Hip-hop mavericks South Coast Ghosts to hold Common Folk album launch party at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea

South Coast Ghosts were originally to be more of a collective with a rotating cast of rappers for the beats the prolific producer was creating.

However it soon became a somewhat sprawling 10-piece band who had an excellent debut album, Silent Assassins, packed with hip-hop, funk, soul and little bit of rock on their hands.

Now two years down the line, the lineup has shifted and stabilised to nine members, and they’re about to release their second salvo, Common Folk, this Saturday (July 27).

Bassist Sean Brophy says: “It's been a long process, and I'm going to use this word because Dan hates it,” he laughs, “but it's been a bit of an organic process where we just got in a room together with some core ideas and it's evolved as people got involved, and it's built from there. People would bring their own ideas and people put their own songs in...

“It’s an album that's made from a lot of different influences and I suppose it’s a little bit more driven by all of us rather than maybe one figurehead.”

And latest recruit, Lou, on keys has brought yet another element to the group, and it means that vocalist Georgie is no longer the only woman in the band.

"She's unbelievable,” says Sean of Lou, “she brings her own ideas to the table and it's bringing the best out of everyone.”

Do they feel more like a ‘band’ now?

“I think so,” says rapper Tommy Brown. “We hang out a lot more as a group now. A factor in the first album was that it was made during lockdown, so it was physically hard according to the laws to even get together!

“This time around like it's been a lot more collaborative - the album's called Common Folk and it's about being together, and the experiences that we share, and we're trying to almost document the stories of ourselves, but also the people we know in Pompey.”

Sean elaborates: “There's a few different characters around Portsmouth who are unique to this beautiful place we live. You need to be able to get together and encapsulate those things and talk about them – that's what makes this unique.

“You love and hate wherever you come from, everyone has that. To encapsulate that in a frame with a bit of nostalgia, a bit of Britpop and a bit of this new hip-hop vibe to it, has given us a really nice canvas to work on.”

So far the band have released a couple of tasters to the album

“The lead single Gaslight, that had some more emotional themes to the lyrics,” says Tommy. “They'll make you ponder on your own existence in a way.”

“We're trying to flip around the old-school party vibe,” adds Sean, “to make you think about something while you're having fun.”

“That's done very well for us on streaming sites, and has had a great response,” says Tommy, “then the next single, Spark (From Your Eye) has got the official video on YouTube, which has been doing really well too.

Sean explains its theme: “It's about people we've met around Portsmouth. There have been a few suicides around the local music scene, so it has that vibe of partying, but to what extent? We've put that humanistic tone to it, where people aren't always these party animals that are out on a Saturday night as the music suggests.

“Hopefully we can open people's eyes a bit more about these things.”

The band recently made their Isle of Wight festival debut, and are hoping to gig more outside of their home turf.

"We need to explore more outside Portsmouth,” says Tommy.

“We've seen it where acts get sucked into this microcosm, which is great around Portsmouth, but you need to get out and put yourselves out there, which we're trying to do on the very little resources we have."

The group are holding an album launch party at The Wedgewood Rooms on Saturday. Doors 7.30pm. Tickets £10. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.