2. History
The band were formed in 2010, starting as solo project by singer Dan Smith, but later
expanding into a full band by incorporating Kyle Simmons, guitarist and bassist Will Farquarson,
and drummer Chris Wood.
The name Bastille is derived from Bastille Day, celebrated on 14th July – Dan Smith’s birthday.
The band is a popular act in the modern indie pop scene, achieving large commercial success,
selling over 5 million records in the USA and over 1 million in the UK.
The band are currently signed to Virgin Records and Capitol Records. In 2010, the band
released their first single on the London-based independent label Young & Lost Club. Only 300
copies were made; the single featured the songs “Flaws” and “Icarus”, songs that would later
appear on their debut album.
Their debut album “Bad Blood” was released on 4th March 2013. The album peaked at number
one on the UK Top 40, and the lead single “Pompeii” peaked at number two on the singles
chart.
The album was reissued in November 2013 as “All This Bad Blood”, providing more commercial
success for the band as they incorporated number two hit “Of The Night”.
The band won a BRIT award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 2014.
Bastille’s second album “Wild World” was released on 9th September 2016.
3. Influences
Dan Smith was heavily influenced by the works of director David
Lynch in his music. The EP and titular song “Laura Palmer” were
named after a murdered character in Lynch’s acclaimed TV show
“Twin Peaks”. The surrealist style of Lynch has influenced Bastille’s
music videos as well.
Smith drew musical influence from bands such as Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young. He also cites the Beach Boys and other melody-
driven pop as influencers, while also acknowledging a degree of
hip-hop influence, saying “The Score” by the Fugees was the first
album he ever heard.
Dan Smith is an English Literature graduate, and cites the works of
writer Ian McEwan as major influence on his lyrical content:
namely McEwan’s motif of surrealist elements applied to normal,
suburban society.
4. Personality
The band incorporate their British background rather than rejecting it; Smith retains his southern English
accent in his singing, defying the usual ‘Americanization’ of the singing voice that some of their
contemporaries have exhibited (e.g. Arctic Monkeys). They appeal mostly to a British audience, backed up by
the fact that “Pompeii” was the most streamed song on Spotify in the UK at one point.
Although Dan Smith is undoubtedly more well-known and publicised than his fellow band members, none of
the members of Bastille are particularly famous. They rarely appear in papers for any non-musical reason and
are not featured in tabloid articles. This means the focus stays on their music rather than on their personal
lives.
5. What This Means for Our Project
Our music video and digipak should reflect the style of the band. We
should incorporate their British origins into the music video, e.g. by
setting it in an English location.
Their relative reclusiveness should also be considered: this means we
likely shouldn’t feature the band members on the digipak cover so that
this artistic choice is continued.
We could perhaps incorporate surrealist elements into our music video
and draw from the same influencers to maintain Bastille’s style.
