Meet Bristol's The Pleasure Dome....they might have been only around till late 2019 but are not to be missed in the local punk scene!!! We were supposed to have some gig and festival fun together but this is postponed until further notice.
In the meantime I had the absolute pleasure talking to their main man Bobby Spender......
Please give us a little intro about your band. How are things at the 'The Pleasure Dome' camp?
We’re four friends in Bristol making noise. They’re good! Me, Loz and Harri live together and Bert stays in touch, it’s a weird time to be a band in lockdown.
How did you come up with the band name “The Pleasure Dome” – can you please elaborate on that one?
It came in a dream of an amusements arcade in the future called the pleasure dome, then after Googling it it turned out to be in a line of a poem from one of the great romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge from Bridgwater just by Bristol. Everyone agreed on it, and that’s it. I wanted to be called the motorway but nobody liked it.
What makes Bristol special for you?
The people and the nature.
What’s your creative process? Do you have any hobbies that you turn to to rejuvenate your creativity?
I bring songs and demos to the band and then we work on them together. There’s a lot of writing going on, I try and write at least 2 songs a week.
The dreaded subject “Covid” - not that is has slowed you guys down as you are quiet busy with projects – one of them being the release of Live at New Cut Studios EP – which is OUT NOW !! - tell me a bit about that? How did that happen esp with all those annoying restrictions?
Basically we did a live stream on Facebook and YouTube at our friends friends recording studio and the tracks got recorded so we mixed it and released it. Felt like we should put something out. Well we had a bubble between us 3 and Bert our drummer.
How are you staying motivated through all of this as it's not the best time to be a musician or for the music biz in general?
It’s always felt difficult because we’ve always trying, the live element being removed sucks but we still love to make music so we still have that.
Name one of your favourite albums and why?
Mine is 'Man Alive' by King Krule this year but I know Loz has enjoyed Dylan’s new album and Laura Marling. Oh not this year, hmm Abbey road is special, hmm all Beatles albums are special ahah there’s too many.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Spotify’s royalties. He’s a billionaire, and nobody needs that much money.
What’s the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
That would be telling.
What’s the best/worst advice you ever received?
Don’t give a fuck about what people think about you, I got told that by an ex’s step dad while he was cutting my hair, stuck with me.
What's next? What are your plans for 2021?
More music for sure, hopefully gigs - but music, it’s the least we can offer
Check out the video for 'Creme Brûlée' (Live at New Cut Studios, Bristol)