NICK FLETCHER

The jazz rock guitarist and John Hackett Band member discusses his classical influences and the threads of mysticism that run through his work.

- Mike Barnes

Initially drawn to rock music, Nick Fletcher was inspired by Julian Bream and Andrés Segovia to study classical guitar at Huddersfield School Of Music. And although “for a teenager it wasn’t the coolest thing to do”, he felt justified in that Steve Hackett and Jan Akkerman had also explored that style.

On graduating in 1981, Fletcher played electric guitar in a prog band, Plan B, with keyboardist Dave Bainbridge, but they struggled to gain recognition. From 1990 there followed a period of 25 years spent teaching and composing classical guitar music, with solo albums, and duets with flautist John Hackett. In 2015 Fletcher took up the electric again and has played and recorded with the John Hackett Band and released a number of prog/jazz fusion solo albums. The most recent, the instrumental Quadrivium, released on Rough Draft Audio in September, features Bainbridge and Caroline Bonnett on keyboards and former Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles.

Would you say your classical guitar training informed your electric playing?

Yes, having that background made playing the electric guitar easier and also gave me a greater understanding of the instrument; how the notes fitted together on the fingerboard. It helped me enormously to unlock the guitar.

Which electric guitarists influenced you?

From the late 60s, there was a wave of incredibly talented players: Steve Howe, Jan Akkerman, David Gilmour, Steve Hackett, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page – the list goes on. I was fortunate to grow up in an era when I could assimilate that. John McLaughlin became a big influence, and Allan Holdsworth – his concept and approach to playing the guitar was very different and resonated with me.