Fanfarlo's Simon Balthazar on isolation and imagination

Sounding like an unplugged version of The Arcade Fire fronted by a less-manic David Byrne, London orchestral-pop group Fanfarlo appear destined for the sort of mega-indie stardom that makes the “indie” part of the tag feel superfluous. Fanfarlo’s dynamic arrangements and sweeping melodies have been increasingly buzzed about through much of 2009, even though it wasn't until September that the band released debut album Reservoir, recorded with producer Peter Katis, who's also worked with Interpol and The National. In advance of Fanfarlo’s show on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the Triple Rock Social Club, bandleader Simon Balthazar talked with The A.V. Club about the upside of isolation and why he prefers to think big.
The A.V. Club: You’ve said numerous songs on the album were inspired by real-life historical figures like Howard Hughes and Harold T. Wilkins, and written from their perspectives. What appeals to you about this unconventional approach to narrative?
Simon Balthazar: It’s something that works for me. I was talking to a film director the other day about storytelling and he was explaining that he tries to tell small stories, and I realized I’m actually more interested in telling big stories. I’m just not that into confessional songwriting, even though some people can do it incredibly well. I’m more interested in that blurry line between fact and fiction and the ways in which music can serve as a connecting force to big ideas and emotions. Most of my songs take tiny elements of my own experience or emotional components of myself mixed up with stories I’ve heard or historical characters I’ve read about. It’s not that I’m ever writing some straight historic document. I like to write fantasy informed by history. “The Walls Are Coming Down” was inspired by time-travel theory I was reading on the Internet.
AVC: Growing up in rural Sweden, did you feel like moving to London was something you had to do in order to pursue music?
SB: It wasn’t anything that calculated. I did literally grow up in the forest in Sweden. My parents moved out to the countryside in the ’70s and I had a bit of a hippie upbringing until I was 16, when I moved to Gothenburg. Then after living there a few years, I moved to London, where I’ve been living now for a few years, sort of little upgrades in size along the way. I didn’t feel like I had to leave Sweden to pursue music, as Sweden does have a really cool scene. It’s an interesting kind of fusion going on between London and Gothenburg particularly. There are lots of DJs and musicians flying back and forth, bands swapping members.