Portsmouth's The Pursuit of Pleasure to play hometown gig to launch album two

For several years he was frontman of the acclaimed Portsmouth indie-rock troupe B of The Bang, but since their end he had also released music as Sink or Soar and under his own name.

But his enthusiasm had fizzled.

However, he soon found he needed to scratch that musical itch – which led to the creation of The Pursuit of Pleasure.

And now the band have released their second album, Ensconced With The Night Owls, and have a special release show at Kola in Southsea on Saturday, June 6.

“I had a bit of time off and I almost thought I was done with music,” says Wit. “I was thinking, should I still be doing this and all these kind of things? And it's probably the most depressed I've been in my life!

"I think it was my wife saying to me: ‘No, you need to do something – you need this in your life.’ I knew I wanted to do something, but I wasn't sure what that would be.”

He went to see Biffy Clyro at Bournemouth International Centre in November 2022, and by pure chance, sat right in front of him was former B of The Bang bandmate, Roxanne Wootton.

“I hadn't seen her for a while, so we got talking and she sort of said that she wanted to do something a bit music based. We had a collection of songs when the B of The Bang were a thing that were a bit too nice [for that project] – they were a bit too sweet, so we never really did anything with them.

“She said, ‘Do you remember those songs?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I think I've got some demo recordings that we did....’

“So that was how it started. It was basically me and her getting together.”

She played piano, Wit played acoustic guitar, they both sang.

“That was the start of it, which was nice. It was more just a way back into music and a way to find my feet again, and I think that her as well. And then it's become this whole other thing, this whole new band, which I never ever intended it to be.

"We did a few gigs – we did we did some good gigs, but it was more folkier crowds, acoustic sets at places.

"And then my friend Tim (Cole) came into it. He plays a lot of jazz around Southsea, he's in Van Gosh and lots of other things.

"I've known him for years – we had a band after B of The Bang called Sink or Soar that he was in for a little bit, so it was a natural thing as well for him to come and play a bit of bass.”

Roxanne has since left the band due to other commitments (she was recently musical director for Dear Evan Hansen at The Kings Theatre with CCADS), but the band has expanded in other directions so there can now be up to eight people on the stage.

"None of this has been forced at all. None of it has been 'the band should sound like this’, or ‘we need to do this next'.

“In our wider circle of friends there's quite a lot of people who play musical instruments, so it's all very natural.

"I always say if you join The Pursuit of Pleasure, you're in it for life. It's more of a cult than a band – you can't get out!

“Rox couldn't commit to a lot of the live stuff, but she's on the first album and then Khaleda (Brophy-Harmer), who is from (fellow Portsmouth indie band) Day of the Rabblement is fantastic. I asked her to see if she fancied singing.

“She's now become the main singer, really, which is lovely, and the band has sort of swelled up to seven or eight people, with five or six of us at the centre.

“It was like that with B of The Bang and I said I wouldn't do again,” he laughs, “but I love it. Every gig we do, or every rehearsal is a bit different depending on who's there, it makes the song sound slightly different. It's really adaptable to different crowds and if we want to be a bit rockier or a bit folkier or whatever.

“I just I really enjoy it, and that's that's why it's called The Pursuit of Pleasure, that's literally the only aim of it. There's no other goal apart from just to enjoy the process of doing it, which you lose in a lot of bands sometimes.

"We've all been in other bands, and there's quite an age range in the band as well do it's not just us old hacks.

“It's really nice to have our common bond which, without being cheesy, is playing music together. It's a reason to get together and then to have a pint afterwards.

“And it's a reason to stay in touch with these people who otherwise we might not all have a connection to.

I hope it kind of stays this way. And it's one of those bands that other people have started to seem to like…

"It's the cliche of: ‘If anyone else likes it, it's a bonus’, but that is exactly how we feel about it!”

Debut album Songs Mostly in Waltz Time had a folk/Americana feel to it, but the new material has a more expansive sound.

“The first album was those older songs,” explains Wit. “The new album has been written with a band in mind rather than it just being a duo or three people or whatever.

“There's songs that I've kind of sketched out, but everyone then added their bits to them. So if even if it's written with that person in mind or they've come in and played an instrument that wasn't on it originally, that's how it's happened for this album.

“What I would like in the future is to all write together.

“Khaleda, obviously, is still doing Day of the Rabblement stuff, which is amazing – they’ve got new stuff coming. ​​​​​​ Ryan in the band writes.

“I would like it to become a bit more a bit more collaborative, but this second album is is mostly my stuff with those guys adding bits to it. It's not a 'rock' record or anything, but the indie stuff that we all grew up with has made a bit of a comeback in all our lives, I think.

”Most of the songs are about two and a half minutes – three minutes, they're pop songs, really.

“And I always think of music like that – pop music is what I like, whether that's heavy stuff or alternative stuff or kind of avant garde, weird stuff. Again, I know it's cheesy to say but I literally like all types of music, it just seems because it's become a fuller band the guitars obviously get turned up a bit and then suddenly someone's got, I don't know, a theremin out or something.

“So then you just sort of adapt around it and the songs naturally take on a bit of a different kind of feel to them. I hope it continues, really…”

Where can you see The Pursuit of Pleasure?

The Pursuit of Pleasure play at Kola in Southsea on Saturday, June 6, doors 7.30pm. Support is from Demo Buttons and Jalou.

Tickets £9.20. Go to kola.seetickets.com.

Second album, Ensconced With The Night Owls was released to streaming earlier this month. CD copies of the new album will be available at the gigs.​

They will also be at Wickham Festival, which runs from July 30 to August 2. Go to: wickhamfestival.co.uk.