can heal some of the trauma they are going through."

She continued to speculate, "Maybe they can pretend that they are Stevie Nicks for a minute. It's about having that emotional connection on the dance floor with really loud bass. All music is healing--but dance music has that tribal-like freedom where people can dance it all out."

Oxley's infectious laugh shined yet again as he told iEDM that they will be bringing their good vibes to a lot of different festivals this year.

"We have a pretty busy schedule. We are doing Burning Man this year! We are super excited about that. After Burning Man, we are going to play a great festival in Canada called Rifflandia in Victroia, BC. Moby is playing, Zeds Dead is playing. We are doing a few festivals in the UK too," he said. 

Jelliffe chimed in, "We are big festival-goers. That's how we met. That's our natural habitat." 

Oxley thrillingly stated, "We are on the train!"

While they were in New York, the two made the most of their time in the big city. Oxley recalled, "I really had an amazing day at the Museum of Modern Art. When we have a bit of downtime, we try to do some things that aren't music related."

"Well...I was working on music," Jelliffe disagreed with a big laugh.

After sharing some laughs, Oxley explained his love for NYC. "We played here maybe about five or six times. The vibe...I used to be really into hip-hop. To be here and to be embraced by the community is fantastic. For me, it's one of the best cities in the world. There's no question. A lot of shopping. A lot of hanging out in the street and meeting people," he told iEDM. When asked about his favorite acts in hip-hop, without missing a beat, he stated, "Public Enemy. Wu-Tung, obviously."

Fleetmac Wood's ongoing mission is to keep the good times chugging right along. "We encourage anyone who is interested in creating with us to join the party," Jelliffe passionately stated.

Oxley added, "Like Lisa said, it's not about what me and her are doing in particular. We want to spread the music and get as many people as involved as we possibly can."

The two gave each other a wink for the road. "We are putting together the story of Fleetwood Mac. It's a big saga. We like to keep that story unfolding," Jelliffe said.

Oxley laughed, "Wicked, right?" 

Wicked indeed.

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Photos were graciously provided by Kevin Jackson Jr. You can view more of Kevin's work by clicking HERE.