Fiction Plane is a mostly British alternative pop/rock group, fronted by singer/songwriter Joe Sumner – the son of pop/rock superstar and former Police vocalist Sting.
The fact that Sumner is Sting’s son has been mentioned quite a bit in the British press, however, Fiction Plane’s members have never tried to use that connection as a means to fame, often downplaying it, or not mentioning it in official bios. One thing is for sure, he’ll never be accused riding his dad’s coattails. Though drawing some influence from the Police, Fiction Plane sounds more like U2, but with cynical, dark, and world-weary lyrics, drawing inspiration from ’90s angst-rockers like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins.
As a child, Sumner rebelled against music; he hated taking piano lessons and was more interested in video games. NAt age 10, he began studying guitar and then moved on to learn the drums. In 1991, 14 year-old Joe Sumner became passionate about music. That year, he heard Nirvana’s album Nevermind, which inspired him to start writing songs. A few years later, Sumner was jamming with his bass-playing friend Dan Brown, who shared his love of Nirvana. The two friends formed the hilariously named band “Santa’s Boyfriend” which later became Fiction Plane. 1999 was the official beginning of the band, when they hired former art student Seton Daunt to play lead guitar.
In 2001, they recorded a demo called Swings and Roundabouts, but their first official album, Everything Will Never Be OK, wasn’t recorded until after they had signed with MCA and changed their name from Santa’s Boyfriend to Fiction Plane. When their first album came out in 2002, Fiction Plane didn’t have a full-time drummer! They had Abe Laboriel Jr., who had been a member of Paul McCartney’s band fill in on drums for the album recording. After that, Sumner and Brown hired an American drummer, Paul Wilhoit, to go on tour with them. 3.
The song “Hate” from their debut album has a definite U2 feel to it, check it out below!
Four years and one failed major-label deal after their debut, Fiction Plane released their second album Left Side of the Brain in 2007, the same year they opened for the giant Police reunion tour.
This was the bouncy first single “Two Sisters” from Left Side of the Brain. You can hear a distinct difference in style from their debut album.
The official “It’s a Lie” video, uncut. It was the second single from Left Side Of The Brain, directed by Jake Sumner… Wait, WHAT?! more Sumners? Just how big is the Sumner family? Gordon Sumner aka Sting, Eliot Sumner the musician, Joe Sumner in this band, and his half sister Mickey Sumner who is an actress… daaaaang, that’s an entire family just oozing with talent!
Ok ok… I know… “That’s Sting’s son, when does he sound like the Police??” Here’s your answer: “Zero” from their third studio album Sparks, released in 2010. Beautiful, and mellow… never mind the fact that it shares the same name as a popular Smashing Pumpkins song.
And this fantastic song “Out of my Face” is also from Sparks, check out the official video!
They released a fourth studio album in 2015 called Mondo Lumina. This is the official video from the first track off the album, “Where do we Go from Here”. In it, Joe Sumner is dressed like a homeless guy in some scenes, and then as a rich man… just watch the video and see!
