M: Hi Lawrie, you’ve been volunteering with MAP for 8 years, is that right?
I know you’re also involved with the Leeds Producers Forum (LPF), if you could tell us more about it…

L: Yeah so I volunteered briefly in the print studio at Hope House helping Lauren with admin and organisational work mainly, I spent time with Tom doing various ‘odd jobs’, time-lapsing the gallery studio stack take down, re-rigged the lights at one point in the Gallery a few years back and re position the system stacks back to their golden spots. Think Tom has time-lapse documentation of that, it’s really cool.

I also worked on a project with Raf and Tom where we established an idea of the future geographical and demographic surroundings of Mabgate and Hope House Foundry to help pitch, campaign for funding and get an extended view of Mabgate’s future. This was to help MAP achieve buying the building (Hopd Foundry), when the future of the building (and MAP) was at risk.

Working on the bar and as a staff member at Slop, moving closely with the cosmic Slop family, I have worked on the bar for about 5/6 years ish (I think haha maybe longer), also when i’m lucky, I get to take responsibility of the lights on the odd occasion Paul Edmeade is unavailable for lighting duties. Before that I was a dance floor stomper. I was introduced to the Cosmic Slop by my really good friends Jake Krushelle and Alfie Kungu. Slop inspired my life, more than so many musically immersive experiences I’ve witnessed <3

Involvement with LPF has been something close to my heart. I’ve spent time volunteering with the event since LPF001. Meeting with the team and helping coordinate the events logistics, planning and format. We discuss music and develop the LPF format in order to create a facility and scene to celebrate locally produced amazing music.

M: Wow, amazing! Ok, please tell us more about LPF and how the event works?

L: LPF (Leeds Producer Forum) was originally formed by a calling from Cosmic Slop go-ers, friends of MAP, Hope House resident workers & a chunk of the Leeds music scene, yearning to hear specific songs they had produced them-selves on the Slop sound-system. So they could get a feel for the music they have been producing on a world renowned sound-system of highly clarititive fidelity and within a club-esque/immersive musical environment (but with no judgements, it being an open forum for discussion,advice and development of tracks through communication, collaboration and networking).

LPF began as a listening session, and still very much is so, we have chairs around the edge of the gallery so people can sit and enjoy the playlist of music being played. We also have tried to facilitate as many submissions as possible and have so far been fairly successful at fulfilling everybody’s tracks within each event to which they submitted them to (although we promise to include any excluded tracks in the following event if a track submitted is unable to be played due to time constraints).

LPF011 was originally planned for March 27th, due to Covid-19 we cancelled the event and after a few months of bringing the team back together and establishing a new format in which we can run the event safely and with added provisions, services and fund-raising ideas, we plan to now go ahead and run LPF011 on the 6th August 2020. 

We are running this as a live stream on Twitch, in which LPF residents Aletha & Sangria will be DJing submitted LPF tracks in a mixed format live over an online stream, including projected visuals by Jake Krushelle and live professional dancing by very talented friends Al and Mayoa. 

On the live stream, LPF members will be able to discuss tracks and have the opportunity to bid for dub cuts and establish opportunities of cutting dub-plates of their tracks submitted. Also, mastering services are being offered cheap for a fair donation towards our fund-raising campaign and having artwork produced by facilitators at MAP charity. In addition MAP can facilitate bespoke art designs and printing opportunities for sleeve and cover designs. Very Exciting 🙂

All proceeds from LPF011 will go to Black Minds Matters UK – a vital mental health resource, supporting black communities in the UK – please visit the website for more details about there important work here – https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com/

M: Sounds like a perfect project, looking forward to watching it grow. Thanks so much for such detailed answers, Lawrie. Wrapping up, what do MAP and Cosmic Slop mean to you?

