British band Bastille on how to be invisible in the entertainment world

Dan Smith, frontman of Bastille, grew up in London. Photo: AFP

Bastille is one of Britain’s biggest bands, with two No.1 albums (including the band’s newest, Wild World) in Britain, and a string of hits that includes the international synth-pop behemoth Pompeii. The group has done all this while managing to remain practically invisible – rock stars you wouldn’t recognise on the high street, which is how frontman Dan Smith prefers it.

Smith grew up in London, writing songs in his bedroom; in the early 2000s he formed Bastille with friends, in no small part because he was too self-conscious to have a solo career.