Music and soundsytem culture is something that bonds communities, creates hope, and encourages creativity to flourish. This is a school of thought that Shepherd stands by. Only recently did MAP Charity – a charity that Floating Points and several other artists have shown their support for – secure themselves a permanent home thanks to a community-led campaign. Seeing this happen after so many years of their struggling, Shepherd is filled with joy.
“What an amazing thing, to have this symbiotic relationship between people who love to go to clubs and raising money to go into an arts and music project that engages children that would otherwise not have access to education. Often, these kids have been excluded from school or mainstream education, and MAP gives some of these vulnerable children a strong chance. I’ve seen the effects of the work they do, it’s tangible, it’s real. There’s people leaving this charity with hope, skills, and the confidence to go and be part of a contributing force within society. That’s an amazing thing, something we should all try and help with."
"Charities like MAP are things that the government should support more readily. They have had a lot of help from Leeds City Council in the past year because of the push to find a permanent home – but this should be on a national level. You look at problems with knife crime and policing, things like this, and I can’t help but feel there’s a whole generation of bored youth. I’m sure it’s incredibly nuanced and complex, I mean, what do I know? But, when it comes to cuts to spending on youth activities across the country, this must have a negative effect on the behaviour of children – no doubt. That can not be argued to the contrary, I don’t think.”
This relationship between music and community is something Shepherd wants to help cultivate (“A great soundsystem brings people together, I believe in this as a working concept.”) So much so, that he has been quietly collecting the parts to create is own monster rig:
“It’s ready to go, we have all the components and everything, but we don’t have the room. I want a room that doesn’t have to open every single day with drinks promotions and things like this – it can just exist as a place for music. Doing events in London is so crazy, and running a business of this nature is incredibly difficult, and I don’t want to get into it – I’m too busy.”
In typical Floating Points fashion, he’d rather get lost in the wiring and general nerdery behind the system, rather than the much needed admin. He just wants to play the music he loves on a banging soundsystem and give a little back to a community that helped him all those years ago. “We’ve been ordering all the components for about eight years now," he explains. "We’ve been building it with components from Japan and America. We’ve done a lot of miles driving around the States picking up horns from theatres and old Craigslist deals. We shipped it all back to Leeds and one day it all just suddenly appeared on our doorstep. So now we have everything we need to build an absolute killer soundsystem.”
For every shit thing going on in the world today, there is someone trying to counteract it. The planet is melting, but people are out on the streets trying to get politicians to notice. For every deluded politician spouting their mouth off through the television, through their social media account, whatever – there’s a few good people trying to get their voices heard through the din. There is always a balance, a reaction.
Shepherd has taken his rage and turned it into something positive. He’s reacted. And that is exactly what he wants you to do. Whether it’s marching through the streets, planting a garden, making some music, or building a soundsystem to bring your community together – do something. Crush might not save the world, but it’s a beautiful soundtrack to listen to as we try to piece it back together.
Crush is out now.