Based in Chester, UK, Matthew Simon Fletcher (Fletch) is a musician, songwriter/composer, and arranger. Specialising in the heavy metal genres, along with orchestral and electronic music and soundscapes. With over fifteen years of experience as a member of bands such as Public Outcry, The Nottingjam Orchestra, Curse Of Dawn and Disconnected Souls, he has recently started to promote himself as a freelance collaborator and breached out into other areas such as soundscaping and music production. Having started his musical development as a keyboardist whilst at school, he has since taken up the electric and bass guitar to allow him to gain experience to write proficiently for these. Being a lefty, he taught himself to play these on upside down (right-handed) instruments whilst at school! His endless passion for music though has also meant that he has picked up a variety of others over the years, including the trumpet, Balinese Gamelan, and steel drums. Fletch is currently involved primarily with the metal band Disconnected Souls, which produces powerful and contrasting music by breaking down traditional genre boundaries. The experimental composition involves incorporating many influences including metal, classical, electronic and world music with complex soundscapes and catchy anthemic aspects. Previous projects include the symphonic metal band Curse Of Dawn, and he has been involved with the live improvisation ensemble Nottingjam Orchestra. Features on the debut EP of progressive metallers Fight The Tornado and involvement with the gothic electronic project Sensory Enigma, have seen Fletch show off further versatility across such diverse genres and writing styles. His compositional methods have derived from an understanding of how different instruments operate by themselves and as part of an ensemble. For example, he discusses that playing guitar within a band and as part of the school orchestra have a vastly different focus, and so it’s important to write both within the capabilities/limitation of the instrument and to provide support to parts but without drawing attention away from the overall sound. Having said that he wasn’t averse to being a little mischievous and would often crank up the distortion on the amp still during some more “traditional” classical pieces! It is perhaps not to surprising that this love of combining genres with very different natures has carried through into his composing today and this has been reflected within positive feedback from the industry. Disconnected Souls’ debut EP ‘Warring Elements’ was declared a “Staggering debut” by Planet Mosh, and Scream Blast Repeat noted that “Chief songwriter, Matthew Simon Fletcher, will not settle for your acquiescence at any point unless you can navigate through his compositions with an open mind”. Fletch is currently involved in writing the upcoming album for Disconnected Souls, a variety of commissions for a LARP enthusiast, and preparing for a few new and top-secret projects…