Fiction Plane is a rock band from England. The band is fronted by Joe Sumner, the son of musician Sting. In 2001, they recorded their first demo called Swings and Roundabouts under the name Santa's Boyfriend.

Before signing to a major record deal, they changed their name to Fiction Plane and recorded their first major label release, Everything Will Never Be OK, with MCA records. The album was released in 2002 in England and March 2003 in the United States with the single "Hate". Though they received positive critical acclaim[citation needed], they were dropped by MCA in 2005. Subsequently, they were picked up by Everybody's Records and released the EP Bitter Forces and Lame Race Horses on July 11, 2005. It was a limited-run, four-song release that the band sold while on the "Broken Music" tour with Joe Sumner's father, Sting. Fiction Plane is an anagram of 'Infant Police', although Joe Sumner maintains that this is a coincidence.

Sumner is set to again support his father when Fiction Plane support The Police on the North American and European legs of their 2007 Reunion Tour, as well as being the opening act at the Twickenham (London) dates, 8th and 9th September 2007. A new Fiction Plane album entitled Left Side of the Brain was released on Bieler Bros Records May 22, 2007. The first single will be "Two Sisters" and has been released to select stations.
 

The Band members

Born in England in the late '70s, Sumner was only a baby when the Police recorded their 1978 debut, Outlandos d'Amour. As a child, Sumner rebelled against music; he hated taking piano lessons and was more interested in video games. Nonetheless, he began studying the guitar at the age of ten and went on to learn the drums as well. It wasn't until 1991 -- when Sumner was 14 -- that he really became passionate about music. That year, Sumner heard Nirvana's amazingly influential 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 and went on to become part of Fiction Plane. The start of Fiction Plane came in 1999, when the band was still called Santa's Boyfriend; subsequently, former art student Seton Daunt was hired 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 David Kahne (known for his work with everyone from Tony Bennett to Sublime, the Bangles, and Sugar Ray) produced Everything Will Never Be OK in 2002, Fiction Plane didn't have a full-time drummer -- and the person who ended up filling in on that album was session player Abe Laboriel Jr., who had been a member of Paul McCartney's band. After that, Sumner and Brown hired an American drummer, Pete Wilhoit, to go on tour with them.