Bastille frontman Dan Smith on his mother's cancer diagnosis, running the marathon and London's changing music scene

Every band has an origin story, the chance meeting where hopeful musicians set out on the road to stardom.

For Bastille, the London-bred Indie group that has now sold over nine million records, their lead singer Dan Smith owes it all to his mother.

Having arrived home from university with a new-found passion for music, Dan was encouraged by his mother to take up drumming lessons.

The instructor happened to be drummer Chris “Woody” Wood, and less than a year later, the pair formed Bastille.

Nearly a decade, two number one albums, and countless awards later, Bastille are among Britain's most popular bands, selling out venues worldwide.

Now more than ever, Dan admits reflecting on the role his mother played in his success. She has since been diagnosed with breast cancer.

He told ITV News: "It’s very hard news to take for anybody, and it was a massive shock.

"The treatment that she had was very difficult for her, but she was amazing and she’s okay and now in remission."

Dan’s touring commitments with Bastille means he’s away from home for much of the year, but has made constant efforts to travel back to London.

“It was really hard being away for a lot of it,” the 32-year-old added.

“Where you want to be in a situation like that is alongside your family for the whole thing.

“I’m in touch with everyone a lot while I’m away. We just made the effort to be back as much as possible and be around as much as possible, go to the hospital with her, go to appointments with her as much as I could.”

Dan is running this year's London Marathon - fundraising for Breast Cancer Now to help raise awareness and vital funds for researching the disease.

He’s had to mix touring with training and accepts it will be difficult, especially having been mocked by fans for his running technique in the video for Bastille’s breakthrough single Pompeii.

“Maybe this is my moment of redemption, where I can show people that I’m not as bad as I once was,” Dan added.

“Despite having the worst technique in the running world at least I will have put it to some good use.

“You see it every year on TV. I live in London so you can go out and watch and it’s always really inspiring and really fun to watch.”

Bastille shot to fame in 2013 with Pompeii – a radio hit so catchy it briefly held the record for the longest time at number one on the Official Streaming Chart.

It’s a fitting record for Bastille, who Dan says much of their early success to promoting their music online.

The rise of online streaming - alongside rising business rates, declining audiences and noise restrictions has been blamed by some for putting a strain on London’s live music scene, with venues closing.

He added: "When we were around music on Facebook and Twitter was sort of blooming, and SoundCloud and Spotify, and that was really huge for us. Prior to that you had to go to a venue."

"I went to University in Leeds and that’s where I played my first gig, but then I moved back and used to play by myself with a loop pedal and piano.

"There was an amazing north London indie scene. It was the early 2010s and there were so many venues to play in, so many club nights, so many shows and so many bills to be on.

"Small venues are so important, but while there are some closing there are lots of interesting little venues in London that are opening up – and there’s nothing quite like going to a live gig."

Bastille are set to release their third album this year and are already touring.

With the band’s success rolling on, Dan says he still lives a normal life, staying in a house share in south London.

"We felt lucky that people have embraced our music – it’s totally changed our lives," he added.

"We all still spend as much time as possible at home. Obviously we’re on tour a lot, but we’ve done our best to let our music speak for itself and not be in people’s faces too much.

"Life in London for us is pretty normal. I guess we feel fortunate enough to almost have a double life."

Find out more about Dan's fundraising for the London Marathon here.