Samantha Nelson in Hub16’s studio before the flood. Pic: Hub16.
A Dalston-based DJ and music production training hub has launched a crowdfunder to raise money for a new studio after their last one was severely flooded.
Hub16, which has been running for ten years until it flooded in August this year.
Founder Samantha Nelson told Eastlondonlines: “It’s happened several times, and this time it was really bad. And it’s toxic flooding, not water. There was so much toxic damage that in the end, we had to weigh up the costs of the clean-up and the fact that this could happen the next day again.”
Hub16 offers a space that welcomes women and LGBTQIA+ artists. It was operating from a basement on Stoke Newington Road.
Nelson said: “The people upstairs, they’re our friends and neighbours for years, it’s not anything against them, it’s just the building dynamics of things not being repaired. I could put all this effort into fixing it, cleaning up, which we did anyway, and then the next day it could happen again. It just became really untenable.”
The Hub16 studio after it was flooded. Pic: Hub16.
Due to the flooding, the team had to throw out most of their equipment and close for several weeks until the venue EartH Hackney, across the road, offered them to use their space for free when it wasn’t booked.
Nelson said: “We’ve managed to do some sessions there, I’ve been hiring Pirate Studios, I’ve been hiring another club, but this is very expensive. So I’m operating in debt, from cleaning up and being closed, and now all of my earnings are going on this, so we’re just operating at a loss right now.”
The idea for the crowdfunder came when Nelson started running out of money to hire temporary spaces. She said: “I just felt like I had no other choice. And I have to trust all the work we’ve been doing for 10 years; I’ve seen lots of crowdfunders, and I believe that the community will come through for you, and they have.”
The crowdfunder was announced on Tuesday last week and raised more than £3,000 in three days.
The target is £6,000 to cover the costs of a deposit for a new space, one to two months of rent, basic furniture and temporary studio rental.
Participants in a Hub16 class before the flood. Pic: Hub16.
Nelson said that the support they’d received since sharing the crowdfunder was heartening.
“We’re a small business, so it’s reassuring that people still want us around and want us to keep nurturing the next generation. I think the electronic music industry has a lot of catching up to do in terms of equalising the demographic of where the money goes, who gets jobs, and it takes a long time to do artist development, you need a hub.”
As part of their efforts to raise money, they’re also looking to put on a fundraising party: “Very kindly, a couple of venues who we work with have come forward and said we should do a night. I think we’ll just catch our breath from this situation and organise something very soon.”
Nelson is hoping this will be the start of a new chapter for Hub16: “It’s very complicated to be a creative, there’s a lot of economic imbalances in who can pursue creativity. I think going forward, we’re going to pursue more funding so we can do more subsidised things and run more free programs. So hopefully this is just the beginning of something even better and more sustainable.”
