We first heard the silky-smooth tones of Bastille’s Dan Smith in March 2013 when their hit Pompeii was topping the charts. One minute we were curious, checking what all the fuss was about by listening to clips on iTunes. The next minute we were hooked. Well over a year later, our devotion, and their success, is still going strong. But their fame has been anything but sudden. For the last few years they have been gradually building up their support in order to take the charts by storm.
It all started when lead singer Dan Smith was entered into a music competition by a friend whilst still at university in Leeds. He won, and this led to him putting his ambitions of being a journalist aside in order to pursue a career in music. After performing under his own name for a couple of years, Dan decided to form a proper band. Bastille – named after the French holiday on which Dan’s birthday falls – was born. Dan, along with keyboard player Kyle Simmons, bassist Will Farquarson and drummer Chris ‘Woody’ Wood continued to make music with Dan’s song writing skills at the forefront.
The group continued to expand their ever-growing fanbase by releasing new material and playing minor festival slots, and little by little they began to get more attention from the media. In 2012 they released their free mixtapes, Other People’s Heartache Part 1 & 2, which featured mash-ups of covers with their own songs. By this time they were signed to Virgin Records, and destined to go far.
In hindsight, 2013 was always going to be Bastille’s year. They had been building up momentum with the releases of their singles Overjoyed, Bad Blood and Flaws during 2012. The release of their debut album Bad Blood and their fourth single Pompeii in early 2013 propelled them into the mainstream. Cue a whirlwind of tours sending them as far as Australia and the US, television appearances and slots at major festivals such as Glastonbury.
With all the dashing about between tours and promotions, you could think that the four would be running out of steam. Yet Dan, Kyle, Woody and Will still remain down-to-earth and focused on their music. Read or watch any interview and you will find them humorous, sarcastic and cripplingly self-deprecating. Yes, they have success, fame and have probably made quite a bit of money, but it is clear that they don’t take any of this for granted, or think that it is going to last. However, this only makes them more likeable.
So what’s next for Bastille? A new album and mixtape in the works shows that they have not stopped working hard, despite their success. Fingers crossed that these releases will be out before the end of the year. It seems that only time will tell if they will be able to replicate the success of their first album. We know that whatever comes next for Bastille, we will be watching, and eagerly waiting.
https://www.facebook.com/bastilleuk
https://twitter.com/bastilledan
Band Substances 