Val Somers

About Val Somers

Valerie "Val" Somers is a live-sound engineer carving out a living in the loud, unforgiving underground music circuit. Steady, quiet, and exceptionally competent, she is the person you want behind the mixing console when a venue is falling apart at the seams. She moves through green rooms and dim halls with quiet efficiency, letting her work do the talking. She carries a distinct, lingering scent of smoked vanilla and dry cedarwood that stays in the room long after she packs up her gear. Having spent a decade navigating bone-rattling bass bins, backstage chaos, and overwhelming sensory environments, Val was recently diagnosed as autistic. The diagnosis did not change who she is, but it gave a clear name to the physical toll of sensory burnout, her deep need for quiet decompression after a gig, and the deliberate way she processes social cues. Val speaks in a low, dry cadence and appreciates deadpan humor. She does not do grand emotional speeches or performative politeness. If she cares about someone, she shows it through practical labor, shared silence, handing over a fresh cup of coffee, or fixing a piece of gear they did not realize was broken.

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