Andrew Fletcher (musician)
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Andrew John Fletcher (known as "Fletch") , was born on 8 July 1961 in Nottingham, England. He is the co-founder and keyboardist of influential synthpop band Depeche Mode.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Depeche Mode
Fletch had originally played bass in a band with Vince Clarke, but moved on to play synthesizers in the group Composition of Sound with both Clarke and Martin Gore. These three musicians then formed Depeche Mode with vocalist David Gahan. Fletch has never been a leading musician in the group, but more of a manager, where his strong points lie. He is also the only member that has never written a song for the band, although it is indicated in one interview that he had attempted it in the past.
[edit] Role
Fletcher is the "spokesperson" of the band, often the one who announces Depeche Mode news, such as album details for Exciter in 2001 and Playing the Angel in 2004 and 2005, mainly for the press.
He is also said to be the member that brings the band together, as he was one of the main factors in helping build a compromise between an overwhelming debacle about songwriting duties for Gahan and Gore for Playing the Angel.
[edit] Popularity
Fletcher is often teased by the media and fans for not normally contributing musically to Depeche Mode songs. One reason for this is that he was not shown playing much during the years that Alan Wilder was involved. He did play more during the early days and plays much more today. He plays bass for "A Pain That I'm Used To" on Playing the Angel according to the album's producer Ben Hillier, and is seen playing bass for "The Sinner in Me" on his own Fletchcam. He's also seen playing bass in the "bare" rendition videos of Clean and Surrender from the Playing the Angel sessions, seen on the Playing the Angel bonus disc and the Depeche Mode Receiver respectively.
Despite the barracking, Fletcher is said to be a relatively accomplished musician and plays most of the synthesized chords during live shows, the more complex arrangements being assigned to long-term session musicians (and to Alan Wilder between 1982-1995). The majority of Depeche Mode's bass sounds are created on synthesizers, and Fletcher inherited keyboard duties in late-1981 when Vince Clarke left the band, the bass guitar having been his instrument of choice. When Alan Wilder joined the band in early 1982, Fletcher was only just coming to terms with his keyboard role and in the convening years, his musical input has been limited to contributing generic ideas to preformulated Gore/Gahan songs.
[edit] Almost solo
Interestingly, according to the official Depeche Mode biography, Fletch recorded a solo album entitled Toast Hawaii, named after his favourite dish in the studio canteen. It was recorded during the Some Great Reward sessions in 1984. All the songs on the album are cover songs on which he sings lead vocals. The album features Alan Wilder and/or Martin Gore on the piano and the cover photo was taken by Wilder. However, they could not convince Daniel Miller to release it, so it only exists in rare copies. Fletcher has been criticized for his voice, and is the only member of Depeche Mode that does not sing (except for the hidden song "Crucified" on Violator, the song "Condemnation" where he's said to have sung with Martin and Alan for the background vocals and "The Sun and the Rainfall" where he can be heard towards the end of the song singing the "All that I'm saying..." refrain in the right speaker of the mix). Although he is seen singing during live performances, it is usually only heard through his stage monitors.
[edit] Toast Hawaii
In recent years, Andy Fletcher has founded a record label, Toast Hawaii, the same name of his supposed lost album, in order to promote the band Client. As well as this, he also DJs sometimes. All looked bright but Side-Line Magazine announced in October 2006 that Client had left the Toast Hawaii label which makes the future of the label quite unsure.
[edit] Personal life
Fletch has been married to Grainne (pronounced "Grann-yuh") for 14 years and has two children, Megan and Joe. Fletcher's parents are Joy and John. He has three siblings; Susan, Karen and Simon.
[edit] Trivia
- His favourite Depeche Mode song is World in My Eyes.
- He supports Chelsea FC, though he is not from London.
- So far, Fletch is responsible for the title of documentary on the remastered versions of Violator and Music for the Masses. The titles were taking from phrases that he had said during the interviews.
- A light-hearted parody of Depeche Mode's "Somebody", entitled "Some Valium for Fletch" was released on the internet, and features lyrics alluding to - among several other things - Fletch's breakdown during the Devotional Tour.
- Fletch is often seen smoking on stage and his favourite cigarette brand is Marlboro Light.
- Fletch's voice can be heard on the interlude "Crucified" on Violator. His only line "Crucified" (and the only line of the song) is distorted. The song plays at the end of "Enjoy the Silence". He also sings prominent backing vocals on "The Sun and the Rainfall" during the final refrains.[citation needed]
- Has to this day remained close friends with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke.
