Fanfarlo
Encyclopedia
Fanfarlo are a London
-based indie pop
band formed in 2006 by Swedish
musician Simon Balthazar, and Giles J Davis (who subsequently left before the release of the first single). They fuse elements of folk
, indie rock
and post punk using eclectic instrumentation including trumpet
, violin
, mandolin
, musical saw
and clarinet
.
The band, whose name comes from the Charles Baudelaire
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 a split single with Sleeping States
) throughout 2006-2008.
Their debut album, 'Reservoir
', was recorded in October/November 2008 at Tarquin Studios, Connecticut, USA and was produced by Peter Katis
(The National
, Interpol). The album was released in February 2009 on the band's own label Raffle Bat and later licensed to the Atlantic
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
and features escape artist Roslyn Walker
performing the Hanging Straitjacket Escape, a stunt first performed by Harry Houdini
in the early 1900s. The stunt was also incorporated into the band's show at Webster Hall in New York on December 19, 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." They also announced a short tour beginning at the end of September in London and ending in Spain in mid-November, a tour that includes a few U.S. cities. The album is set to be released February 28th 2012 in the United States, and February 27th everywhere else.
' featured in Season 6
Episode 2 of Grey's Anatomy
. The band's 2007 single 'Fire Escape' featured in Season 6
Episode 4 of Fox
's medical drama House
on 12 October 2009.
On 15 February 2010, the band made their US television debut appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman
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 French Canal Plus.
In 2010, their songs Comets and Luna were featured in the Portuguese independent film
Um Funeral à Chuva (literally, A Funeral in the Rain).
Their song 'Atlas' is featured on the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (soundtrack)
. The song was re-recorded in Austin, TX specially for the film and was documented in Episode III of their web series, "Under the Reservoir."
In 2010, a short section of the song "The Walls Are Coming Down" from their album, "Reservoir
" was featured in an television advert for the New "Canon Powershot Sx210 IS
" digital camera.
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 also appeared in the Season One, Episode 5 of "Beaver Falls (TV series)" in 2011.
Their song 'The Walls Are Coming Down' is played during the trailer of the 2011 film Win Win directed by Tom McCartney.
Their song 'I'm A Pilot' was featured in the Season 4 finale of the TV show Chuck
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band formed in 2006 by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
musician Simon Balthazar, and Giles J Davis (who subsequently left before the release of the first single). They fuse elements of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and post punk using eclectic instrumentation including trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, musical saw
Musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin...
and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
.
The band, whose name comes from the Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
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 a split single with Sleeping States
Sleeping States
Sleeping States is a musical solo project of British musician Markland Starkie .Started in 2004 in London, Sleeping States falls predominantly in the songwriter genre...
) throughout 2006-2008.
Their debut album, 'Reservoir
Reservoir (album)
Reservoir is the debut album of the London-based indie folk band Fanfarlo. The album was recorded in October and November 2008 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States and was produced by Peter Katis. It includes the bands featured singles "Fire Escape" and "Harold T. Wilkins,...
', was recorded in October/November 2008 at Tarquin Studios, Connecticut, USA and was produced by Peter Katis
Peter Katis
Peter Katis is an American record producer, engineer, mixer and musician.Working primarily out of his own residential studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Katis is best known for producing alternative and indie rock bands, especially for Fat Cat Records.-Biography:Katis attended New Canaan Country...
(The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
, Interpol). The album was released in February 2009 on the band's own label Raffle Bat and later licensed to the Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
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
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists who create re-enactments of cultural and art historical events. Forsyth was born in Manchester in 1973, Pollard in Newcastle in 1972.-Life and work:...
and features escape artist Roslyn Walker
Roslyn Walker
Roslyn Walker is an escape artist and stuntman famous for recreating Harry Houdini's most technically challenging escape stunts including the suspended straitjacket escape and the world famous Mirror Handcuff Challenge.Most recently Roslyn Walker set two new World records within the field of...
performing the Hanging Straitjacket Escape, a stunt first performed by Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
in the early 1900s. The stunt was also incorporated into the band's show at Webster Hall in New York on December 19, 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." They also announced a short tour beginning at the end of September in London and ending in Spain in mid-November, a tour that includes a few U.S. cities. The album is set to be released February 28th 2012 in the United States, and February 27th everywhere else.
Members
- Amos Memon - drums & percussion, vocals
- Cathy Lucas - violin, keys, mandolin, glock, vocals, musical saw
- Justin Finch - bass, vocals
- Leon Beckenham - trumpet, keyboards, glockenspiel, melodica, vocals
- Simon Balthazar - vocals, guitar, keyboards, mandolin, saxophone, clarinet
In popular media
On 24 September 2009, the song 'Ghosts' from the band's debut album 'ReservoirReservoir (album)
Reservoir is the debut album of the London-based indie folk band Fanfarlo. The album was recorded in October and November 2008 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States and was produced by Peter Katis. It includes the bands featured singles "Fire Escape" and "Harold T. Wilkins,...
