Join Southern Ska Collective as they launch debut EP Melody with guest Susan Cadogan at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea

The track, Melody, started life as something cooked up by vocalist Emiliyah Witkiewicz with bandmate in the The MightyZ All Stars, Stuart Inglis.

However, for whatever reason, she didn’t “feel it” and the half-finished song was put to one side.

“It just didn't have a chance to blossom, to grow,” explains Emiliyah, who is the community choir’s director. “And then when I heard it again and started working on it with the choir I was like, ‘Oh my God, this song must be sung by these people’. So since then I've had this wish for the song to be their song.

“The way they feel this song, the way they sing it, and the way they just express themselves through it, it's amazing.”

The EP launches today (July 6) with a gig at The Wedgewood Rooms.

And the choir has also reworked the Susan Cadogan hit, Hurt So Good, to mark its 50th anniversary. Not only that, but they’ve worked with the reggae legend on the track and she’ll be making a guest appearance at the show.

“I'm extremely proud of this production,” says Emiliyah, “especially, when it comes to vocals, because I've recorded Susan's vocals again and she sang it differently.

"That was very shocking for her, because she was like, ‘Oh, I've been singing this for 50 years. How am I going to sing it differently?’ But it did work.

“Then we had some leads from the choir singing a duet with Susan. Then on top of that, you've got the choir singing. I'm very proud of it, because it's the 50th anniversary of this song as well. And for Susan, being on stage with them and doing her thing, we are definitely paying a tribute to this song.”

With up to 50 people singing in the choir’s shows, it can get busy, as Emiliyah explains: “It can be a big bunch of humans!

“Not everyone is available for every gig. Sometimes it's just 15 people, sometimes it's 30 people. It's quite hard to organize a big group of people, especially when this is still a community choir.For me, it's more about having fun with music and keeping that well-being factor. That's the most important thing for me. Obviously I don't want to force anyone to be part of this choir, we want to keep that joy!

“It's been a beautiful journey for all of us. I don't know what I would do without them now.

"We’re spreading positive vibes.”

Support at the gig will be provided by the International Jet Set and BriSon – both acts with connections to the choir.

“We decided to showcase some talents which were born within the choir. We just want to kind of like keep it under the Southern Ska Collective umbrella – it’s just about showing ourselves to people. And who knows, we might get some more members!”

For tickets go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.