Members
Bobby Spender
Vocals, Guitar
Loz fancourt
Guitar
Bert Elvin
Drums
Bristol Rock Trio Blending Punk, Grunge & Indie Energy
The Pleasure Dome is a Bristol-based three-piece band formed in July 2019, known for their ferocious live energy and genre-blending sound that fuses raw punk spirit with grunge grit and indie rock swagger. Driven by urgency and honesty, their songs tap into something deeply human, exploring love, addiction, recovery, mental health, therapy, and the social tensions of our time.
At the heart of the band is frontman Bobby Spender, whose lyrics are as confessional as they are confrontational. “We’re three friends who love to play music really,” he says. “I write songs about moments in life — things I’ve learned, or don’t understand. We’re loud, but we also like the delicate moments too — the calm and the thunder.” That dynamic range — chaotic yet controlled, noisy but nuanced — has become a hallmark of The Pleasure Dome sound.
The band’s name came to Bobby in a vivid dream — an enormous futuristic amusement arcade with the words The Pleasure Dome glowing above its doors in neon. Only later did he discover the phrase’s poetic origin in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s opium-fueled masterpiece Kubla Khan. The surreal connection felt too perfect to ignore.
Relentless on the road, The Pleasure Dome has built a reputation through a heavy touring schedule across the UK and Europe, performing at festivals and sharing stages with the likes of The Magic Gang, CLT DRP, Frauds, Yawners, and The Byker Grove Fan Club. Their 2023 headline tour of France and appearances at major festivals in Holland cemented their reputation as one of the UK’s most urgent and exciting live acts.
With support from BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, BBC Music Introduction’s James Threlfall, BBC West Introducing’s Adam Walton and BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson, The Pleasure Dome has reached far beyond the sweaty club floors and festival fields, breaking into the ears — and hearts — of listeners nationwide.
Unapologetically loud, emotionally raw, and relentlessly creative, The Pleasure Dome are not just making noise — they’re making sense of the chaos. And they’re just getting started.
Discography
Insane/Love Is Dead Single
Hound Gawd! Records
Bristol grunge-rock/punk trio The Pleasure Dome return with double a-side single “Insane/Love Is Dead”. ‘Insane’ is a snarling post-punk number that proves this rowdy lot have got the goods. With drooling vocals and a raucous backing, it’s an exciting glimpse into what to expect from this band. The band have enjoyed a busy live schedule, playing multiple festivals around the UK and Europe. BBC Radio 1 appearances with Jack Saunders and BBC 6music with Tom Robinson brought them into the homes of millions of listeners.
Frontman Bobby Spender says about ‚Insane’: “The relationship I was in at the time I wrote this song was starting to go wrong, breakdown, we wanted different things, but we were in love and I felt like I was losing my mind. I had episodes of psychosis and schizophrenia in my 20's, something I have more of a handle on now, but I was scared I was starting to lose my mind again, this song was a bit about coming to terms with that, questioning my own sanity while a relationship breaks down. It's always feels to me like a song that opens the gates of hell, a release of frustration and negativity, self deprecation, an ode to psychosis and love.”
In ‘Love Is Dead’, he shares his experiences: “This song was written first as a poem about unrequited love. It was about the end of one relationship and how it ended though we were in love. Then shortly after I met someone and started to fall in love but they were having an affair, not telling their partner about me; we strung it out but eventually we had to end it as it wasn't fair on our emotions and she wanted to be with her partner but me at the same time - it wasn't how I saw love. Both times there was a love there, but both times I felt I had to walk away, leaving alone, so I declared, love is dead. It felt like that what I was being told by each partner, each relationship. Maybe I'm throwing some blame, as I also admit perhaps this is what I want - love is dead, I heard her say, or was it something I hoped?”
Produced by Tom Smith at Mwnci Studios, engineered by Jethro Chaplin, mixed by James Trevascus (Beak, Billy Nomates) and mastered by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney) at Soundhouse in Seattle, WA.
TRACKLIST
1. Insane
2. Love Is Dead
Equinox
Hound Gawd! Records
On the themes behind the album and its title, frontman Bobby Spender says: “The Equinox happens twice a year when the day and night are exactly the same length. It’s the day when winter becomes spring and summer becomes autumn. Pagans celebrate this day and call it Mabon. The song ‘At Dawn’ is where the writing for this album really began — I watched the sunset of the equinox up Glastonbury Tor with an ex and unbeknownst to us when we said goodbye at dawn it would be the last we would see each other as we soon broke up. The life that followed makes up the majority and overall feel of the album. Five songs have been carried through from before that point, but that moment felt like a turning point for me. The idea of duality is found in the title; the dark going turning into the light, all or nothing, rough and smooth, love and heartbreak, the calm and the thunder.”
