Viral Marketing · Seven Suns

Violet Sedan Chair

Walter’s favorite band doesn’t really exist, but their record does. Musicians were hired to write and record Seven Suns as Violet Sedan Chair, and a small number of copies were pressed and slipped into independent record shops across the country for people to find.
  • 10 references
  • 8 episodes
  • 12 videos


The Band

Violet Sedan Chair is a fictional psychadelic rock band created for Fringe and is Walter and Walternate's favorite band. In the original timeline (seasons 1-3) Walter's actions caused a butterfly effect that led to the band breaking up in the Blueverse after releasing only one album whereas they released at least three albums in the Redverse. In the new timeline without Peter (season 4) the band released at least two albums in the Blueverse.

Despite being a fictional band, real musicians (identities unknown) were hired to write and record an album as Violet Sedan Chair. A small number of vinyl records for that album, Seven Suns, were pressed and sent to independent record stores across the U.S. It has been rumored that some records were even weathered so that stores would put them right into 'used' bins to make them harder to find. And each individual copy of the album may be unique in some way, featuring specific spoilers and clues about the show. Many records have been found but there's no way to know how many may still be out there. The album can be played for free on YouTube, however (see below).

In April 2009, six months before Violet Sedan Chair was first mentioned on Fringe and nearly two years before they were featured as a plot point, J.J. Abrams was a guest editor on a wired.com article called "Musical Mystery Tour: Messages Embedded in Your Favorite Album" where he snuck in a mention of Seven Suns as if it were a real album. The record sleeve shows the final track to be "Greenmana" but this track doesn't actually exist on the album.

S2E03 — Fracture

  • S2E03: Sam Weiss 03:28
    Sam Weiss wore a t-shirt with the Violet Sedan Chair logo on it.

S2E10 — Grey Matters

  • Walter said to Astrid "My dear, Violet Sedan Chair... it's a band. Their debut album always helps me come down from a Valium high."

S2E20 — Northwest Passage

  • S2E20: Walter putting on Seven Suns 29:19
    Walter put on Seven Suns and listened to "She's Doing Fine".

S2E22 — Over There (Part 2)

  • S2E22: Walternate listening to "Hovercraft Mother" 00:23
    A deleted scene shows Walternate listening to "Hovercraft Mother" in the car with Peter where he reveals that Violet Sedan Chair's third album is his favorite. Watch the scene here.

S3E10 — The Firefly

  • Violet Sedan Chair's keyboard player Roscoe Joyce is featured in this episode. Walter learns that consequences from his actions in 1985 caused Joyce to break up the band in the Blueverse.
  • S3E10: Violet Sedan Chair shirt 41:18
    Walter wore a Violet Sedan Chair shirt.

S3E16 — Os

  • S3E16: Violet Sedan Chair sticker 01:48
    Walter's bong had a Violet Sedan Chair sticker on it.

S4E05 — Novation

  • S4E05: Violet Sedan Chair poster 01:37
    There's a Violet Sedan Chair poster in the lab, possibly suggesting they made more than one album in this timeline since the artwork doesn't match Seven Suns.
  • S4E05: Dr. Malcolm Truss 11:52
    Dr. Malcolm Truss was singing the song "Seven Suns" in his garden.

S4E07 — Wallflower

  • S4E07: Walter working in the lab 13:16
    Walter listened to "Long List of Lovers" while working in the lab.

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