A Rocking Design for Fleetwood Mac

Page designer Kate Dibble has had the honor of working with Mick Fleetwood and Steve Rinkov of the famed Fleetwood Mac rock band on the designs of the band’s tour drum sets for several years. She described the process and inspiration behind the most recent one.

Kate explained, “We knew we wanted to integrate Mick's love for Hawaii,” where he lives, “so we used native Polynesian tattoo art as our inspiration. The main focus in the design is a fish hook, a significant piece to the origin story of Maui and a symbol for strength, prosperity and good luck.” Mick, the drummer and co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, even wears one around his neck.

“Each fish hook is surrounded by a collection of shark teeth, which symbolize protection and power. We worked closely with John Goode, the vice president of Drum Workshop in California, to hand-select the veneer for every drum in the set.”

Koa wood was a natural choice as it’s native to the Hawaiian Islands and its natural density provides the stability needed for consistency of sound in musical instruments. This is especially important for those that are getting a lot of wear and tear on the road each night.

Kate has been teaming  with Steve Rinkov, the drum tech and second drummer, since the mid-2000s, when the drum set collaboration began. The first set they collaborated on together is on display in the main dining room of Mick’s restaurant on Maui, Fleetwood’s on Front St. If you find yourself in Lahaina, be sure to stop by and take a look at Kate’s work!