Alan Flecther - The Soap Show, May 2006

A short interview with Alan Fletcher done as part of the Soap Show (a UK/Australian soap focused internet radio show).

The band is obviously a big passion for you, have you always been in to making music?
I have, but more so in terms of an actor making musicals. I’ve always written songs but it wasn’t until I met Tommy and Chris that I had the first opportunity to explore fronting a band and I gave up a number of other activities in life in order to see that dream through. And it has been a dream come true.

How did you all (Waiting Room) actually meet?
They were playing a gig at a restaurant and I had taken my darling wife there for Valentine’s Day a couple of years ago. I got talking to the boys and sang a few songs with them and they suggested we might do a bit of work together.

How did it feel after years of working as part of a family unit with Jackie Woodburne and the actors playing the Kennedy children to find yourself in totally different stories?
Jackie and I have a comfort zone of working together, and we love working together, and to break that up was really quite daunting, in terms of dealing with the audience reaction to it as well. Even though we broke up we still got to do a lot of acting work together, albeit a bit more antagonistic than before, and I also had the pleasure to work with some other actresses who have become very close to me. Even though it was a fraught relationship, the working relationship I had with Natalie Bassingthwaite was fantastic. As an actor you look for ways to keep your job interesting and new directions for your character and I’m lucky enough tp have played a soap character who has had quite an evolution.

You’ve seen your screen children, Jesse Spencer and Kim Valentine, do so well since they left Neighbours.
I’ve known them both since they were 13 or 14 and have watched their careers develop with enormous pride. Kimmy has just finished playing nearly two years in the lead role in Dirty Dancing and Jesse of course is now very well known for House, which is my favourite TV show! They've both done brilliantly and I'm very proud of them.