Captured image from "Andy Fletcher: One Night in Warsaw.
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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Contents
- 1 Career
- 1.1 Depeche
Mode
- 1.1.1 Role
- 1.1.2 Popularity
- 1.2 Almost
solo
- 1.3 Toast
Hawaii/DJ Career
- 2 Personal
life
- 3 Trivia
- 4 External
links
|
Career
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. In 1980, these three
musicians 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.
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 that settled the serious dispute between Gahan and Gore over
songwriting duties for Playing the Angel.
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). When Alan
Wilder joined the band in early 1982, Fletcher had begun to take on the
role of a manager and in the convening years, his musical input has
been limited to contributing generic ideas to preformulated Gore/Gahan
songs.
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 four-part
harmony at the end of the "New Life", 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.
Toast Hawaii/DJ Career
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.
In October 2006, Side-Line Magazine announced that
Client had left the Toast Hawaii label which makes the future of the
label quite unsure.
As well as this, he also DJs sometimes. Most of his DJ gigs happened,
while on tour with Client. His style has been in the standard "Bedroom
DJ" format; picking songs and creating a set list. Nonetheless, the
crowds that he has DJed for have enjoyed the sets that he has done,
especially when he plays a Depeche Mode track or anything related to Mute
Records. One such event that he DJed was documented in "Andy Fletcher:
One Night in Warsaw." Fletcher is going to do a small DJ tour, in July
2007, mostly in Italy and Greece.
Personal life
Fletch has been married to Grainne (pronounced 'Grar-nee-ah')
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, and is
the eldest. He dated English actress Jennifer
Saunders for almost a year in the early 1980's.
Trivia
- His favourite Depeche Mode song is World
in My Eyes.
- He supports Chelsea FC, though he is not from London.
- 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.
- Has to this day remained close friends with former Depeche
Mode member Vince Clarke.
External links
| v • d • e Depeche Mode |
David Gahan | Martin
Gore | Andrew
Fletcher
Vince Clarke | Alan
Wilder |
| Discography |
|
Studio albums: Speak
& Spell | A
Broken Frame | Construction Time Again
| Some Great Reward
| Black Celebration
| Music for the Masses
| Violator | Songs of Faith and
Devotion | Ultra
| Exciter | Playing
the Angel
Compilations: People Are People
| The Singles 81>85
| Catching Up with
Depeche Mode | The
Singles 86>98 | Remixes
81 - 04 | The
Best Of, Volume 1 | The Complete Depeche Mode
Live albums: 101
| Songs of Faith and
Devotion Live | Recording
the Angel
Tribute albums: For
the Masses | A Techno Tribute to
Depeche Mode | Color Theory
presents Depeche Mode
Singles: "Dreaming
of Me" | "New
Life" | "Just Can't Get Enough" | "See You" | "The
Meaning of Love" | "Leave in Silence" | "Get
the Balance Right" | "Everything Counts" | "Love,
in Itself" | "People Are People" | "Master
and Servant" | "Blasphemous Rumours"
/ "Somebody" | "Shake
the Disease" | "It's Called a Heart" | "Stripped"
/ "But Not Tonight" | "A Question of Lust" | "A
Question of Time" | "Strangelove" | "Never Let Me Down Again" | "Behind
the Wheel" | "Little
15" | "Everything Counts (Live)"
| "Personal
Jesus" | "Enjoy the Silence" | "Policy
of Truth" | "World in My Eyes" | "I Feel
You" | "Walking in My Shoes" | "Condemnation"
| "In
Your Room" | "Barrel
of a Gun" | "It's No Good" | "Home" | "Useless"
| "Only When I Lose Myself" | "Dream On" | "I Feel
Loved" | "Freelove"
| "Goodnight Lovers" | "Enjoy
the Silence 04" | "Precious" | "A Pain That I'm Used To" | "Suffer
Well" | "John the Revelator" / "Lilian" | "Martyr"
|
| Videography |
|
The World
We Live In and Live in Hamburg | Some
Great Videos | Strange
| 101 | Strange
Too | Devotional
| The Videos 86>98
| One Night in Paris
| Touring the Angel:
Live in Milan
|
| Related
articles |
| Synthpop
| Depeche Mode Tours | Mute
Records | Paper Monsters
| Counterfeit e.p.
| Counterfeit² | Toast Hawaii | Recoil
| Mute Records discography |
