Fanfarlo (UK)

Fanfarlo is a London-based indie pop band formed in 2006 by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar. 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 19th, 2009 (this time by escape artist Michael Lee).

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

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanfarlo

Fanfarlo official website: http://www.fanfarlo.com