San Francisco Weekly: December 24th 1997
Riff Raff by Robert Arriaga

We Got the Beat: DJ culture is a lot like being in the Navy: Going to battle takes years of training on expensive equipment, and finding a woman on deck is becoming more common every day. But in the clubs as in the Navy, presence isn't synonymous with respect. Women DJs are constantly up against promoters who slate the females to side rooms, or give them crappy time slots. "Things are improving for women DJs," says DJ XJS, aka Annie. "We're getting much more respect, but it's definitely still a boys' club."

For the DJs at SISTER SF, a new Monday night party at Cat's Alley, respect is fundamental. DJ XJS says she and her partners - DJs Polywog, Charlotte the Baroness, and Siren - started the weekly party this month as an answer to the boys'-club mentality and to provide a place for women to get plenty of time on deck. Each week SISTER SF showcases a different genre of club music - hip hop and house; drum 'n' bass and jungle - spun by a who's who list of old - and new-school women DJs.

With several years of DJ experience, both Charlotte the Baroness and Polywog have the skills to cut their way through a stack of vinyl from almost any era and style. The other residents, DJs Siren and XJS, have equal ability, but they both opt for new-school records. Special guest DJs are invited each week, and while the club caters to female DJs, there's no gender line. "It's all about getting the girls out there," says XJS. "We're not anti-male, it's just that we want to give women fair recognition."

Indeed, on Dec. 1, SISTER SF's opening night, three of the best male hip-hop DJs on the planet called the promoters to see if they could get on the bill. The promoters were wary at first, but the boys - Cut Chemist from Los Angeles and Radar and Z-Trip from Arizona - said they would bend a little if the promoters would. The three showed up at the SOMA club decked out in dresses, fingernail polish, and flamboyant wigs. Annie says SISTER SF now has a precedent. "If the boys want to spin here they will have to be in drag and should expect to get the worst slot," she says. Meanwhile, SISTER SF will continue to break down stereotypes and prove that a woman's place is most definitely in the house.