San Francisco Weekly: December 22nd 1999
SISTER SF

Consisting of DJs Forest Green, XJS, Polywog, Siren, and their MC, Linzee, the collective covers the club music gamut, spinning house, techno, jungle, hip hop, drum 'n' bass, and breaks. Though they once resided weekly at the Cat Club, recently they've become more itinerant, holding nights about once a month at various venues in San Francisco, and collaborating with the guys as well. Their drag nights - in which they invite male DJs in to spin, as long as they do it in a dress - have also proven popular. Usually, one of the SISTER SF DJs will hold a makeshift salon at her house before the gig, at which the SISTER SFs primp and preen the boys. According to one SISTER SF, male DJs in the area are desperate to put lash to mascara; there's even a waiting list.

For SISTER SF's second anniversary event at Rico's there will be little drag - or any men at all - in the DJ booth. The SISTER SF residents and invited guests (including three who are making their debuts) will offer up their dance music mél ange, and in true holiday fashion all proceeds from the event will be donated to Breast Cancer Action, a local grass-roots advocacy group for breast cancer survivors and their supporters. More benefits are in store for the new year, but social and political drives aside, SISTER SF is first and foremost about a party. Says XJS, "If it's not fun, don't do it. We're just about having a good time."

XLR8R Magazine: 1999
SISTER SF Does Drag
by Linzee

Drag Night, hosted by San Francisco's all female DJ collective SISTER SF, was not your average function, breaking all the rules. Not knowing what to expect, club hoppers of all kinds joined the festivities and sported their most creative gender-bending outfits. Women showed up with mustaches, beards and suits while the sported female gear and wigs from platinum to purple. Daum Bently (Freaky Chakra) took the cake in his afro puffs wearing a sexy striped halter dress, round pink seventies glasses and silver lip gloss. You go boy!

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Daily Aztec: Fall 1999
Queens of the Turntable
By Marc Alain Cuenco

Wary of children's records and her father's jazz collection, at the age of 13, Forest Green substituted lunch money for 12-inch dance mixes.

Two years later, the Bay Area DJ frequented enough dance clubs to absorb elements of the burgeoning underground movement. When electronica broke through grunge's flannels and hip-hop's baggy pants into the mainstream, Green understood that with the rave culture, standing out meant instant attention. But Green isn't your average DJ.

You see, Green is a woman, and only one among a growing few. OK. So it's not substantial to say gender is essential in making it in the industry. Yet, based on the history of underground music, the mention of DJ implemented "skinny white boy."

Just drop in a few of the monikers synonymous with electronica. Moby. Fatboy Slim. The Chemical Brothers.

"I have always loved music," Green said. "And especially electronic music for its different form and structure. Your skills speak for themselves just by going up there and throwing down." Not since Spinderella put the flavor in Salt 'n' Pepa during rap's reign in the '80s has there been such a frenzy over women taking charge of the turntables.

Now it's techno's turn to deliver the most hard-working soul sisters in the music world today. "Most female DJs are doing it the classic way," said Bay Area DJ XJS. "Through hard work, self promotion, endless gigging and touring and making the right connections.

"There really is no physical reason why either men or women should be better at it. But when people think DJ, they see a man."

The women of electronica produce tracks heard in dance clubs and raves all over the country, yet they've lingered as mere shadows behind two turntables. Then came DJ Rap.

Dubbed the "first lady of jungle," Charissa Saverio (aka DJ Rap), just released "Learning Curve" through her own Proper Talent record label and has even contributed to the "Go" soundtrack. In a recent "Drum 'n' Bass Arena" interview, Rap commented on what it's like to be the face of women DJs today.

"I don't feel the industry is any different for a man than a woman," she said. "The most important thing to me is good records that produce a good vibe."

Female DJs face a challenge when they are recognized as the exception rather than the exceptional. One reason, according to a San Francisco Weekly article, women spin as supporting acts and are given unreasonable time slots.

"The problem is to be taken seriously," XJS said. "A part of this is to not be treated preferentially - getting booked for your looks or for an all-female room at a club. I refuse to accommodate any promoter whose intentions are as divisive and stereotyped as that." Since the rock and rap realms constantly choose descriptions like "the female Bob Dylan" or "lady Puffy," the look for "the Chemical SISTER SFs" is anything but unavoidable.

"The critics are portraying electronica as a male-dominated genre. I think any woman who really wants to play and create music doesn't worry about this," Polywog said.

Aside from electronica, female DJs are also making noise in hip-hop such as DJ Salty. Some are crossing over international waters, like Sweden's Miranda and Germany's Marusha. Fact of the matter is, radio and MTV need not hurry to take notice of these women. They are artists on top of their game and ready to do it for themselves.

"Open your eyes," Green said. "There are tons of women doing stuff. Give them props along with all the dope stuff men are doing. Word."

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