Joe Sumner

Joseph Sumner was born on November 23, 1976, in London, England. During his teenage years, he developed an interest in music, learning to play the guitar and drums. The album “Nevermind” by Nirvana served as an inspiration for him to begin writing songs. This early exposure to music and songwriting laid the foundation for his future career within the music industry. Sumner’s initial steps into forming a band involved collaborating with a school friend, Dan Brown, who played bass. This collaboration eventually led to the formation of Fiction Plane in 1999, with the addition of British guitarist Seton Daunt.

Fiction Plane officially began in 1999. The band’s debut album, “Everything Will Never Be OK,” was released in March 2003. Session musician Abe Laboriel Jr. contributed as drummer for this album. Following its release, Pete Wilhoit from Bloomington, Indiana, joined as the full-time drummer. The band contributed the song “If Only” to the film “Holes,” released a month after their debut album. Fiction Plane continued to release several albums, including “Bitter Forces and Lame Race Horses” (2005), “Left Side of the Brain” (2007), “Paradiso” (2009), “Sparks” (2010), and “Mondo Lumina” (2015). A notable period for the band was in 2007 when they served as the opening act for The Police’s reunion tour.

Beyond his music career, Sumner ventured into entrepreneurship. In 2010, he co-founded the company Vyclone with David King Lassman. Vyclone developed an app that allowed users to combine multiple video clips filmed simultaneously on smartphones into a single multi-angle movie, integrating social media with video recording. The app ceased operations in 2016. Sumner is also the founder of the NPSL soccer team City of Angels FC. In 2019, he released a self-titled album with The Euphoriants, featuring Scrote and Blair Sinta, which generated airplay for their single “Colorful Crimes.” His solo career includes the 2020 song ‘Hope,’ involved in a get-out-the-vote campaign, and singles “You You You” (2021) and “Looking For Me Looking For You” (2022), leading up to his first solo album, “Sunshine In The Night,” in 2023.