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The story behind Bastille's band name...
14 July 2026, 13:00 | Updated: 14 July 2026, 15:50
Find out the meaning of and history behind Dan Smith and co's historical moniker.
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Bastille are a British band who formed in 2010, starting out as a solo project by lead vocalist Dan Smith.
Later expanding to include keyboardist Kyle Simmons, bassist and guitarist Will Farquarson and drummer Chris Wood, the four-piece has gone on to release five studio albums; 2013's Bad Blood, 2016's Wild World, Doom Days in June 2019, Give Me The Future in February 2023 and & (ampersand) in 2024.
Over 15 years since their inception, Bastille are still going strong, but do you know the meaning behind and reason for their name? Find out below...
Bastille - Distorted Light Beam (Official Video)
What are Bastille named after?
Bastille are named after the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, an event which saw the medieval fortress, armoury and political prison invaded.
Despite the Bastille only containing seven inmates at the time, its fall was considered a flashpoint of the French revolution because it represented the royal authority in Paris.
To mark the historical event Bastille Day is celebrated every year in France on 14 July, usually with an enormous firework display centred around the Eiffel Tower, the Iena bridge and the Trocadero gardens.
But what does the French Revolution have to do with a London-formed four-piece?
Quite simply, 14th July also happens to be the birthday of frontman Dan Smith, who is partial to a historical and literary reference or two.
Speaking to Radio X, Dan Smith explained the meaning behind one of the band's biggest singles, Pompeii, which is named after the historical event which saw the Roman city completely buried under 20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.
Watch our video to find out more:
Bastille on the meaning of Pompeii
Speaking to Radio X, he said: "I was reading a book that had some picture of the people who got caught up in the volcanic eruption.
"And it's just such a kind of dark powerful image, and it got me thinking about how boring it must have been emotionally after the event. To be sort of stuck in that same position for hundreds and hundreds of years.
"So, the song is sort of an imaginary conversation between these two people who are stuck next to each other in their sort of tragic death pose".
He added, jokingly: "Which you know... is just your kind of average pop song topic!"
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If that wasn't enough proof that Dan Smith is a bit of a history nerd, back in 2024 he created & (Ampersand), an album inspired by historical pairs, which included a companion podcast.
"It's 14 story songs. I recorded it with some friends in February and March," he told Radio X's Dan O'Connell at the time. "We went away and it took about three weeks to record it and it's mostly just live... yeah. It's a series of short stories about all these different people that I think are fascinating, but also just a bunch of really great songs."
Hear him talk about the project back in 2024 below:
Dan Smith on Bastille's new album "&"
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