Joe at CBGB's 1/28/03
* Name: Joseph Sumner
(named after his maternal grandfather)
* Instrument: Guitar (Joe took piano lessons as a child, picked up guitar at age 10, also plays drums.)
* Born: November 23, 1976
* Sign: Sagitarius
* Home: London, England; has also lived in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Ma. USA
* School: University College School, Hampstead (London, UK); Cambridge School of Weston(Boston, Ma. USA); Richmond College (London, UK)
also attended Charles River Creative Arts Program, Dover, Ma, USA (summer arts program)
Studied Environmental Sciences at Richmond College, graduated 1999.
* Influences: The Specials,Nirvana, ska, grunge
* Early jobs: Roadie with Sting's 10 Summoner's Tales tour 1993.
* Previous bands: Australian Nightmare, Ignition, Santa's Boyfriend, Ask Joe
* Went by the name of "Joe Mendez" on the early Santa's Boyfriend demo, "Phrenology Affects Us All*
( check out Santa's Stuff on the Santa's Boyfriend link for a photo of the demo)
* Likes: Kurt Vonnegut
* What he'd be doing if he wasn't in a band : "...teaching little kids how to do something"
* Claim to fame: Winning a football game in the last minute with a 30 yard volley
Joe's Thoughts
"There are so many twisted opinions and propaganda out there," said Sumner. "It's hard to know who is right. I see that the world is messed up, and I wish I could do something about it."
"Everyone tries to convince themselves they're special somehow, but it's just not entirely true. There are six billion of us out there."
"I was like, 'OK, guitar is cool!,'" he says. "So, I stopped playing little classical things and started playing power chords, and then I started writing songs.