Alongside the album news, the band are revealing lead single ‘Down The Alley’. Spender says about this song: “This one is about something that happened to me when I was a child,” says Spender. “I got kicked out, pushed over in an alley, a five pound note thrown in my face, and told to f*ck off. I ended up sleeping rough for a bit. Recently I was sitting on a bed thinking about it with a guitar in my hand and the song came through.” “The song felt like a rhythm of emotion that flowed through me, this repetition of a moment, a mantra of upset, a cry of defiance; it just has this verse that grows with every pass, a word gets added to the melody every round. Like I had the story unfold in this repetitive way. A memory repeating over and over. It feels powerful to play, sometimes painful. But I am proud of it. It’s cheap therapy really, me healing by taking control of pain, exposing these vulnerabilities.”
The artwork for the new single is a similarly brave gesture from Spender, who chose to share an intimate self-portrait which echoes the vulnerability of the track. “It’s like me literally baring all,” explains Spender. “I was looking through my pictures for something to use for the artwork and I had this photo I took recently in a hostel in Paris for someone I was dating. Seeing it in the context of the song felt so emotional — many moments I’ve spent depressed in the shower, everything feeling black and white, alone. I do like the picture. For me it’s emotionally liberating to share this song, it’s so personal, so to expose vulnerability through nudity, it felt like another layer I could add to the music. Honestly sharing this moment in my life feels way more intimate than a shadowy picture of me in the shower anyway. If I’m honest, I try not to think about it. This song is one of my favourites on the album—we’re all playing great on the recording. It’s all live, no click, raw and honest, in every way.”
The three piece have also revealed a single for ‘Insane’ Commenting on the track, Spender says: “The relationship I was in at the time when I wrote this song was starting to go wrong and breakdown — we wanted different things, but we were in love and I felt like I was losing my mind. I had episodes of psychosis and schizophrenia in my 20s, something I have more of a handle on now, but I was scared I was starting to lose my mind again. This song was a bit about coming to terms with that, questioning my own sanity while a relationship breaks down. It always feels to me like a song that opens the gates of hell, a release of frustration and negativity, self deprecation; an ode to psychosis and love.”
Their long-awaited debut album EQUINOX was produced by friend of the band Tom Smith, mixed by James Trevascus (Beak, Billy Nomates) and mastered by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney).
The band’s previous standalone singles and EP releases have already netted them a host of fans at UK press, with a solid bundle of radio airplay at BBC R1 (Jack Saunders Rock Show, BBC Introducing), BBC 6Music (Lauren Laverne, Tom Robinson, Craig Charles), BBC Radio Wales (Adam Walton), and BBC Bristol (Introducing).
TRACKLIST
1. Pass The Parcel
2. Down The Alley
3. Love Is Dead
4. Vampire Of The Night
5. Psychodrama
6. What A Shame (Cocaine)
7. At Dawn
8. Boiler Room
9. On The Beaches
10. Insane
11. Have You Ever Been In Love
12. Good Luck
13. No Guts No Fame
Liminal Space
Hound Gawd! Records
This title however is about more than just the transition between first album and second, but captures a particularly difficult moment in time for the band. Directly after a successful tour, and a strongly received album came the departure of both the band's drummer and the band's bassist. Adding insult to injury, the remaining member of the band, songwriter, vocalist and guitar player Bobby Spender then had a romantic relationship come to an end, finally the nail in the coffin was getting evicted from his home, all within the space of a few months.
Instead of losing himself in thoughts of what could have been, Spender wasted no time in putting his emotions into his craft, creating a selection of songs illustrative of this particularly torturous time in life. “The songs on the EP felt like they belonged together. It didn't feel right to save them for our next album” says Spender, and hence Liminal Space was born.
Speaking on the single The Duke Part II (Friends and Enemies), vocalist and songwriter Bobby Spender had this to say: “I work in a pub alongside doing the band, sometimes it gets me down. You see people you like, people you don't like and they're all getting drunk and it's easy to feel lost if you're going through a hard time. The song has a message of hope, sometimes where you are is exactly where you need to be”.
The 2nd single is an angry, dissonant, raucous entry from the band, returning to a sound familiar to their debut record, but turned up to 11. Bobby Spender said, "After the album, I wanted to make something that was really melodic, which became the first single The Duke. I then realised wanted to see info could go heavier than the album, which is what Your Fucking Smile became."
The band was reformed with a fresh line-up, recruiting Loz Fancourt (bass and backing vocals) and Harry Flowers (Drums) and hit the studio in January 2024 bringing the therapeutic creation to life. Wanting to build on the foundations of the first record while still intending to make something challenging and new, the band recorded this EP with former collaborator, and producer of their debut record Equinox; James Trevascus. Trevascus’ former credentials include Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Billy Nomates, Beak>, RVG, and The KVB. Combining Trevascus’ wealth of experience with a repertoire formed of the most burdensome of confessions, The Pleasure Dome have created what could be their most emotive and ambitious project to date.
TRACKLIST
1. The Duke Part I
2. The Duke Part II (Friends & Enemies)
3. Your Fucking Smile
4. Sugar
5. A Shoulder To Cry On
6. Suicide
