Interview with Mike Jolly from ClothCat

Q) Tell us about Cloth Cat...

Cloth Cat is a music project based in the Leeds 6 area currently running free courses in such things as music technology and sound engineering. They've been really successful in terms of the number of people who have attended and what people have got out of them and now we're looking at increasing the number and types of courses we can offer people.

We have just launched a survey for bands and musicians around here to find out what they think of the music scene in Leeds and what things would be of benefit to them to help promote music. There isn't a great deal of money around this area, and we want to give people the chance to express themselves through music. Instruments and equipment cost a lot of money, venues generally don't pay local bands and performers very much (if at all), and often bands find themselves working in a vacuum and don't know how or where to find the support. Cloth Cat aims to provide them with this kind of backing whether it's setting up a management service, lobbying for a decent city center venue, or providing an instrument lease scheme. We want to be able to respond to the needs of the local music scene, and as a charitable organization we have the advantage that there is a range of funding possibilities out there at the present.

Q) What made you start it?

Although I've never been a musician (even failing to learn the recorder at primary school!) or singer, I've always considered myself a music fan. I've also been a socialist from as far back as I can remember and believe that I could put something back in to the area where I live incorporating my political beliefs and my love of music. I worked at Oblong Studios/Resource Centre as a volunteer for about 6 or 7 years, organizing gigs and festivals. Being on the dole, I couldn't afford to buy many records, but got really in to the local music scene and found there was a whole mix of really exciting bands on the doorstep. I also realized there were serious shortcomings in the facilities available to bands with not very much cash. The idea came about to set up some kind of recording services, but as a separate project to Oblong. As it happens, the age old problem of finding suitable premises scuppered our chances of implementing the plan.

Over the past few years, however, the educational side of things has really taken off whilst we are trying to develop the rest of the project. At present, things are now really starting to move forward and have actually made Look North! Talking to people around here there are many people that are in jobs which they really don't like and there's also still a lot of people on the dole. One of the aims and beliefs of Cloth Cat is that they should at least have the chance to work in something which they actually enjoy doing. This will hopefully mean that they can lead happier lives and pass that on to other people. We want to inspire and encourage people to take more control over their own lives through music, providing the opportunities to learn new skills, work with each other and have a laugh at the same time.

Q) Is there a case study which shows how it works in practice?

We want to take a broad view on the whole idea of the project and tailor peoples needs to the services which we can offer them. In this way, people will use Cloth Cat in different ways. For example, there was a lad on our sound engineering course who wanted to build his confidence in music. He came on both our music technology and sound engineering courses so that he could apply to the music college with a good knowledge base. Our tutor has his own PA company and has taken him out on various gigs around the north of England so that he can be involved in running a PA in practice for bigger bands in a big venue.

On the other hand, Cloth Cat has been involved in community festivals in the area and wants to showcase bands here. This just does not involve putting them on a stage, but can also help publicising them to a bigger audience through press releases, providing them with publicity materials such as photos and live performance recording, the vehicle to sell their merchandise, giving them information about the music industry and building a platform to receive wider exposure (amongst other things).