Andy Fletcher: biography, career, personal life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Andy Fletcher, better known as Fletch, is an English keyboardist who founded an electronic band called Depeche Mode. He can play the synthesizer and bass guitar. The musician knows how to cook, owns his own restaurant and currently lives in London.

Biography

Andy Fletcher was born on July 8, 1961 in Nottingham, England. He has four siblings, among whom he is the oldest. When the boy was only two years old, he and his family moved to Basildon from Nottingham. There, from early childhood, he was a member of an international interfaith Christian youth organization created specifically for boys.

Andy Fletcher played football here. It was in this organization that the guy met the future member of the Depeche Mode group - Vince Clarke. Later, in their joint interviews, they recalled how they did missionary work together and sang in the church choir. Andy Fletcher's height is 191 centimeters.

Group formation

In the 70s, Andy Fletcher and his friend Vince Clarke created a musical group in China called No Romance, which did not last long. Fletch played bass there.

In 1980, the musician met Basildon Martin Lee Gore in the Van Gogh pub. Together with him, the guys formed a new group, Composition of Sound, where the founder played the synthesizer. Martin was the songwriter and provided lead vocals until Dave Gahan was recruited at the end of that year. After the replenishment of the participants, it was decided to rename the group to Depeche Mode, which was initiated by Dave. His proposal was approved by all the musicians.

In 1981 the band released their debut album Speak & Spell. After this event, Vince Clarke decided to leave. A year later, the guys released their second album, which was recorded by the three of them with Martin - before that he was only a songwriter.

At the end of 1982, English musician and composer Alan Wilder joined them. The musical group worked with him until 1995, in which Alan left the band. After that, Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore performed only as a threesome.

In 2005, the group released their eleventh album "Angel Game". In 2017, they released their third album, after which the guys went on a world tour.

In one of the documentaries, Fletch talked about how after Vince Clarke left the band, each of the remaining ones was doing something new that suited him best: Martin composed words and music, Alan became a musician, Dave did vocals. Andy Fletcherjokingly remarked that he himself was a loafer. However, he is considered an important member of the group. He often took on non-musical responsibilities, handling the group's legal and business interests before they acquired a personal manager.

Also, Andy Fletcher announced the news about the tour and albums to the guys. It is he who manages to maintain a friendly working team and a pleasant atmosphere. Once he managed to reconcile Dave and Martin, who were arguing, by accepting a compromise between them. Also, Fletch is the only member of the group who does not sing, but only plays keyboards. Although his voice can be heard in concerts, he usually mixes a lot with others. Moreover, the musician has not used vocal microphones on his keyboard station since 2013.

Albums and own label

According to members of Depeche Mode, Andy Fletcher's humorous solo album Toast Hawaii is named after his favorite dish - Hawaiian toast, which he tried in the recording studio cafeteria. It was recorded in Berlin while working on the English electronic band's fourth studio album.

In 2002, Andy Fletcher started his own label, from where Hawaiian Toast originates. He formed a new electronic music group called CLIENT. The musician worked on the release of their albums and singles of the same name. Andy Fletcher's band left the label in 2006 and have not returned to the label since.

DJ career

Andy Fletcher toto support the performances of the group of his label, he tried himself as a DJ. Later it became his hobby, and when Andy is on leave from working as a member of the main group, he performs in clubs and festivals in Europe, Asia, South America, as well as in places that he had long wanted to visit, but could not for some reason.. His DJ set in Warsaw, which the musician held in 2011, is widely known. In 2015, he even went on a small European club tour.

Private life

The musician married his longtime girlfriend - Grinna Mullan. The wedding took place on January 16, 1991. Andy Fletcher and his wife live happily ever after. The couple have two children, Megan and Joe.

During one of the tours as part of the main group, the guy showed excellent skills when playing chess. One of the musicians Andy Fletcher collaborated with, Neil Arthur, once jokingly said in an interview that it is better to never play chess with Fletch, because you will be doomed to lose. Also, the guy had his own restaurant in St. John's Wood, London in the 90s.