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INTERVIEW: Fanfarlo
Amos Memon is on his mobile phone en route to Manchester, where his band Fanfarlo are due to play the opening night of their UK tour, and it seems there are a few gremlins in the works.
"Whereabouts did you go?" the drummer asks politely, mishearing amid the crackling my opening gambit about the band's recent trip to America. "Sorry, this really is a bad line."
Thankfully for Fanfarlo, their Stateside adventure was a lot more successful than our attempts to grapple with communications technology. The band have recently signed to the US wing of Atlantic Records and they helped finance shows in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, West Hollywood and Seattle.
It seems demand for the London sextet there is high compared to their modest status in their homeland. "We're going back to the States next month to do four shows there," says Amos. "We get more interest in the States than we do in the UK.
"A lot of people in the UK think we are an American band anyway and they tune out a bit. Maybe we're not exotic enough. Whatever we're doing seems to be way up (Americans') street."
Perhaps the CD and vinyl release of the band's debut album Reservoir might help things in Britain. Up until now it's only be available as a download or ultra-limited edition box set. "The only time our album was available in shops was via Rough Trade," explains Amos. "We only made 500 of those boxes. We really underestimated demand. It sold out within four days. We were back to square one after that."
The download route, however, proved a useful way of spreading the word about Fanfarlo, an outfit formed by Swedish-raised songwriter Simon Balthazar three years ago. After they made Reservoir available for $1 following their appearances at the South By South West Festival in Austin, Texas, in March, demand spread by word of mouth.
"We thought it would be interesting to see how many people would be interested in buying it for a dollar," says Amos. "After two weeks it had sold 10,000 copies. It made us realise a lot more people might still be interested in buying albums."
It obviously made bosses at Atlantic sit up and take notice of the commercial potential of a group whose mix of folk, rock, fiddles and brass brings to mind the likes of Noah and the Whale, Arcade Fire and Beirut.
Unbeknown to the band, an A&R scout from the label watched all their gigs at SXSW. In June he flew over to see the band perform in London. "We thought he was here to see quite a few bands," says Amos. "But when we spoke to him after the gig he said, 'I'm just here to see you guys. I'm flying back tomorrow.' I did not realise the full scale of their operation, how focused they were on us."
It was only when a 200-page contract turned up from Atlantic that things really began to sink in. And even now, Amos admits, the band are having to get used to a different way of doing things from when they were releasing singles on small independent labels.
"Initially the album came out on a label called Raffle Bat," says Amos. "When Atlantic came on the scene they asked us to destroy all the copies we'd had pressed up. We said could we put some stickers over the label to stop it going into landfill?"
Still Atlantic's financial muscle is coming in handy, he admits. "If you ever get the chance to be in a six-piece band which has to hire a bigger van to accommodate all the equipment and the people, plus our manager, then you'll know a little bit of financial support helps a lot, especially when touring. We take up a lot of seats. It means that instead of losing a whole chunk of money, we only lose a little bit."
The deal has also meant that band members could give up their day jobs to concentrate on their music full-time. It was a big decision, says Amos. "We all had day jobs up to two weeks before we were due to go to America. It was just how we had to do things. We still had bills to pay. We were not getting a wage from the band. We had to keep working and fit the band around our daily lives. As the band started playing further afield suddenly you realise you can't commit to both; one has to go. There's only so much holiday leave you can use up for tours. When a major label signs you, it becomes a bit more serious. You've got to make a commitment at that point."
The band's busy schedule certainly seems to have justified their decision. Their profile can only have been helped by a thumbs-up from David Bowie. "That came about through an article he was writing in The Times about 10 bands he has been listening to," explains Amos. "That was really great. Unfortunately we've not met the man yet. Maybe somewhere down the line he has heard the album."
There is surely plenty of time for that meeting with the great Dame yet.
Fanfarlo play at the Brudenell Social Club on October 9. The album Reservoir is out now.
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