Bastille's Kyle Simmons on Miller Music Amplified

Next Month Bastille will headline an exclusive Miller Music Amplified show in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The London-based band combine slick electronics with infectious hooks and narrative, sometimes abstract lyrics. You may know them best for their covers of classic dance tracks or remixes of artists like Don Diablo or Audien. Most recently they collaborated with Marshmello on 'Happier', which has clocked over 30 million YouTube plays since premiering on 24th September!

 We caught up with Kyle Simmons, the band's keyboard player, to talk about fluid genres, influences and what lies ahead in Buenos Aires...

You have a sound that translates seamlessly into electronic music. Was this something that you cultivated or simply natural evolution of your sound?

"It was never a conscious thing to make sure our songs could translate well to any other genre. But I think that if the song, at its bare bones, is good it makes it easy to be re-imagined. Dan’s song writing paired with the amazing artists who remix the tracks is what makes it, I guess."

What is your favourite electronic remix of your music and why?

"The Bad Blood Lido remix is my favourite. I’ve been a huge fan of Lido for ages now. The chord progressions, the beats and how he flips from super sparse to full, rich synth sounds creating the light and shade. Amazing."

How do you approach covering or reworking a track from outside of your genre?

"We generally strip the song down to just the vocals, unless there’s a very iconic riff or drum beat. Then we’ll layer up stacks of harmonies. A lot of the time we like to show the track in a different light so we’ll take it super depressing if it was upbeat before and vice versa."

Tell us about the evolution of Bastille...how did you all meet and start working together?

"Dan met Woody and Will through music connections and then met me through a mutual friend at a few house parties. I was the last to be ‘recruited’. We got the band name and started rehearsing in 2010. It feels a lot longer than 8 years ago."   What are some of your biggest musical influences?

"The Fugees, Paul Simon, The Beach Boys, RnB, HipHop... far too many!"

What has been your most memorable show to date, and why?

"Playing the sunset slot at Glastonbury 2016. Loads of people showed up, we had our good mates on playing Brass, the sun was going down and we were at Glastonbury."

You are playing Miller Music Amplified in Buenos Aires later this year. Have you played in Argentina before?

"Yeah we have played in Argentina before. What an amazing country. We spent a bit of time out there and actually recorded some of the songs from the second album in a studio there."

What are you expecting from the city and the crowd?

"If it’s anything like last time we were there, it’s going to be incredible. The place is beautiful and the people were so welcoming and happy for us to be there."

The Miller Music Amplified event will be different to your typical show. What should the lucky winners expect...

"It will be a mix of tracks from all 3 albums, mixtapes and tracks we have released with other artists. We just want the show to be really fun and show the breadth of the Bastille sound."

You have been working on new material for your third album. Anything you can share?

"It’s basically an apocalyptic party album. It runs from a quarter past midnight to when you eventually wake up on the kitchen floor or whatever, and everything in-between."