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London’s Bastille has been taking the UK by storm and are poised to break-out worldwide with the release of their brand new album Bad Blood. GroundSounds recently caught up with front-man Dan Smith to talk about the album, touring plans, and more. Be sure to stay updated with the band at www.bastillebastille.com
-You recently released your album Bad Blood along with Bad Blood (Extended Cut). Reviews have been great so far—what were your goals for this album?
I just wanted to write a collection of songs that I liked and thought would be memorable. I’ve always had a bit of a fear of repetition so also wanted to try different things production and style-wise from song to song.
-Your song “Pompeii” has all the makings of a huge hit. What inspired this song?
It’s a bit morbid to be honest and writing about it makes me feel horribly pretentious, but here goes… The song came about while I’d been reading up on what happened in Pompeii and looking at famous images of people frozen by lava in their death poses. I was imagining a conversation between two of these frozen, ashy corpses as they reflect on things. I wanted the conversation to be quite intimate, but framed in epic production that reflected the magnitude of events.
-“Icarus” is a memorable and evocative song. What’s the story behind this track?
It was one of the first songs I wrote and recorded for Bastille. I wanted to make a song that felt quite driving and upbeat, but using pianos, drums, cellos and layers of my vocal. It’s sort of about hedonism.
-Do you have a favorite song from this collection or one that stands out as particularly special?
The song “Bad Blood” came together quite quickly so it was pretty satisfying to write and record. It’s also one of our favourites to play live, and when we do it’s slightly heavier and more full on.
-Who designed the album artwork?
It was a photo we took in Spain with a photographer called Ignacio Torres. I wanted to nod towards the Lost Highway artwork in the image, and I wanted to make it feel as much like a cult film poster as possible.
-What musicians have influenced you the most?
My influences are quite broad. When I grew up my parents always played Simon & Garfunkel and old Elton John, but I also listen to a lot of hip hop and electronic production. When we started the band I was listening to a lot of Antony & The Johnsons, but also loads of Brooklyn bands like Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend and Grizzly Bear.
-Who are some of your favorite bands/musicians that are currently making music?
I think James Blake is brilliant and can’t wait to hear the whole of his new album. Everything Everything are awesome. I’m also looking forward to hearing more from Alunageorge, Haim and CHVRCHES. There’s a band called To Kill A King who just released their debut album and it’s excellent. It’s called “Cannibals with Cutlery”.
-After your UK tour and Reading and Leeds, do you have any plans for a trip back to the US?
Yeah we have a couple of trips planned this year. Nothing is confirmed as of yet, but we’re really looking forward to hopefully playing some of our own shows in the US this year.
-How was the SXSW experience? What was the best part?
It was good thanks. Unfortunately we had to leave on the Thursday night to go and make a video, but we had a lot of fun while we were there. We went to Austin in the middle of our UK tour, so it was a bit of a culture shock going from playing our own shows with all our crew to playing little festival shows with borrowed equipment and no sound checks. The audiences were great though, and it was so weird for us going all the way to the US and seeing people in the crowd singing along.
-After your trip to Austin, you’ll be shooting a music video before you head back to the UK. Can you tell us which song this is for and what it might look like?
We shot a video for our song “Laura Palmer”. I probably shouldn’t say what it’ll look like, but it was a pretty mental 2 day shoot. The idea of the video is to kind of reflect my feelings on having to be in music videos… if that makes sense? I’d rather not spoil it.
-What is one interesting, strange, or fun fact about you that no one knows?
Kyle is obsessed with Disney movies. And not in an ironic way.
