Being in a band can be a hard enough task without the easily led public and critics trying to wear you down. For Fiction Plane, they have this problem.

Frontman and bassist Joe Sumner is the son of legendary musician Gordon Sumner (A.K.A Sting), so without even drawing a breath, the band have to shake off that tag of ‘only being famous because he’s Stings son’.

They’re an English Rock band with musical ties deep into Seattle’s 90’s grunge, with the trio sounding like a breed between Faith No More, Pearl Jam and Reef. With a third, heavily praised album, Left Side Of The Brain, the trio set their sights on making their own name.

Bandidge met Sumner backstage at Rock City as they prepare for a support slot with The Feeling to ask the question: Is it tricky having that famous musical tie?

“Yeah definitely; people will say things like ‘they’re only famous because of who his dad is’ and all that but those people don’t see how hard we work as a band, states Sumner.    
“Anyone does that. Even I do that if I turn the TV on and see someone whose got famous parents then you do diss them because that’s just what you do. So yes, I have had that but the trickiest part of that whole thing is you get people who are interested business wise.
“They’ll hang off you and pretend that they can help you do this or that because all their thinking is that because you’ve got that celebrity connection then they get a free ride”.

What was it like touring with your dad and The Police reunion dates last year?
     “It was good actually. I was a bit worried that we’d have all this hype. They offered it to us last year and we were worried that it was just like selling out. But then again we got to play our music in front of thousands of people.
     “Maybe the business side of it was a bit compromised but the music was just the same, and it moved us onto a higher plateau. The money helped us fund our tours for like the next year, so having that has helped.”

How’s the tour going at the minute?
     “It’s going good at the minute, its only been a few days. We’ve got a few more dates with The Feeling then it’s off to Europe to do our own headlining shows.”

What’s your favourite aspect about being on tour?
     “Playing every night would be the favourite. But you don’t really have to think about anything at all when you’re on tour; you can just turn up and play. There’s always a routine and you just go with it, you don’t have to decide what to do. I mean you don’t have everything done for you because we do all the technical stuff ourselves.
     “We don’t have any roadies and technicians with us, we don’t even bother with a tour manager. What’s the point in paying for something that you can do yourself? In England especially where no-one knows us or likes us.”

You’ve got a cult following at the minute. What’s your reception like in America?
     “America’s alright, but it’s mainly Europe where we’re the most welcome. In France and Holland it’s a different story. It’s really weird but the songs are like top 20 in those countries but then in England where we’re from it’s not the same.”

Your third album Left Side Of The Brain shows a more mature rock sound that’s stripped down and more humble to your roots - was that because your keyboardist Dan Brown left?
     “When Dan was there, we were doing this serious sort of music that had a sensitive side to it and it wasn’t really us at all; we weren’t good at it. So when we wrote music for the third album it was more basic when it was just the three of us. We didn’t sit down and try and think how big can we make this album; it’s just what you hear on the record.”

Would you want to be a mainstream band?
     “A little bit yeah. Not really lots though because to be properly mainstream you end up having a big stress there and pressure that we don’t have at the minute. When it starts though I’ve heard it’s like a rollercoaster and you can’t stop it. There’s so many more people that you have to please.
     “It’s hard enough when you’re trying to please people in the band or a record company, but then the bigger you get, you’ve got millions to impress. Everyone’s always going to ask if the new record’s going to be as big as the last - that’s a bit of a pain in the arse really.”

Being a British band, do you think you fit into the British music scene?
     “No not really. The British music scene’s just a bit similar though. Each band just sounds a bit like the last one. I think that’s how fashion goes on though; it comes back around - but we’re not really very good at fashion either. Instead of like tagging onto something and trying to become the next big thing, people just replicate. You just have to play it and enjoy it. People are individuals and if they like us then that’s worth something.”

Where do you get your musical influences?
     “We all came from Grunge because that was always the kind of music and era that we enjoyed when we were younger, but we kind of take influences from everywhere. Just from anything that’s happening at that time really.
      “With Dan (former keyboardist), we used to fight because if we wrote a heavy riff he wouldn’t want that even though we were into the same bands. We love bands like Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana and Faith No More, but we also love pussy music sometimes so we thought we can just combine them.”

Are you working on any new material at the minute?
     “Yeah, we’re trying new stuff at the minute that I’m writing, but it’s still a bit hard because it’s trying to get the old stuff out your head. When you’ve played music for a year it’s going to sound way better than anything new that you’re trying to write. It’ll sound fresh but it’ll sound unrehearsed.
      “I think we need like a month off to sit down and just try and write some new material as a band because it’s hard to do that on tour. I’ve got stuff bubbling around in my head but I need to sit down with a clear head and think about them”.

What’s the agenda next for Fiction Plane then?
     “It’s pretty much touring now until November. After The Feeling dates we’re off to Europe for our own shows and then we’re actually touring the states with Snoop Dogg. I think it’s going to be a little bit strange, a bit of a culture clash but there you go. We got on the tour though so that should be fun when that happens.”

Fiction Plane proved that night that they can shake off the unfortunate tag by playing a blinding support set of their best songs from Left Side Of The Brain, even giving headliners The Feeling a run for their money.

They effortlessly smile through great songs such as the acoustically haunting Drink and the wildly funky Two Sisters, proving that he can perform as well as his dad by pleasing the crowd as if he’s been on stage for a lifetime.