22-Year-Old Oakland Warehouse Fire Victim Cash Askew Was ‘Loved and Admired by Everyone She Met’
A beloved Oakland artist and DJ is one of the seven named victims of a tragic Oakland warehouse fire that claimed at least 36 lives on Friday night.
Cash Askew, 22, was a member of Them Are Us Too, a synth-based shoegaze-pop duo based out of Oakland, California. She is remembered by her label, Dais Records, as being a talented guitarist and back-up vocalist in the two-person band (other member Kennedy Ashlyn is a singer-songwriter), that has spent the last year touring across the country.
“The fact that I won’t be able to send Cash ridiculous photos or text about music doesn’t seem to be real right now,” Dais Records founder Ryan Martin tells PEOPLE of his close friend. “Cash’s beauty and talent outshined a lot of what was coming through the underground, which is why they stood out immediately. And in typical Cash fashion, she always stayed modest and humble, quietly deflecting any attention or notoriety. Right now, I don’t miss the artist or the music… I just miss my friend, Cash Askew.”
Them Are Us Too, self-described on social media as “queer femmes,” were signed to Dais Records in 2014 and released their LP Remain in 2015.
“We emphasize engaging with other women/queer/trans artists, spaces and communities in our work,” reads the band’s description page on Facebook. “We do not tolerate oppressive ideologies and behaviors (including but not limited to misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism) at our shows or in our collaborators. Kennedy uses they/them/theirs pronouns, Cash uses they/them/theirs and she/her/hers.”
In an email statement to PEOPLE, Dais Records says Askew will always be remembered for her “gentle kindness, and her creative momentum.”
“She was loved and admired by everyone she met, and her passing is an excruciating loss that we may never fully process or recover from. Our hearts and are prayers are with her family and close friends, and with the other victims of the Oakland tragedy,” the statement reads.
Askew is one of seven identified victims listed by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau on the city website Sunday night. The deceased include David Cline, 24; Nick Gomez-Hall, 25; Sara Hoda, 30; Travis Hough, 35; Donna Kellogg, 32; and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office announced in a press conference on Sunday afternoon that the total death toll had risen to 33. Earlier in the day, authorities said the death toll was 24, but said they were still recovering bodies.
Askew’s past tour mates, Oakland band Wax Idols, posted a tribute Instagram post to Askew on Sunday, saying: “You were as iconic as you were pure.”
“She was only 22 years old. She deserved better,” reads the touching post. “You’re stardust now, bunny. See you in our dreams.”
