Crowdfund to Help Rebuild Valencia Rehearsal Studios

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El text abajo en español: https://SLOVEN.LY/VLC-ES

Slovenly Recordings would like to send out our deepest condolences to anyone in Spain who lost loved ones – or has suffered a traumatic experience – in the recent floods. We managed to get there for a couple of days in early November to help out, and saw the devastation firsthand.

Satu, longtime friend and bassplayer of WAU y los ARRRGHS!!! has, over the last 10 years or so, built a massive rehearsal studio complex in the industrial area of Massanassa, which is very close to Paiporta, the area worst hit by the floods. The bottom floor was under at least 5 feet of water – in this photo you can see the water line on the wall:

Of the 75 rehearsal rooms, almost 50 are on that bottom floor, along with 4 rooms used to store musical equipment. All of it drowned, and when the waters subsided, everything was left caked with mud.

Despite everything, Satu is really glad (and lucky) to be alive. He was on his way to the rehearsal studios when the flood waters came rushing down from the mountains. No one expected them – it wasn’t raining in that area, and the authorities failed to warn people. He was in his tour van – the one he’s had for almost 20 years and has toured WAU and 100 other bands in. He drove it to higher ground and climbed to the roof, where he waited over 6 hours for the waters to subside, powerless to do anything but watch as the disaster unfolded around him. The waters got as high as the roof, as you can see in this photo:

First of all, if you have any way to get to Valencia, Satu can definitely can use some help. The day we were there, we began mopping out 2 of the rehearsal rooms (one of them being WAU’s – photos attached). What we did was just the beginning of what needs to be done to bring the place fully operational again. Besides removing water & mud, everything needs to be dried out and disinfected to prevent mold – which was already starting to grow less than a week after the floods.

Satu walks an hour to the studios every day to clean (the van that saved his life no longer runs). Some days, he’s there alone cleaning, and three weeks later, he’s still waiting for news from his insurance company. Over 50 bands lost all of their equipment, which already represents a massive blow to the Valencian music scene. If the insurance company doesn’t pay up, the entire rehearsal complex might have to be shut down. To help prevent that, we have set up this crowdfund.

Valencia is the other hometown of Slovenly Recordings, and if you check our catalog you’ll see that over the years we’ve released records by over 10 different artists from the area. We thank you in advance for your support.

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