2/3/03
The MIchigan Times
by John McKay
UK Imports Grow Accustomed to US
(above photo by John McKay: Joe Sumner, from London, Englandīs Fiction Plane jams during his bandīs recent show at St. Andrewīs Hall in Detroit.)
London, England's Fiction Plane has already won over many music fans in their homeland and throughout Europe. Now they plan to introduce music aficionados from the United States to their hook-laden pop-rock sound through extensive touring and a forthcoming major label album release. The band, who are preparing to release their debut album this spring, are currently taking part in a US tour alongside label-mates Something Corporate and Epic Records' The Juliana Theory. This tour, which brought the band to Detroit's St. Andrew's Hall on Feb. 5, hopes to generate buzz for the trio, who are all longtime friends.
Singer/guitarist Joe Sumner, speaking via telephone from his hotel in Cincinnati, OH prior to his band's show that evening, stated, "(Being in the Unites States) is fun because we're always playing in front of cool crowds who all seem to love music," adding that on this particular tour, the band's tour-mates "are all really nice people."
While the band is just now preparing to enter the limelight of the modern rock scene in the United States, the trio has been hard at work behind the scenes establishing a name for themselves for much of the past decade. Fiction Plane's MCA Records debut, Everything Will Never Be OK, marks the pinnacle of years of hard work from the band. "The bass player, Dan and myself met in high school and began playing music and listening to bands like Nirvana," explains Sumner. "I think our listeners will find a lot of songs (on our album) that I think mean something."
Prior to being called Fiction Plane, the band had previously assumed the monikers, Santa's Boyfriend and Australian Nightmare. "Santa's Boyfriend was the name of a racehorse," starts the front man, "another name we had, Australian Nightmare, that was a reference from (cult film hit) Spinal Tap.
"We came up with the name Fiction Plane when we had a lot of names written down, and we just felt comfortable with Fiction Plane. It was actually the name of a song we had written ten years ago."
As is evident on Everything Will Never Be OK, the band utilizes a sizable array of influences when creating their uniquely diverse sound. "I think we listen to almost everything. We all like so many different kinds of music. We like punk music, we like rap music, we listen to Coldplay, Radiohead, Jesus Lizard, Mr. Bungle, everything. I think if we just stick to one style of music it becomes really boring."
Judging by the overwhelmingly positive response the band has received since first arriving in the United States, creating an exciting and innovative sound has not been a problem for this trio of well-groomed British lads.
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