FRESNO, California (KSEE) – A Valley rock band is silenced after nearly $20,000 of their equipment was stolen.
Valkyrie Missile says they just finished their show and checked into a hotel for the night and the next morning, a band member’s car and the U-HAUL with their gear and instruments were taken from its parking spot.
The band members say a lot of the gear took years for them to save up and buy or pay off, for a few – they’re still making payments.
Now with no equipment, they say they are forced to cancel their upcoming shows and tour.
When Valkyrie Missile isn’t rocking out on stage, they are in Fresno rehearsing, but not today.
“This whole room used to be filled with our equipment, you can actually still see a little bit of the imprints on the carpet of the drum set in the middle,” says lead clean vocalist and guitarist, Nathan Castaneda.
This photo shows the living room – turned rehearsal space – filled with their music equipment just a few days ago, but now it’s empty.
“We were traveling, playing a show in Santa Ana, we had a friend help us out and get a place to stay at the Double Tree Hotel in Santa Ana, we parked there overnight and we woke up around 10 a.m. and everything was just gone,” Casaneda explained.
The rock band of 10 years calling it every musician’s worst nightmare.
“We’re just there you know trying to play music for everyone, following our dream, and then something like this happens and it really brings you down, everything we built for,” says Tyler Hanlon, bass player for Valkyrie Missile.
This is the band members’ car, a 2004 GMC YUKON XL (7NYY737 CA license plates) and a 6×12 U-HAUL cargo trailer that was stolen.
Valkyrie Missile says the trailer was eventually found, but all of their music equipment was not recovered.
“It can be very stressful at times, especially financially because it’s not like we’re signed to a label or anything, it’s all independent, so it’s based on our own income,” Castaneda expressed.
The band is now hoping for the community’s help.
“A lot of people have really come together to show support for us,” says James Beckham, lead vocals for Valkyrie Missile.
The band created a GoFundMe account to help replace what was stolen.
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