Best Known As the Singer of Bastille, Dan Smith Has Many More Strings to His Bow. with His Band's Third LP Doom Days out This

COVER STORY an Smith is a busy man. The Bastille frontman is juggling the Best known as the singer of imminent release of his band’s third album (which he also co-produced), with running a label and a recording studio, in Bastille, Dan Smith has many addition to penning songs for other artists. His Marshmello collaboration Happier is now a certified worldwide smash, charting more strings to his bow. With at No.2 on both sides of the Atlantic. Oh, and he ran this year’s London Marathon... his band’s third LP Doom Days “It’s about trying to do everything at the same time and create as much as possible,” Smith tells Music Week at his homely One Eyed Jack’s studio in out this month, the mixtape DSouth London. “Obviously, being in a band, helping run a label, working on a whole load of projects and helping to put a campaign together is a lot, but I’m doing my best. I guess I king has quietly built up a don’t have much time off, but I also don’t really see much of this as work.” Starting life as Smith’s solo project in 2010, Bastille grew to include guitarist Will Farquarson, keyboard player Kyle Simmons and drummer Chris “Woody” Wood. The business empire comprising his Virgin EMI-signed outfit achieved huge success with their triple-platinum debut LP Bad Blood (957,947 sales, OCC) and the two million-selling single Pompeii, and took home a Best Laid Plans label and One BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough in 2014. Since their last studio album, 2016’s Wild Wood (200,828 sales), which hit No.1 in the Eyed Jack’s studio. Here, he UK, the band have never really been away, reworking their hits with a live orchestra and choir for 2018’s acclaimed Reorchestrated tour, before dropping the fourth incarnation of tells Music Week all about it... their Other People’s Heartache covers mixtape series. In February, Smith and his cohorts embarked on a tour of intimate venues in the UK and Europe (they’ve even launched their own brand of hot sauce). “He is a restless soul,” marvels Virgin EMI boss Ted Cockle. “If he’s not trying to do ------- BY JAMES HANLEY ------- the normal stuff he’s doing mixtapes; if he’s not doing that he’s trying to do collabs; if he’s not doing that he’s trying to do Reorchestrated tours; if he’s not doing that he’s setting up a studio; if he’s not doing that he’s trying to do his label and if he’s not doing that he’s running the bloody marathon! He should perhaps just sit down and have a sleep sometimes, but he doesn’t seem that keen on doing that.” “I don’t think it ever feels like too much, because I fucking love it so much,” reflects Smith. “I can’t believe we’re still in this place where we’re able to release albums and create campaigns around them that are hopefully bizarre, challenging, interesting and different. I’m able to have helped make this studio and set up this label and be writing lots of songs with other people and these are all things that I never dreamt about. When I was a kid, I never even thought about being in a band.” The 32-year-old’s label, Best Laid Plans Records, was set up in 2013 with his One Eyed Jack’s partner (and Bastille producer) Mark Crew, alongside Dan Priddy. The trio got off 16 | Music Week 03.06.19 musicweek.com.

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