Pleasant Express
"Purveyors of DynoPop since 2007. Imaginators of DinoPop since the dawn of … Read Full Bio ↴"Purveyors of DynoPop since 2007. Imaginators of DinoPop since the dawn of time" - Leo Travis
Pleasant Express came into being in 2007 as “The World’s First Musical Magazine”. Founded by Leo Travis, Abel Powers, Christian Friendly, Brain Sexton and Ralph Tweed, they released “Instant News” in 2008, a 17 minute album (or what they called “issue”) of songs (or what they called “Pleasantries”) played without interruption. The album was recorded with one mic and a mini-disc recorder in Ralph’s bedroom. Pleasant Express also recorded three singles during their “Instant News” period; a jangley but eruptive ultimatum of the “Please Please Me” variety called “Take Her or Leave Her”, a broad sonic blast a la The Strokes doing “Tiger Feet” called “Siamese Mind” and a swinging ditty of a prayer called “(I’d Really Like to) See You Again”. These Pleasantries were recorded on a 4-Track tape machine borrowed from one of Ralph’s Dad’s friend.
Instead of being defined by their instruments, Pleasant Express invented job titles for themselves; Abel Powers was “President of the Bored of Trade”, Christian Friendly was “Advisor of Spiritual Matters”, Ralph Tweed was “Archiver of Disposable Outcomes”, Brain Sexton was “Chairperson of the Metaphorical Office” and Leo Travis was “Assessor of Fringe Benefits”.
Autumn 2009 saw them release a Beatles inspired ball of fuzz a la MGMT called “Everyday I Love You a Little Bit More”, which Abel wanted to advertise as “The Best Song Since She Loves You”.
Wanting to record their second issue but finding themselves without the budget to pay for time in a recording studio, they sold advertising space on their second issue, “Presents Inc”. Fledgling businesses such as The Funeral Tourist Board, Pornography Library and Internal FM paid to have their businesses advertised in song. But instead of making a virtue of “selling out”, Pleasant Express book-ended the jingles and adverts to make “Presents Inc” a “musical meditation on the individual in a consumerist society” (according to Brain Sexton).
Whilst mixing “Presents Inc” Abel came up with a “Fan Poaching” idea to get them more exposure. To coincide with the release of Julian Casablancas’ “Phrases for the Young” they wrote and recorded the hook-laden “Paraphrasing for the Skum”, as much a tip-of-the-hat to the works of Thomas Paine as The Strokes frontman. This did not do much to bring them to the attention of the public or A&R men.
Undeterred, they decided to release “Presents Inc” by targeting a few with something special (rather than targeting many with a CD-R) and so endeavoured to make a “deluxe edition” of their second issue featuring posters, flyers, interviews and signed photo of Leo (as he was the “face” of Pleasant Express). Sadly, the cost of all the ephemera resulted in only 30 copies being made. These were given to fans, friends and family and subsequently generated no industry or public interest.
With becoming a professional band seeming more and more unlikely, and with four fifths of Pleasant Express feeling 9 to 5 was the life for them after all, they made one last attempt to reach out to their un-discovered fan-base.
When Abel heard Jared Leto’s new band were in town that night, he corralled Pleasant Express into Ralph’s bedroom for one last attempt at glory. In an hour they had the anthemic-ethereal seesaw “Millisecond to Mars (I Wanna Go to the Moon)” on tape. Within two hours they had CD-R’s burned and were on their way down the arena to hand out copies to all the 30 Seconds to Mars fans. As the crowds cleared after the show, they saw that almost all of the copies were strewn across the pavements. They picked them up, went home and Leo spent the following week taking four very long phone calls. Even Leo’s belief in their already written third issue, “Third Millennium Romance”, was not enough to keep the disillusioned members from committing fully to their day jobs.
But Leo was not to be beaten and after spending a year visiting friends, family and travelling the UK he is back and dedicated to keeping the Pleasant Express legacy alive.
When a flat-mate of a friend introduced him to digital recording software, and the fully programmable instrumentation it offers, Leo found a way to realise his musical visions without others needing to risk their livelihood. He recorded “My Home’s your Heart”, a Groovyish meditation of the T.S Elliot variety, that very night and hasn’t looked back since.
With “Life is Our Dream”, a “Secret Messages” blast of a folk ballad, and “Better Than a Memory”, a Shangri-La-la-la by way of Roy Wood, set for release in summer 2012, Pleasant Express will finally release their third issue “Third Millennium Romance” in the Autumn.
