Stuart Michael Fletcher (born 16 January 1976 in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

player. He is best known as the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

John Squire Jonathan Thomas Squire (born 24 November 1962)Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, is an English musician, songwriter and painter. He was the guitarist for the Stone Roses, a rock band in w ...

's post

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

band,

The Seahorses The Seahorses were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1996 by guitarist John Squire, following his departure from The Stone Roses. The band released their debut album ''Do It Yourself'' in 1997, and began work on a follow-up before sp ...

. Prior to joining The Seahorses, Fletcher had been performing in local York bands since the age of 11. On 22 March 1996 Fletcher was spotted by Squire in the York venue Fibbers, where he was playing with local blues pub band The Blueflies. He was filling in for the band's usual bass player, who was unable to play due to

repetitive strain injury A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is an injury to part of the musculoskeletal or nervous system caused by repetitive use, vibrations, compression or long periods in a fixed position. Other common names include repetitive stress injury, repetitiv ...

. Following the gig, Fletcher was handed a cassette of demos Squire had recorded and asked to join the band. Since the demise of the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

, Fletcher has continued to play with local York bands such as

Hayley Hutchinson Hayley Hutchinson (born 1981 in Northumberland) is an English folk/acoustic rock singer and freelance illustrator from the Yorkshire Wolds. She has released four solo albums and also co-fronts The Sorry Kisses with Nine Black Alps frontman Sam ...

, The Yards featuring fellow ex-Seahorse

Chris Helme Christopher Alan Helme (born 22 July 1971 in Howden, Yorkshire) is an English singer-songwriter, formerly the frontman of John Squire's post-Stone Roses band The Seahorses. History Early days (1990–1996) Helme began singing and performin ...

, and

Rick Witter Richard James Witter (born 23 November 1972) is a singer/songwriter in the York-based band Shed Seven. He was educated at Huntington School, York. Professional career Rick Witter formed his first band with schoolfriend Paul Banks (musician, b ...

's band,

Rick Witter & The Dukes Rick Witter & the Dukes are a United Kingdom, British alternative rock band (music), band from York, England. Band members * Rick Witter (Vocals) * Rob Wilson (Guitars) * Stuart Fletcher (musician), Stuart Fletcher (Bass) * Matt Lunn (Drums) ...

. He has also done session work for

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up consisted of brothers Shaun Ryder (vocals) and Paul Ryder (bass), Gaz Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry la ...

, Saint Etienne, The Calling and Chris Helme. In 2009 he organised a charity gig in aid of the Guardian Angels high dependency unit for children at York Hospital. The objective was to climb the 5,895-metre summit of

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

in aid of the charity. Fletcher joined We Could Be Astronauts in 2011 playing

T in the Park 2012 T in the Park 2012 was a three-day music festival which took place from 6–8 July 2012 in Balado, Kinross. The Stone Roses were announced as the first headline act on 8 November 2011, appearing on Saturday 7 July 2012. Snow Patrol and Kasabian ...

on the BBC Introducing stage. Since 2012, Fletcher has also been a member of the Heather Findlay Band and York-based band Van Der Neer. More recently as well as regular gigs with the York-based cover band The Mothers, he is also playing in Chris Johnson's band Halo Blind and Heather Findlay's Mantra Vega. Fletcher has been the bassist of Hurricane #1 since 2018.

References

External links

Official We Could Be Astronauts siteThe Yards Official siteThe Mothers Official siteRick Witter & The DukesVan Der Neer Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Stuart 1976 births English male bass guitarists English session musicians Living people Musicians from York 21st-century English bass guitarists 21st-century English male musicians Happy Mondays members The Seahorses members