' featured in Season 6
Grey's Anatomy (season 6)
Season six of Grey's Anatomy, an American medical drama television series developed by Shonda Rhimes, began airing on September 24, 2009 on ABC, and finished airing on May 20, 2010.-Cast:-Main cast:*Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey...
Episode 2 of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. The band's 2007 single 'Fire Escape' featured in Season 6
House (season 6)
House entered a sixth season on September 21, 2009 with a two-hour premiere. The season premiere, titled "Broken", was filmed at the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey.Season six featured 22 episodes, two fewer than the usual number...
Episode 4 of Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's medical drama House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
on 12 October 2009.
On 15 February 2010, the band made their US television debut appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
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
Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....
and French Canal Plus.
In 2010, their songs Comets and Luna were featured in the Portuguese independent film
Cinema of Portugal
Portuguese cinema has a long tradition, reaching back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century. In the 1950s, Cinema Novo, sprang up as a movement concerned with showing realism in film, in the vein of Italian Neorealism and the French New Wave...
Um Funeral à Chuva (literally, A Funeral in the Rain).
Their song 'Atlas' is featured on the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (soundtrack)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (soundtrack)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is the soundtrack album to the film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. It is the third soundtrack in the film's chronology, and was released on June 8, 2010. The soundtrack was once again co-produced by Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor for the previous two films...
. The song was re-recorded in Austin, TX specially for the film and was documented in Episode III of their web series, "Under the Reservoir."
In 2010, a short section of the song "The Walls Are Coming Down" from their album, "Reservoir
Reservoir (album)
Reservoir is the debut album of the London-based indie folk band Fanfarlo. The album was recorded in October and November 2008 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States and was produced by Peter Katis. It includes the bands featured singles "Fire Escape" and "Harold T. Wilkins,...
" was featured in an television advert for the New "Canon Powershot Sx210 IS
Canon PowerShot S
The Canon PowerShot S is a series of digital cameras released by Canon. The S-series was originally a line of compact point-and-shoot cameras, slowly evolving into a prosumer line of cameras slotting right beneath the G series cameras. The line later branched off into Canon's line of super-zoom...
" digital camera.
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
Going the Distance (2010 film)
Going the Distance is a 2010 romantic comedy film directed by Nanette Burstein, and starring Justin Long and Drew Barrymore. The movie began filming in New York City in July 2009, and was released on September 3, 2010.-Plot:...
". The song also appeared in the Season One, Episode 5 of "Beaver Falls (TV series)" in 2011.
Their song 'The Walls Are Coming Down' is played during the trailer of the 2011 film Win Win directed by Tom McCartney.
Their song 'I'm A Pilot' was featured in the Season 4 finale of the TV show Chuck
Web series
In March 2010, video artist Brian Gonzalez followed the band on their third time playing SXSW music festival in Austin, TX that resulted in a four-part web series entitled Under the Reservoir which premiered on their site June 14, 2010. Each episode uniquely brings to life the two ominous girls on the cover of their debut album while intimately embarking on personal experiences of the band on the road.Albums
- ReservoirReservoir (album)Reservoir is the debut album of the London-based indie folk band Fanfarlo. The album was recorded in October and November 2008 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States and was produced by Peter Katis. It includes the bands featured singles "Fire Escape" and "Harold T. Wilkins,...
(2009, Raffle Bat/Atlantic/CanvasbackAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
)
Singles
- Talking Backwards (2006, Fortuna POP!Fortuna Pop!Fortuna Pop! is a British independent record label based in London, started in 1996 by Sean Price. It specialises in indie pop and indie rock music, released on 7" single, CD and vinyl....
) - You Are One Of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us (2007, Label FandangoLabel FandangoLabel 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...
) - Fire Escape (2007, White Heat)
- Harold T. Wilkins (2008, Felt Tip Records, split single with Sleeping StatesSleeping StatesSleeping States is a musical solo project of British musician Markland Starkie .Started in 2004 in London, Sleeping States falls predominantly in the songwriter genre...
) - Drowning Men (2009, Moshi Moshi RecordsMoshi moshi recordsMoshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label that has released music by bands such as The Rakes, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, Hot Club De Paris, Kate Nash, Junkboy, Architecture in Helsinki, Tilly and the Wall, Slow Club, Yeti, and Au Revoir Simone...
) - The Walls Are Coming Down (2009, Moshi Moshi RecordsMoshi moshi recordsMoshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label that has released music by bands such as The Rakes, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, Hot Club De Paris, Kate Nash, Junkboy, Architecture in Helsinki, Tilly and the Wall, Slow Club, Yeti, and Au Revoir Simone...
) - Harold T. Wilkins or How To Wait A Very Long Time (2010, Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - You Are One / What Makes You Think You're The One (2010 Record Store Day Exclusive - limited to a pressing of 3,500 units Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) - Replicate (2011, WGM)
- Deconstruction (October 17 2011, Canvasback/ATL) together with a 15 min track 'Reconstruction', as mp3 downloads only
External links
- Fanfarlo.com - Official page
- Fanfarlo MySpace page