Pleasant Express came into being in 2007 as “The World’s First Musical Magazine”. Founded by Leo Travis, Abel Powers, Christian Friendly, Brain Sexton and Ralph Tweed, they released “Instant News” in 2008, a 17 minute album (or what they called “issue”) of songs (or what they called “Pleasantries”) played without interruption. The album was recorded with one mic and a mini-disc recorder in Ralph’s bedroom. Pleasant Express also recorded three singles during their “Instant News” period; a jangley but eruptive ultimatum of the “Please Please Me” variety called “Take Her or Leave Her”, a broad sonic blast a la The Strokes doing “Tiger Feet” called “Siamese Mind” and a swinging ditty of a prayer called “(I’d Really Like to) See You Again”. These Pleasantries were recorded on a 4-Track tape machine borrowed from one of Ralph’s Dad’s friend.
Instead of being defined by their instruments, Pleasant Express invented job titles for themselves; Abel Powers was “President of the Bored of Trade”, Christian Friendly was “Advisor of Spiritual Matters”, Ralph Tweed was “Archiver of Disposable Outcomes”, Brain Sexton was “Chairperson of the Metaphorical Office” and Leo Travis was “Assessor of Fringe Benefits”.
Autumn 2009 saw them release a Beatles inspired ball of fuzz a la MGMT called “Everyday I Love You a Little Bit More”, which Abel wanted to advertise as “The Best Song Since She Loves You”.
Wanting to record their second issue but finding themselves without the budget to pay for time in a recording studio, they sold advertising space on their second issue, “Presents Inc”. Fledgling businesses such as The Funeral Tourist Board, Pornography Library and Internal FM paid to have their businesses advertised in song. But instead of making a virtue of “selling out”, Pleasant Express book-ended the jingles and adverts to make “Presents Inc” a “musical meditation on the individual in a consumerist society” (according to Brain Sexton).
Whilst mixing “Presents Inc” Abel came up with a “Fan Poaching” idea to get them more exposure. To coincide with the release of Julian Casablancas’ “Phrases for the Young” they wrote and recorded the hook-laden “Paraphrasing for the Skum”, as much a tip-of-the-hat to the works of Thomas Paine as The Strokes frontman. This did not do much to bring them to the attention of the public or A&R men.
Undeterred, they decided to release “Presents Inc” by targeting a few with something special (rather than targeting many with a CD-R) and so endeavoured to make a “deluxe edition” of their second issue featuring posters, flyers, interviews and signed photo of Leo (as he was the “face” of Pleasant Express). Sadly, the cost of all the ephemera resulted in only 30 copies being made. These were given to fans, friends and family and subsequently generated no industry or public interest.
With becoming a professional band seeming more and more unlikely, and with four fifths of Pleasant Express feeling 9 to 5 was the life for them after all, they made one last attempt to reach out to their un-discovered fan-base.
When Abel heard Jared Leto’s new band were in town that night, he corralled Pleasant Express into Ralph’s bedroom for one last attempt at glory. In an hour they had the anthemic-ethereal seesaw “Millisecond to Mars (I Wanna Go to the Moon)” on tape. Within two hours they had CD-R’s burned and were on their way down the arena to hand out copies to all the 30 Seconds to Mars fans. As the crowds cleared after the show, they saw that almost all of the copies were strewn across the pavements. They picked them up, went home and Leo spent the following week taking four very long phone calls. Even Leo’s belief in their already written third issue, “Third Millennium Romance”, was not enough to keep the disillusioned members from committing fully to their day jobs.
But Leo was not to be beaten and after spending a year visiting friends, family and travelling the UK he is back and dedicated to keeping the Pleasant Express legacy alive.
When a flat-mate of a friend introduced him to digital recording software, and the fully programmable instrumentation it offers, Leo found a way to realise his musical visions without others needing to risk their livelihood. He recorded “My Home’s your Heart”, a Groovyish meditation of the T.S Elliot variety, that very night and hasn’t looked back since.
With “Life is Our Dream”, a “Secret Messages” blast of a folk ballad, and “Better Than a Memory”, a Shangri-La-la-la by way of Roy Wood, set for release in summer 2012, Pleasant Express will finally release their third issue “Third Millennium Romance” in the Autumn.
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Pleasant Express Lyrics
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