Erland and the Carnival

Erland and the Carnival

Erland and the Carnival are a British folk-rock group from the United Kingdom, based in London. The band forms around Erland Cooper, Simon Tong and David Nock. Tong is a multi-instrumentalist who has played with The Verve, Blur and The Good, the Bad & The Queen; Cooper is an Orkney-born singer and guitarist; and Nock works on drums and engineering and has also worked with Paul McCartney and The Fireman. Other members include Andy Bruce, Georgia Sands and Danny Wheeler.

Formation and name

The group starts after Erland Cooper records a track called “Coming Home”, produced by Nock for Tong’s Butterfly recordings compilation, What the Folk Vol 2. After that, the three begin writing and performing together around London and form the band. The name comes from the Jackson C. Frank song “My Name Is Carnival”, after they record their own version of it from his album Blues Run the Game.

Style and influences

The band is known for contemporary versions of traditional Scottish and English folk songs. Their repertoire includes “Sally Free and Easy”, “The Parting Glass”, “Was You Ever See” and “Love Is a Killing Thing”, the last of which is collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Their sound is influenced by groups such as Pentangle, The Trees and early Fairport Convention, and they are also associated with the wider tradition of British folk-rock.

Recording and activity

Erland and the Carnival record their debut album at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13. They also release material independently through various collaborative projects.