Bastille chats SA tour

29 Sep 2017

In 2014, British rockers Bastille played to sold-out crowds in South Africa. Now, with the launch of their second album Wild World, they return to tour Cape Town, Joburg, and Durban early next month. We got in touch with keyboardist Kyle Simmons to find out what fans can expect and more.

Image by Wolf James

What can fans expect from your upcoming SA tour?

They can expect a lot. We have a whole new album that we will be playing, Wild World. This is a tour we have been doing for the last year, or so, showcasing a bunch of our new songs. We have actually got a new guy on stage with us, Charlie Barnes, and he is just amazing. For the last few years, we have just been honing our skills and we will be even better than before.

What was it like recording Wild World?

It was so much fun actually. We all got together for a couple of weeks to record in a studio in south London, and we all just helped out - playing percussion and banging drums. It was just a really nice experience all together and to work on it as a group to get the themes and messages across. Obviously, the album was very big in the end and we have loads of songs on it and we were recording a lot of it backstage, all around the world really.

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If you had to describe the album as a meal, what would it be and why?

It would be the biggest weirdest mix match-up tapas! It would be loads and loads of dishes, and each one tastes a little bit different, but it is overall a tapas meal.

Do you plan to do any sightseeing while in South Africa?

I really hope so. It would be pretty silly to come all the way to South Africa and not see the sights. We would love to have a walk around, go to some mountains - it would be incredible. I know Dan has family and friends in South Africa and Woody has some of his friends, so I think they will travel out a little early to see them. But yes, we will have a look around, we love to look around the places where we play. I think it’s such a shame when you have to fly in, play, and then leave right after, so it’s a case of travelling a lot but never really go anywhere. So we always try and make the effort to go out there to see the sights.

Did you have any say in who your support acts would be?

I guess living in London, I have a relatively limited knowledge of the sort of music that is in South Africa. But when we looked through who could be playing with us, we were like ‘wow, this is pretty cool,’ and we can’t wait to be on the same bill as them and get to see them live. And that is one of the perks of the job, we get to see a lot of live music. When you play with bands on stage you get to see them live.

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What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you on stage?

I don’t really get a lot of that stuff. But, then you get Dan; for instance, he has been electrocuted on stage, he is constantly falling over, and he gets nervous and he climbs stuff and then gets stuck on top of speakers, which is really weird! We were in France and we got a whole wheel of cheese thrown up on stage, Woody had a chocolate muffin thrown at him and it hit the cymbal and it exploded everywhere. Nothing has really happened to me personally on stage but, as a band collectively, we have had some strange things that have happened or things that have been thrown on stage.