INTERVIEW: Fiction Plane
- Posted on April 1, 2008 10:50 AM
- 7 comments
Interview by Katie Spain
When I settle down for a chat with Joe Sumner - lead singer of UK Rock band Fiction Plan, it's in a tiny dressing room in the depths of North London venue, Monto Water Rats. The room is bathed in dull light from red lamps and nestled next to the toilets. Joe remains unperturbed; this venue has character and lots of it; perfect for a band with exactly the same qualities. I'm a tad overcome by Joe's height (and to be honest, his looks); dad Sting (of The Police) obviously passed on more than just musical talent. As soon as Joe settles back on the sofa, it's obvious that this is one chilled out, genuine human being. As band mates Seton Daunt (guitar) and Pete Wilhoit (drums) spend time with the ever-growing group of friends and fans outside, Joe and I chat about music, water and stag nights.
Fiction Plane have just completed an International tour supporting The Police and a European tour with The Feeling. They've also made time for a number of headline gigs amongst the mix. Album 'Left Side of the Brain' was released in 2007 and includes international top-ten smash hit 'Two Sisters' and the powerful anti-war tune 'Death Machine'. Upcoming gigs include tours with The Bravery and Snoop Dog, Le Mans 24hr, and a number of Festival slots including Rock Am Ring. Busy is an understatement. I consciously avoid too Sting-isms, after all - if we all followed in our father's footsteps and dwelled on the obvious, I'd be a teat-pulling dairy farmer.
What is your first musical memory?
Um, my first musical memory, unfortunately, is singing hymns at school.
How do you get yourself in to the right frame of mind before a gig?
It kind of happens automatically when you stand up and everyone is there. I like to stay in the venue beforehand and see that there are people there. Often, I feel horrible two minutes before the gig. I feel really tired and achy. I think I’m rubbish, old and tired. Then, once you start…as soon as it turns in to that situation, you suddenly have all this power. I can’t explain where it comes from. You are suddenly ready, after not being able to stand up or want to sing anything. It just comes.
With a lot of bands we speak to, it simply comes down to a pre-gig beer or two…
I respect them for being able to do that. I can’t do it. If I have a beer, I can’t sing. I can’t play. I can’t think. I can talk a lot more freely obviously, but I can’t control what I’m going to say so if I sing, they are just going to be improvised.
What do you guys do now after your gigs? Are you knackered or do you want to keep going?
I am up for anything after the gig - definitely. I am ready to rock no matter what I felt like before. Tonight, for example, we are going to a stag night. That should be entertaining and pretty brutal. If I have one beer after a gig, it is like having five. There is something about the adrenaline and the sweat.
Do you prefer intimate venues like this than to the bigger ones?
I think it is more about the people who are there. We have played to full stadiums of disinterested people which is not that great and we have played to empty clubs with three people who are really listening – that feels great. It is more about who you play to; are they there, are they listening and are they ready to give back. That is the magic of playing live; you play and they respond.
When you are touring with The Police, what is the reaction like from there?
It was mostly really good. In the States and Australia, the venues were mostly seating a which ruins the whole vibe; we are not that old yet. When we play to a Police crowd who are standing, it has been great. We pretend we are the headliners. We don’t come on and apologise for getting in the way of the main band. We are like; this is for us, thanks for being here.
I guess it’s your moment to be in front of however many thousand people and convert them.
Yeah, it’s been really good. We do a meet and greet after the show where hundreds of people come and say hello.
Is it more pressure knowing that your dad is there, watching in the sidelines?
Um, I haven’t really felt it. I don’t know why. I think it’s because most bands that I like are not really that heavily respected. Things that are really popular and award-winning go in to the realm of blandness. I am happy to not be in the inside of that.
You’ve got some big dates coming up; you are touring with The Bravery on April 9th and also Snoop Dog – that is quite a mix. What do you think it will be like being backstage at a Snoop Dog gig?
We have been backstage before. It was a lot of fun. Mike Skinner from The Streets was waiting outside to meet Snoop. I left my jacket in his dressing room. I went in to get it and they were all totally chilled and playing on the Playstation while Mike Skinner was politely waiting outside because he didn’t want to barge in! He was there for three hours while they played World Cup Soccer.
We are in your dressing room now. It certainly has character. Do you guys ever ask for anything special?
We asked for pirate swords and eye patches last year. We got them a few times but we sort of felt a bit wasteful after a while. On the Snoop tour we will definitely ask for something stupid. Porn videos by Snoop dog or something like that.
What do you think is the best festival out there?
I always have the most fun at Glastonbury but I never really watch the bands. One year, I saw Radiohead and Pavement and that was it, for four days. You just wander about. There are so many other things to do. It is a bit middle class but what are you going to do?
What is your best festival experience?
Embarrassingly, I saw Coldplay when their second album came out, I was trollied, but it was absolutely amazing. It was the first gig of that album. They just owned it. They played all these songs that no-one had ever heard and it was incredible. I should say Nirvana at Reading in 1992 but it just wasn’t that good. It is rated as one of the best gigs ever but it wasn’t. I saw them about a year later and it was great.
Which 2008 festivals are you doing?
We are doing Pink Pop in Holland and some French ones. I don’t know what they are called!
You have a dedicated group of fans yourself don’t you?
