Pleasure Dome

Pleasure Dome is a US rock group from Binghamton, New York. It brings together Ted Poley on vocals, Charlie Calv on keyboards, Ed Avila on bass, John Hummel on drums and David Tsien on guitars. The line-up draws on players with long experience in melodic rock and hard rock, and the group is associated with house, hard rock, melodic metal, AOR and Swedish band tags.

Background

The band forms around musicians who have worked in a range of melodic rock projects. Ted Poley first appears as the drummer for progressive rock group Prophet on their debut release in 1985, then becomes better known as the singer with Danger Danger, including the singles “Naughty Naughty” and “Bang Bang” on Sony Records. Charlie Calv and Ed Avila first emerge with the debut Shotgun Symphony album in 1993, then continue to play with acts including Intruder, Message, Melodica, Skin Tag, Arcara and The Way.

David Tsien joins Charlie Calv again after the pair previously work together in Skin Tag, following Tsien’s earlier period with Shoot The Doctor on MCA Records. John Hummel builds a reputation as a busy touring drummer, first joining Shotgun Symphony live after the release of its Sea of Desire album, then later performing with Black Market Radio alongside Peter Cornell, Chris Cornell’s younger brother.

Recordings and activity

Pleasure Dome records its debut release, For Your Personal Amusement, in New Jersey, with Charlie Calv producing and Martin Kronlund mixing it in Gothenburg, Sweden. The project tests material in 2004 with “Always Tomorrow” and “One and Only”; the latter appears in an earlier form on the Melodic Rock.com compilation CD 2 - The Beast Inside. Work continues through 2005 and 2006 alongside other projects and touring before the release is completed in 2007.

The album includes tracks such as “Trapped”, “The Aura That Surrounds You” and “Praying For A Miracle”, and is described through its own track sequence as moving between power-pop, melodic rock and ballad material. Across their careers, the members have collectively sold over one million records, toured more than 500 cities in 15 countries and played over 5,000 shows.