Andrew Fletcher BioAndrew John Fletcher was born in Nottingham, England, on July 8, 1961. 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. Although it has been a topic of confusion for many fans, Fletcher has stated that he plays bass in Depeche Mode; programmed on the synthesizer, in addition to electric bass as played on the Songs of Faith and Devotion album. He can also be seen playing keyboards live and in rehearsal videos.
Fletcher is also 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.
Fletcher is often teased by the media and fans for not normally contributing musically to Depeche Mode songs. 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.
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. 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. 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. Personal life
Fletcher's parents are Joy and John.