L: MAP and Cosmic Slop to me feel like an inspiring and meaningful model for future events & charities. Tom is an inspirational don. MAP is an incredibly important and meaningful resource for Leeds and deserves every bit of respect and support it achieves. Cosmic Slop is a party. A real and comfortable dance to feel free and open, witness amazing DJs play life changing sets and enrich our cultural society in Leeds. Long live Cosmic Slop and MAP. Much love.

M: Hi Paul, how did you get involved with MAP Education and what are your main responsibilities?

P: I have worked at MAP for ten years as a music/creative media tutor, my background and life has involved music from my teenage years so helping young people to develop and express themselves through music was a great opportunity for me and an establishment like MAP was perfect for me as i was previously providing small workshops using Djing and audio production to help underprivileged kids. My main responsibilities at MAP are preparing lessons, delivering class tutorials and delivering BTEC qualifications.

M: What are, in your opinion, the main differences between MAP education and mainstream education?

P: The primary difference between MAP and mainstream school for me is the fact that at MAP we have a community of teaching young vulnerable people from all different backgrounds and circumstances and we have an ethos of equal development and inclusion of all personalities. We teach young people valuable life/social skills which i believe is one of the most vital skills you can give to someone. All our pupils learn how to communicate and be sympathetic to each other’s needs, we pride ourselves on being able to help support students achieve qualifications in art and design, and creative media  whilst providing social and environmental development skills. Some of our students have been excluded from school and have a hard time fitting into the structure of a mainstream school system, we’ve had school teachers and parents praising MAP for turning our students’ lives around. I think mainstream school can make these type of students fall through the cracks so to speak as they have a high volume of classrooms and teachers are under more pressure to deliver to a points not personal based perspective and that’s the detail that MAP provides as we develop a more rounded and solid relationship with our students, we are more than tutors we are friends,role models, and give them social and parental support.

M: You’re also involved in Cosmic Slop, can you tell us about your work and the party?

P: I have been a part of the Cosmic Slop team for around 6 years. I used to attend the events before I started working there and have had many memorable nights there. When I started working there I took on the role of event set up and clear up staff which entailed buying supplies, setting up the event space, stocking the bar, stocktaking and cleaning up after the event to return the space into a safe working environment. throughout the years i started to learn how to operate the lighting system and work the actual event as a light jockey which gives a fantastic viewpoint of the night as it’s next to the DJ and you can really get to the essence of what cosmic slop is about which to me is one of the best underground nights is Europe with it’s custom built soundsystem, eclectic playlist and an vast variety of attendees who understand the vibe and the message that Tom and the cosmic slop staff are delivering (Stand on the word, Music is love)

M: How is Cosmic Slop connected to MAP and vice-versa?

P: Cosmic Slop creates a steady stream of financial revenue which is ploughed back into the MAP education program, this helps the education department to pay running costs, supply resources and help the development of MAP education.The education department also provides cosmic slop by providing the opportunity for staff / attendees to volunteers and help out in the education sessions by supporting the tutors and students with peer to peer training. As MAP charity is expanding after it’s recent purchase of Hope House we aim to provide more apprenticeships for our students and young people and also have outside organizations to partner with us to keep art and creative media in the community for the years to come. We are very privileged to have a number of world renowned DJs who have become ambassadors for MAP charity and play at events and also visit the education department and speak to the students which really embeddeds the reality that you can make a substantial career from music or art.

M: What do MAP and Cosmic Slop mean to you?

P: MAP and Cosmic Slop has literally changed my life for the better. MAP has helped to developget-to-know-paul-edmeade my teaching skills and provide support and courses to continue my journey through teaching. Cosmic Slop is where i met a lot of great people who i am proud to call brothers and sisters, i met my wife at cosmic slop and we have 2 amazing cosmic kids. Tom has helped me both professionally and personally in ways that I will eternally be grateful and the education dept is definitely a family unit. Big shout out to Nic and all the staff and djs. This Year has been a difficult year due to the pandemic and we haven’t and won’t be able to have any parties with a purpose for a while but Cosmic Slop will return, As we live through these times of social, political and financial changes we must unite and keep hope in our hearts.