Bastille (band)
Bastille are a British indie pop band formed in 2010. The group began as a solo project by lead vocalist Dan Smith, but later expanded to include keyboardist Kyle Simmons, bassist and guitarist Will Farquarson and drummer Chris "Woody" Wood.[1][2]
For other uses, see Bastille (disambiguation).
Bastille
After an independently released debut single and a self-released EP, the band signed to Virgin Records.[3] Their first studio album, Bad Blood, was released in March 2013 and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one and included the hit single "Pompeii" which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Bastille was nominated for four Brit Awards at the 2014 ceremony, winning the British Breakthrough Act.[4] As of August 2021, the band have sold over eleven million records worldwide.[5][6]
Name and musical style[edit]
The name of the band derives from Bastille Day, which is celebrated on 14 July, Smith's birthday.[89]
Bastille's musical style has been described as indie pop,[90][91] pop rock,[92][93] synth-pop,[94][95] electropop,[96][97] alternative rock,[2] pop,[93] and indie rock.[98]
Media[edit]
Television[edit]
Bastille's music has been used on the TV soap Hollyoaks with one week in the early summer of 2012 focused on Bastille's song "Laura Palmer". Their music also has been on: Made in Chelsea and Waterloo Road.[99] The song "Oblivion" was featured in season 4 episode 9 of The Vampire Diaries in December 2012.[100] "Things We Lost in the Fire" was used for the 2014 autumn trailer for English soap opera EastEnders. They can also be heard on Teen Wolf and on the fourth episode of How to Get Away with Murder with the Naughty Boy collaboration "No One's Here to Sleep".[101] The song "Haunt" can be heard in the season 1 finale of the TV series Finding Carter. Song "Blame" is featured in season 1 episode 4 of Marvel series Runaways.
In August 2017, the band released a version of the Green Day song "Basket Case" for the Peter Serafinowicz series The Tick.[102]
Film[edit]
Their song "Pompeii" is featured in the 2014 movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman. The band's song "The Driver" was used in the re-scored soundtrack of the 2011 film Drive produced for the BBC by Zane Lowe for its October 2014 TV broadcast.[103] The band also featured on the Kill Your Friends (2015) soundtrack with a cover of the Sugababes debut single "Overload". On 9 November 2017, the band released a music video for “World Gone Mad”, a song for the Netflix movie Bright. Their song "Those Nights" was used in 2020 movie All My Life. [104]
On 10 February 2021, the band released their Amazon original documentary "Bastille - ReOrchestrated".[105]
Video games[edit]
Their song "Pompeii" is featured in racing game, DiRT 4, First Touch game, First Touch Soccer 15, the Konami game Pro Evolution Soccer 2015, Fortnite, and a remix of the song is featured in Need for Speed Rivals. The band's music has appeared in the FIFA video games three times: "Weight of Living, Pt. II" in FIFA 13, "Hangin'" in FIFA 16 and "Send Them Off!" in FIFA 17.
Bastille's music has also been featured in the simulation game The Sims 3 in the Supernatural DLC, specifically the song "Laura Palmer" which is dubbed over in the video game's language of Simlish.
Advertisements[edit]
In 2019, a cover of "Can't Fight This Feeling" was recorded by the band for the John Lewis and Waitrose Christmas advert.[106][107]
The band performed "Pompeii" at Birmingham New Street railway station for a TV advert for EE in November 2019.[108] The gig was a world first as it was streamed via 5G and captured in augmented reality. The advert was released on 13 January 2020.[109]
In May 2021, the band recorded a cover of The Turtles song "Happy Together" for a Spanish Toyota advert.[110]
Television appearances[edit]
Singles promotion[edit]
Bastille performed "Pompeii" on The Jonathan Ross Show (2013). They also went on to play the song on The Voice van Vlaanderen (2013),[111] Conan, making their American TV debut (2013),[112] The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2013) and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2013). They performed "Pompeii" along with "Oblivion" on Saturday Night Live (2014).[113] They performed "Laura Palmer" on Sunday Brunch (2013). They performed "Of the Night" on Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2013).[114] They returned to The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2014 to perform "Flaws". They performed "Bad Blood" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2013), The Late Show with David Letterman (2014), Conan (2014) and Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014). They performed "Good Grief" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2016), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2016), Alan Carr's Happy Hour and RTL Late Night (2016). They performed "Send Them Off!" on Sunday Brunch (2016). They performed "Blame" on Late Night with Seth Meyers (2017) and The Late Late Show Starring James Corden (2017). They performed "World Gone Mad" at the final of the 13th season of The Voice with contestant Noah Mac (2017).[115] Alongside Craig David, Dan Smith performed "I Know You" alone on Sounds Like Friday Night (2017), before the rest of the band joined them to perform the song at the semi-final of the 15th series of Strictly Come Dancing (2017). The band made their fourth appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2018) when they performed "Quarter Past Midnight". Along with Marshmello, Smith performed their collaboration, "Happier", on Good Morning America (2018)[116] and then at the final of the 15th season of The Voice with the entire band (2018). They performed "Joy" on The Voice van Vlaanderen (2019) and The Graham Norton Show (2019). The band performed "Distorted Light Beam" at the Team GB 2020 Summer Olympics homecoming (2021).[117] "Thelma + Louise" was performed live on GMA3 (2021).[118] "No Bad Days" was performed live on Sunday Brunch alone by Smith (2021).[119] The band performed twice on The Late Late Show Starring James Corden (2022), playing "Shut Off The Lights" and "Give Me The Future".[120][121]
Other performances[edit]
The band performed at the New Year's Eve Party 2015 at Hollywood, which was broadcast on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, whilst they headlined the 2019 New Year's Eve Party. The band performed as one of the summer concert lineup for The TODAY Show (2016).[122] They performed their song "Fake It" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2016). The band have performed on Sunday Brunch to promote their album Doom Days (2019). The band performed on Good Morning America as part of the GMA Summer Concert Series in 2019, as well as in 2021. The band performed "Bad Decisions" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[123] Their mashup of Joy Crookes' song "Anyone But Me" and Easy Life's song "Nightmares", was shown on Channel 4 as part of highlights from Barclaycard Share The Stage highlights (2020).[124][125] The band performed as part of the charity event Love Not War for War Child, which was shown on 20 December 2021 on Sky Max.[126] The band's MTV Unplugged performance from Porchester Hall was shown on MTV Music on 23 December 2021 and globally throughout late December.[127][128] The band performed as the headline act at the final of the 2022 season of The Hundred, and it was shown live on BBC Two and Sky Sports.[129]
Award ceremonies[edit]
The band performed "Pompeii" at the Brit Awards (2014) as part of a mashup with Ella Eyre and Rudimental with their song "Waiting All Night". They also performed the song at the iHeartRadio Music Awards (2014). They performed "Happier" at the MTV EMAs (2018) as part of a collaboration with Marshmello and Anne-Marie, who sang their song "Friends".[130]
Game of Thrones[edit]
In 2017, all members of the band, and tour manager Dick Meredith, featured as extras in the final episode of season 7 of Game of Thrones.[131] Simmons and Meredith made the cut, whereas Smith, Wood, and Farquarson were cut out.
Current members
Touring members
Studio albums
