Fletcher Dragge.html



Fletcher Dragge (c. 1966 [1]) is the lead guitar player of the successful punk rock band Pennywise, which was formed in 1988.

Before he joined Pennywise, he was also in the local punk rock band CON/800. [2]

He has also produced records for bands like 98 Mute, 1208, Engrave, and Cigar The Band.

Due to his large frame (6' 5", and at least 300 lbs) Fletcher plays a 1 and 1/4 size RG420 guitar, custom built for him by Ibanez.

Fletcher was also a student at Mira Costa High School (where another Pennywise member Jim Lindberg attended) from 1981 to 1984.

In the early 1990s, Fletcher appeared on Loveline with the rest of Pennywise as the shows guest, because the Loveline co-host at the time Riki Rachtman was a big fan of the band. Towards the end of the show, Fletcher, who had been eating pizza and drinking, became ill and vomited on the console. Amused by the revulsion of everyone, he chased the physician host, Dr. Drew, around the studio while Byron tried to cover for them on air. The remaining people in the studio fled while Fletcher cornered the doctor on a cabinet (coincidentally built by carpenter and future Loveline co-host Adam Carolla) and threw up on him intentionally. Drew repeatedly punched Fletcher in the face to get him to stop, but it had no effect. According to Fletcher, interns at the station later tried to run him over in the parking garage, unknown to Dr. Drew. This incident has become legendary in Loveline history, with the audio of the incident being replayed to this day.

On June 7, 1999, Pennywise returned to Loveline, now being hosted by Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla. At the start of the show, Fletcher, obviously intoxicated, apologized to Dr. Drew for the previous incident and the band presented him with a large trophy filled with Fletcher's vomit (food from a Cheesecake Factory visit earlier in the day Fletcher took with his girlfriend and her grandmother) that was then covered with surfboard resin and silicone. His remorse for the previous incident didn't last too long and this time Fletcher became so intoxicated that he was delusional. He announced that everyone was going to visit "Poo Poo City" (a stunt that would have involved him defecating into his hand and throwing it at people). He barricaded the sound booth and claimed he had a live hand grenade, and that he would blow everyone up if they tried to hurt him. Much of this was aired before engineer Mike (this ironically being Mike's last day on the show, and engineer Anderson Cowan's first day) could cut away. The Culver City Police Department were called and arrived with a tactical team, however the situation was resolved without force. Fletcher was actually unarmed and, realizing that they were no longer on the air, let Adam and Drew out, and later left in a taxi. Despite this incident, Adam, Drew and Engineer Mike introduced the band at the KROQ Weenie Roast a week later, and surprisingly the band has been back to the show several times, all without incident.¹

His favorite Pennywise song is "Every Single Day".

Notes

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