Bastille Band

Bastille are an English rock band formed in 2010. They began as a solo project by singer-songwriter Dan Smith, who later decided to form a band. The four-piece is completed by Chris ‘Woody’ Wood, William Farquarson, and Kyle Simmons.

 

Bastille debuted in June 2010 with their limited edition 7″/45 rpm single featuring the two tracks “Flaws” and “Icarus”. Released through London-based independent record label, Young & Lost Club, only 300 copies were pressed.

 

This was followed by the release of the EP Laura Palmer later in 2011. The title track was rerecorded in Simlish (the in-game jibberish language) for Electronic Arts’ The Sims 3: Supernatural, released in September 2012.

 

After debuting further tracks online through sites such as YouTube and MySpace, the band received a great amount of attention from media and fans. The group subsequently secured a few support slots, and later performed at major UK festivals including Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight, Redfest and Blissfields.

 

Their music has also been used on the TV soap Hollyoaks, Made in Chelsea and The Vampire Diaries. In February 2013, Bastille confirmed the release of the fourth single to be taken from Bad Blood, “Pompeii”.

 

The song was positively reviewed by critics, reaching number two in the United Kingdom and number five in the US. Their debut album Bad Blood was released on 4 March 2013, and placed at number one in the UK Albums Chart .

 
 On the 11th of March, Bastille was announced to be playing at Leeds and Reading Festival in August 2013. In an interview with Digital Spy in March 2013, “Laura Palmer” was revealed to be the fifth single to be released from the album, by lead vocalist, Dan Smith.

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It was released on 3 June 2013, and an accompanying video for the track premiered through the band’s official VEVO page on 12 April 2013. The group joined English rock band Muse as a supporting act on their The 2nd Law Tour in May 2013 and did so again in June 2013.

 

In May 2013, Bastille released their Haunt EP in the US via iTunes. On Saturday 6 July the band headlined their first UK summer music festival at Blissfields. Smith was quoted as saying “We’re massively excited about our first ever headline slot at a festival.

 

Particularly because we love Blissfields so much, and because they’ve been so supportive to us over the last couple of years.” The performance coincided with the band appearing on the cover of a national music publication, Notion magazine, for the first time.

 
On 1 April 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that Bad Blood was the biggest selling digital album of 2013, and Number 11 in the over-all Official Artist Albums Top 40 of 2013. Also in April 2014, the band performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

 

On the 31st of May 2014 the band took part in the Annual KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, California, performing among other bands including The Neighbourhood and Fall Out Boy. On 13 July 2014, Bastille played at T in the Park.