Fundraising Launched for DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith Following Home Loss in Los Angeles Wildfires

A Fundraiser for Zachary Cole Smith

A significant fundraiser has been initiated in support of DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith, whose residence was destroyed amid the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles – further details below.

• READ MORE: DIIV Struggling With Their Existential Crisis: ‘This Album Feels So Heavy’

The Impact of the Wildfires

Earlier this week (January 7), powerful wildfires swept through Los Angeles, California, and continue to cause devastation. These wildfires have displaced over 150,000 residents, with thousands of homes and vehicles lost to the flames.

Among the victims of these wildfires are DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith, his pregnant wife Dani, and their two-year-old child Roy. As stated in a GoFundMe campaign set up by their friend Lindsey Hartman, while Smith and his family are safe, their home was completely destroyed in the fire.

Hartman shared: “Dani is also six months pregnant, which makes this already terrible event even more unbearable. This house contained all of their belongings (clothing, family heirlooms, valuables) as well as all of Cole’s music equipment, the family car, and all of the baby supplies for Roy and the new baby on the way.”

To assist the family in getting back on their feet, a fundraiser has been organized, although Hartman notes that the $30,000 target “is unlikely to offset the losses they are facing.” As of this writing, $26,624 of the $30,000 goal has been collected.

Zachary Cole Smith and Dani Smith expressed their gratitude in a statement on the GoFundMe page: “The depth of kindness we experienced today from our friends, our family, our neighbors, our parents, the people of Altadena and complete strangers was truly incredible.”

“We are just one of many families who have lost their homes today. The deepest kindness we experienced today came from other families who also lost their homes. We are not alone, which has brought us a lot of sadness but also a strange sense of comfort and community.

They continued: “We are overwhelmed by the kindness that has been shown to us, and we gratefully accept every contribution that helps us provide him with a new sense of normalcy: his favorite toys, his favorite books, a crib, clothes, the comforts of home we all loved. And to help us recreate the atmosphere in which we hoped to welcome our newborn…. Anyway, I don’t know what else to say. Thank you for making us feel like we deserve your generosity. We love you.”

To support their cause, you can visit the GoFundMe page here.

Response from the Community

Meanwhile, other musicians and celebrities have responded to the Los Angeles wildfires. Actors such as Mark Hamill, James Woods, and Mandy Moore have had to evacuate their homes, while artists like Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande have taken to social media to share useful links to resources that assist those in need.

In a conversation with NME last year, DIIV disclosed that their recent album, Frog In Boiling Water, nearly caused a rift within the band. Cole noted: “We didn’t have a label, so we funded the record mostly out of our own pockets. It felt like our investment was substantial. And since the record took so long to produce, we didn’t tour for a year, which added to the stress because the band is fundamentally our livelihood, and we all invested a great deal into it.”

He added: “And then it’s our friendship and our creativity, and they all intertwine, so it becomes very challenging to make decisions because there is so much invested in each of them. It’s possible that this decision you make could be the reason the record fails, and we all end up bankrupt, and that’s the end. It really feels like that at this moment.”

In a three-star review of the album, Tom Morgan wrote for NME: “Quiet, undemanding and opaque, Frog In Boiling Water will appeal to the segment of shoegaze fans who are eager to succumb to its impressionistic, seemingly timeless charm. Others may wonder: Why does it feel like we are living the same day over and over again?”