Bastille (band)
| Bastille | |
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Bastille performing at Coachella in 2014
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| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | |
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| Website | bastillebastille |
| Members |
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Bastille (stylised as BΔSTILLE) 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 Will Farquarson, and drummer Chris Wood. The name of the band derives from Bastille Day, which is celebrated on 14 July, the date of Smith's birthday.
After an independently released debut single and a self-released EP, the band signed to Virgin Records. Their first studio album, Bad Blood, was released in March 2013 and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one. The band was nominated for four Brit Awards at the 2014 ceremony, winning the British Breakthrough Act. As of November 2014, Bastille have sold over 5 million records in the US and 2.5 million records in the UK.
Bastille debuted in July 2010 with their limited edition 7" single that featured the two tracks "Flaws" and "Icarus". Released through London-based independent record label Young & Lost Club, only 300 copies were pressed. One of those copies found its way into the hands of Alex Baker, presenter of the unsigned/independent artists radio show on Kerrang! Radio. Baker immediately started heavily supporting Bastille on air, and the band began to find an audience. This was followed by the self-release of the EP Laura Palmer later in 2011. After debuting further tracks online through sites such as YouTube and MySpace, the band's audience started to grow. In December 2011 Smith signed a contract with Virgin Records. The group subsequently secured a few support slots, most notably Year of the Fox, and later performed at major UK festivals including Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight, Redfest Reading and Leeds Festival and Blissfields. The band also recorded and released a two part mix-tape titled Other People's Heartache for free.
On 27 April 2012, their first official single release, "Overjoyed", was released through Virgin Records, as confirmed by EMI on the 1st of May 2012. Following its video premiere in November 2011, popular music publication, Q Magazine introduced the track as its 'Track of the Day' for 7 March 2012. The second single to be released from the upcoming debut studio album, Bad Blood, was the eponymous track, "Bad Blood". An accompanying video for the single was released on the band's official VEVO channel on 29 June 2012, and digitally through Virgin Records on 20 August 2012. Bastille were also named 'New Band of the Day' by British newspaper The Guardian in July 2012. The song charted moderately at number 90 in the United Kingdom, and saw the group's first entry into the chart. In August 2012 the band performed at UK festivals like Reading and Leeds, as well as supporting British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé. They later played a small headlining tour, titled 'Flaws Tour' in October 2012, with Swiss Lips as their support act. in November 2012, the band performed at Hong Kong's Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival, their first outside of Europe. Their third single, a re-release of their first 7" non-album single "Flaws", was a commercial success, earning the group their first position in the UK Top 40, debuting at number-twenty-one. The song Oblivion was featured in Season 4 Episode 9 of The Vampire Diaries in December 2012.
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