Fanfarlo are a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based indie/

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

band formed in 2006 by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

musician Simon Balthazar. They fuse elements of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

using eclectic instrumentation including

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque f ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

. Since their formation they have released three studio albums and one EP.

Background

The band, whose name comes from the

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

novella ''La Fanfarlo'', started performing live in small London indie clubs in 2006, and released four limited edition 7" singles on London-based indie labels (one of which is a split single with

Sleeping States Sleeping States is a British musical solo project of British musician Markland Starkie (born 1981). Started in 2004 in London, Sleeping States falls predominantly in the songwriter genre. Sleeping States has also been associated with Lo-Fi, DI ...

) throughout 2006–2008. Their debut album, ''

Reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

'', was recorded in October/November 2008 at Tarquin Studios, Connecticut, USA and was produced by Peter Katis ( The National,

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

). The album was released in February 2009 on the band's own label Raffle Bat and later licensed to the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

imprint Canvasback, who released it in the UK and US in October 2009 and in Europe in April 2010. Their single "The Walls Are Coming Down" was released during September 2009. The music video for the single was directed by

Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists and filmmakers. Life and work Forsyth and Pollard met and began working collaboratively while studying Fine Art and Art Theory at Goldsmiths College, graduating together in 1995. They initially f ...

and features

escape artist Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...

Roslyn Walker performing the Hanging Straitjacket Escape, a stunt first performed by

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

in the early 1900s. The stunt was also incorporated into the band's show at Webster Hall in New York on 19 December 2009 (this time by escape artist Michael Lee). In early September 2011, the band announced on their website that their newest album, ''Rooms Filled with Light'', was finished and posted a video of the first song, "Replicate". The album was released on 28 February 2012 in the United States, and on 27 February everywhere else. In October 2013 the band released ''The Sea'' EP, which is the first part of a science-fiction/speculative/Utopian concept project. The lyrical content of this whole project presents a discussion about where humanity has come from (potentially), what we have become, and where we are heading. This is spoken of in terms of culture and science. The band have described their current sound as Space Opera meets Spaghetti Western. On 10 February 2014 the band released their third regular studio album, titled ''Let's Go Extinct'', on their own New World Records label. In 2016, Balthazar collaborated with King Knut, as SWOON, and released the single "Heatwave". Since 2015, Lucas has been the lead singer and guitarist for the psychedelic pop group Vanishing Twin.

Members

* Cathy Lucas – violin, keys, mandolin, glockenspiel, vocals, musical saw * Justin Finch – bass, vocals * Leon Beckenham – trumpet, keyboards, glockenspiel, melodica, vocals * Simon Balthazar – vocals, guitar, keyboards, mandolin, saxophone, clarinet

Former members

* Amos Memon – vocals, drums and percussion (2006-2013) * Mark West – guitar, vocals, keyboard (2006-2009)

In popular media

On 24 September 2009, the song "Ghosts" from the band's debut album, ''

'', featured in episode 6 of

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of '' Grey's Anatomy''. The band's 2007 single "Fire Escape" featured in episode 4 of

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's medical drama ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'' on 12 October 2009. On 15 February 2010, the band made their US television debut appearance on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' performing their single "Harold T. Wilkins, or How to Wait for a Very Long Time". They have subsequently also performed on '' Last Call with Carson Daly,'' and on French TV channel

Canal Plus Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

. Their song "Atlas" is featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of 2010 film '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. The song was re-recorded in Austin, Texas especially for the film and was documented in Episode III of their web series, ''Under the Reservoir''. Their song "Harold T. Wilkins, or How to Wait for a Very Long Time" featured in the soundtrack to the 2010 film '' Going the Distance''. The song "I'm a Pilot" is featured in the NBC series '' Chuck'' season 4 episode 24.

Web series

In March 2010, video artist Brian Gonzalez followed the band on their third time playing the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

music festival in Austin, Texas that resulted in a four-part web series entitled ''Under the Reservoir'' which premiered on their site 14 June 2010.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (2009, Raffle Bat/ Atlantic/Canvasback) * ''Rooms Filled With Light'' (28 February 2012) * ''The Sea'' EP (14 October 2013) * '' Let's Go Extinct'' (10 February 2014)

Singles

* "Talking Backwards" (2006, Fortuna POP!) * "You Are One of the Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us" (2007,

Label Fandango Label Fandango is an independent record label based in Highbury, London. Evolving out of parent companies Fierce Panda Records and Pointy Records, it has been releasing limited edition music singles since 2005. It is run by live music promotion ...

) * "Fire Escape" (2007, White Heat) * "Harold T. Wilkins" (2008, Felt Tip Records, split single with

) * "Drowning Men" (2009,

Moshi Moshi Records Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label founded in 1998 by Adrian Pike, Michael McClatchey and Stephen Bass. The label has released music by bands including Lykke Li, Fimber Bravo, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, Hot ...

) * "The Walls Are Coming Down" (2009,

) * "Harold T. Wilkins, or How to Wait a Very Long Time" (2010,

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

) * "You Are One"/"What Makes You Think You're the One" (2010

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

exclusive – limited to a pressing of 3,500 units,

) * "Replicate" (2011, WGM) * "Deconstruction" (17 October 2011, Canvasback/ATL; together with a 15-minute track "Reconstruction", as mp3 downloads only) *"Shiny Things" (2012, digital download)

References

External links

Fanfarlo.com
– Official page
Fanfarlo MySpace page
{{Authority control Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 2006 English indie rock groups Atlantic Records artists