Bastille bassist Will Farquarson talks ahead of Birmingham gig - interview

After all, BRIT Award-winners Bastille have sold more than 2.5 million records in the UK and recently returned to number one on the chart with their second album, Wild World.

It was the follow up to the international smash, Bad Blood, certified double platinum in the UK, and reaching No1.

Wild World may do even better. It's out-gunned its predecessor – scoring a No4 hit in the US, against the No11 placing of Bad Blood.

Yet bassist Will Farquarson is anything but full of himself on an autumnal Thursday morning. He's happy, of course, that his band is flying high.

And he's delighted to be on the road for a sold-out arena tour that included two dates at London's O2 and reaches Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena on Tuesday.

But he's reflective, rather than cocky. He's grateful, rather than egocentric.

"The industry we're in is very precarious and we didn't expect the new album to do so well," he admits. "It was a very nice surprise.

"We were even less prepared for the success of the first album. So many people do what we do and aren't lucky enough to get to where we are. So for us it's all one step at a time. When we released Bad Blood our only hope was to sell enough records to make another one.

"But it took off and had a life of its own. We never thought it would sell millions of records. When it did, it was incomprehensible. It was like being in a tumble dryer. It took off in England then moved to Europe and then moved to America. We were chasing it around the world and it is so manic that every week something new would happen that we'd not expected or we'd be off to a new country Now, three years on we are taking stock of it."

Though Bad Blood was an incredible record, it is arguably not the finest achievement by the London indie pop band. The thing that stands out most is their success in the USA, where they have sold a cool five million records.

Amazing

"America is an amazing place. As a touring band the most noticeable thing is how enormous a thing is. You can do a tour of England and hit every city in two or three weeks. In America, we toured for six weeks and it's just so large.

"Although we came up in an era where things have changed we embrace the new situation of the music industry and we're releasing music ourselves and exploiting social media, we've had to work hard.

"We didn't have a lot of support from the press initially. We just toured and toured and toured and built up the fan base through word of mouth. Gradually things grew.

"We love America. I went there in 2013 with the band and became enamoured with it. Being away from home for a long period of time in the same place can be a dislocating experience. But it's interesting to see a country by going State to State and seeing the geographical and cultural diversity."

Bastille formed in 2010. The group was founded by lead singer Dan Smith but expanded to include Farquarson, drummer Chris Wood and keyboardist Kyle Simmons. They took their name from Bastille Day, which coincides with Smith's birthday, and received four BRIT nominations for Bad Blood in 2014, winning one.

Their rise has been long and slow. "We enjoy touring. It's the only thing we've known. There are some artists, like Adele, who don't have to tour. We've never had that luxury. Touring is how we built our career and fan base and it's all we've known.

"We recorded this new album on the road. We did a lot of recording while touring around in Buenos Aires and in London. We were touring until December last year and recording at the same time.

"On Wild World we've tried to expand our sound a lot and incorporated guitars and hip hop beats." The fact that it's gone to number one was yet another surreal moment in the life of the band. There have, however, been many of those.

"It's weird, there'll be these huge moments, without being too braggy – like winning the BRIT award – which was surreal. That's the most mainstream thing there is and it's all red carpets, suits and Rita Ora and Tine Tempah. But other moments are equally poignant.

"I remember driving through Canada in winter 2014 and it was one of those really long days. We were driving all day, 27 hours. I just remember looking out the window and being so grateful that I am doing what I love. You know, I've been dreaming about this since I was 10/12 years old."

"I really don't know what I'd do without Bastille. For me, there's no other plan or fall-back because there's nothing else I wanted to do. I sacrificed a lot for this. I didn't go to uni and only had part-time jobs. There wasn't much for me.

"I don't have any fall back. But that's the best way to be."

By Andy Richardson