Yes, they are called The Fictionettes or The Fictionaires…it seems to be the same bunch of people though.
They follow you to all your gigs; did they follow you to Australia?
Yeah, some of them did. The most ridiculous one is this girl from Uruguay who came to see us in Singapore which is like a twenty-seven hour flight.
Has a fan ever scared you with that type of obsession?
Yeah, we have had a couple, especially because we have a MySpace; they can get into your social circle pretty easily.
Last night I saw the episode of Friends where Phoebe tries to make friends with Sting. Has it got to that stage with you guys?
No, no. We definitely don’t cultivate any mainstream press and that’s partly because we are no good at fashion but also because I have seen that side of it. It is not interesting. Today he looks fat or whatever - it must be a nightmare. People that get drunk once and look like crap… there should be a rule; if you go out on the piss then no-one can say what you did. I don’t advertise who I am so…
While I was at the gym today American Idol was on the TV. I read that on one of your fan sites that you guys had “kind of” featured on there.
Kind of? I have no idea!
What do you think about American Idol?
I think it’s highly entertaining to watch the first bit where they are all rubbish. If you are a singer and you can make it that way then hats off to you but it is an amazingly painful road to go down. You get totally exploited. They make cash off of your failures. It is pretty ballsy though. You are not even writing your own songs, you are just being compared to whoever sung it in the first place. I wouldn’t go on Pop Idol. If you get up there and they go “Nah” then it is literally everyone going “Nah”. That is pretty hard to take, especially if you are eighteen. I prefer the toilet circuit. You can just do it and there is no final decision by some t*** in a chair.
Do you think that with all the trouble that you had with record labels, in hindsight, that it was a good thing?
We definitely appreciate things more. I can’t even imagine where we would be if we succeeded immediately. I don’t know if I would still know my friends or if we would be cocaine-riddled f*** ups. You just don’t know where it is going to turn. Looking back on it - the psychological stuff that goes on – being successful, it is actually quite intense. There is a lot of pressure. When we wrote our last album, there was two months with absolutely no pressure from the record label. No-one was saying that we had to make it a hit single. Ironically, that was the time that we wrote all our most commercial songs. We just suddenly came out with all this stuff and without that pressure it was a lot easier.
Do you find that when you are on tour, that it is an inspiring atmosphere to be around or is it better to be back home?
It depends; on tour you can get into a routine, you do five shows in a row that are exactly the same. It’s hard to create something new on tour but sometimes it does happen. I’m not sure which one is better for creativity. You can spend a lot of time at home doing nothing too.
I spoke to The Feeling recently, who you have been touring with. We spoke about their tour bus and how they would pimp it up. How would you pimp yours?
If money was no object, I would definitely have a bath in it and longer beds. We are doing our first proper bus tour in France soon which we are so grateful about. In eight years we haven’t been able to do that. I have been on one and the beds are a little short.
Putting the band aside, are there any goals that you would like to achieve?
I would like to write a book – that’s good.
Which musician, dead or alive, inspires you the most?
James Brown. For me, that is the best dance music ever.
The left side if the brain is the logical, sequential side and the right side is the random, subjective side. Which side are you?
Probably the right side; I would like to be the left. A perfect balance would be great.
What is the most memorable gig that you have been to as a fan?
I can’t remember. It was probably at Glastonbury.
I saw Roger Waters at Glastonbury and thought it was amazing. My friends watched it at home and they were like, that was rubbish. I was like, no, it was genius! Let me think, I saw Pavement in 1993. The drummer gave me some tiddlywinks and I still have them.
Related links:
Fiction Plane concert tickets.
Fiction Plane MySpace.
Fiction Plane site.
Rock Am Ring festival tickets.
Rock Im Park festival tickets.
Le Mans 24-hours tickets.
Comments (7)
Suzanne
Great interview...nice to see Joe being asked some intelligent questions (for a change!)Plus, I was at that gig and it was great...as usual :-)
Posted on April 1, 2008 10:52 PM
Rüdiger
Hi Katie,
really a good interview to read!
Intelligent questions...
Cheers,
Rüdiger
Posted on April 2, 2008 10:46 AM
Analia
Great interview!
Im the girl that Joe mentioned who went from Uruguay to Singapore! It totally worthed!
Posted on April 4, 2008 9:20 PM
Linette
Humbled, honest, and great talent to boot. One of the hardest working bands out there! Keep Rockin' Fiction Plane! We love you boys! Linette
Posted on April 12, 2008 2:35 AM
Candice
I was at The Police concert in Wellington, New Zealand in January. Fiction Plane were absolutely brilliant! We were so gutted there was only seating in the stadium - we'd have been up rocking it with them. Hope they felt appreciated - they totally were. Bring on more albums and international exposure for the guys. I want radio play in NZ!
Posted on April 23, 2008 4:55 AM
Holly
I saw Fiction Plane in Toronto, opening for The Police. They were great, too bad he will always be compared to his Dad. He has some mad skills on his own and really the similarities are limited only to looks and voice. Other then that their styles are completely different and I love it!
Posted on April 23, 2008 4:42 PM
JohnLocke
Saw them at the Police gig in Munich....was aprehensive at the beginning but they defintely won my ass over!!! Great songs!!
Posted on June 9, 2008 11:05 AM
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