"Fiction Plane, I must say, fucking rocks. There could possibly be no other words to describe just how awesome they [are]," reads one of several like-minded posts on Fiction Plane's Web site. And even though the band is only on its first major tour of the country and is still relatively unknown here in the States, all that is about to change. Everything Will Never Be OK, the group's debut, is set to launch the London-based lads into the national spotlight.
Centered around biting guitar licks, soaring melodies and insightful lyrics that are just as likely to cry out socio-political commentary as they are to express innermost feelings of loneliness, rage and shame, Everything Will Never Be OK finds frontman Joe Sumner, bassist Dan Brown and guitarist Seton Daunt seething with an unfailing passion and unbridled energy. Arrangements are razor-sharp, but not over-produced; songs are dynamic, but still cohesive; and hooks abound, but are free from any pretension. Citing Fugazi, Jesus Lizard, Pavement, Nirvana and "every Seattle band that came out" as its primary influences, Fiction Plane takes all that is aesthetically pleasing with indie rock and crafts it into an album that is just as accessible to College Radio music elitists as it is to the casual listener. But don't make the mistake of calling it pop music.
"The music does not come from a place where we're thinking, How can we make a record that can shift some units?" explains Brown. "It really is about making music that people can connect with, and so therefore it becomes kind of poppy in bits here and there, but it's really about making music that means something and that people can relate to."
And people are relating to Fiction Plane. A recent show at New York City's Irving Plaza opening for the Juliana Theory left a sold-out crowd dumbfounded by the group's raucous live show. When the group closed with the daunting "Wise," which culminated in Sumner, Brown and Daunt catapulting themselves from atop touring-drummer Pete Wilhoit's bass drum amid a firestorm of distortion and wails, the crowd erupted in cheers, prompting several concertgoers to exclaim, "Holy shit, who are these guys?"
"As we got more skilled, the songs became more crafted and more considered and had more meaning to them," concurs Brown. "They're more about conveying a specific idea or emotion."
To record the group's debut, the band teamed up with producer David Kahne (Sublime, Earshot). In an attempt to catch the uninhibited energy of the group's live show, Kahne opted to record the whole album on an analog eight-track, using almost all first takes.
"It was really scary to have worked for 10 years to get to this point and have a record come out, and then you just play a part through once and you're thinking, OK, let's go back and get it right this time, and he's like, "No, that's fine,'" remembers Brown. "It's hard to let go at that point, because that's it. It's forever. That's what's going to be on the record. I mean, we were really quite scared." The method paid off, however, as the recording steers clear of glossy production techniques that tend to suck the life out of so many recordings, and instead flaunts the grit and vigor that the group possesses.
The band's chief songwriter, Joe Sumner, is incredibly easy-going and remains fairly reserved, but he carries a sly grin that hints at his wry sense of humor and strong wit. The fact that he is also the son of living-legend Sting (whose real name is Gordon Sumner) has certainly helped bring the band some attention, but it is something the band would much rather keep a lid on. Forced comparisons between the two, along with pressures to live up to the former Police-man's career are things any new up-and-coming band would want to avoid. When asked about it, Sumner tries to shrug it off as best as he can.
"The only thing I really care about is to not sell our band on that basis," he says. "That's it, really. The rest of it is people's perception, and that's what music is all about really."
While the younger Sumner's facial profile is eerily familiar and the head-bob that comes out while he plays live is a dead-on ringer for his father, there's no way that his band's music would be confused for the Adult Contemporary leanings of his father. In fact, the only family influence Sumner admits to is that of his grandfather, when talking about the dark nature of his lyrics.
"I've got a lot of depressed Irish blood in my family," he explains. "My granddad was an author in Belfast and he's got these books that are so depressing."
Without a doubt, songs like the title track (sample lyric: "There will always be some part of you in pain/ Everything will never be OK"), "Hate" ("We hate things/ We hate people"), "I Wish I Would Die" ("The fear will keep me alive...I wish I would die today") and the Brown-penned "Everybody Lies" ("The hand that feeds me stabs me from behind") would make one concerned for the band members' emotional well being.
"That side of my personality is completely in the music," reassures Sumner. "I'm pretty easy-going most of the time."
Indeed, watching the band interact together does not give off the same doomsday vibes that its lyrics suggest. In fact, Fiction Plane is actually quite goo-goo over its situation. "I couldn't be happier," gushes Wilhoit, who made the drive from Indiana to New York just for the chance to try out for the band. "I'm floored at how things have worked out, I really am. I just feel really fortunate to be able to know these guys and be able to make music with them every day."
Just as the flowers start blooming and birds are chirping over all the love in the air, Brown leans in and deadpans, "We don't really like him at all," before everyone bursts into laughter. "No, the feeling's completely mutual for us," he continues. "We made the record with Abe Laboriel Jr. [who has played with such artists as Paul McCartney, Juliana Hatfield, kd lang and others] and he set such a high standard, we were like, "How are we going to find anyone?' We tried to find people and we just couldn't find anyone who was quite right and then Pete came along and halfway through the first song, it was just like "Aw, thank God, we found him!'"
Now that the band has a full lineup, it is setting out across the country. And as Fiction Plane faces the daunting task of playing short, opening slots for bigger names, the guys are just happy to have the chance to share their music.
"The last couple of nights I had the same feeling as I did when we made the record with David [Kahne], just "Oh my God, this is real. It's really happening,'" explains Daunt. "It just feels like that every night. You remember why you wanted to do it in the first place -- why you're here, why you left your friends and family back at home. It's just a really amazing feeling."
- Louis Miller
http://www.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=39066
