Hip Hop 101: the Underdogs/Alt-Rock 101: the Secret of Their Overseas Success/ DJ Culture 101: the Critical Mash Honors Club

And that scene is thriving. On a recent Friday, the mini-Bootie stage at Pop Roxx inside DNA Lounge was burning way hotter than the main room downstairs. There, predictable electro-rock barely moved the crowd, while in the back room, Mysterious D rubbed Skynyrd up against Xtina in a track called "Sweet Home Country Grammar." Shirtless dudes slung sweat against made-up babes, the floor was packed, and the music was keeping everyone involved.

"I think mash-up culture in a lot of ways is what punk rock was in the late '70s," Adrian says. "It's this populist culture where it's very DIY, anyone can do it. Punk rock was three chords. Mash-ups, anyone can get the software online and do it. But not every punk band was good, and certainly not every mash-up is good. Our job as cultural curators is finding the good ones and showcasing them at our club. And, of course, making our own as well."

Every Move a Picture: Attracting the A&R lemmings.

Scissors for Lefty: The biggest "findie" band in Germany.

Details

The Coup, Every Move a Picture, Scissors for Lefty, Birdmonster, and DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D will be performing at the SF Weekly Music Awards on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Warfield at 8 p.m. Admission is $10. (Scissors for Lefty will also be performing on Friday, Nov. 3, at the Rickshaw Stop at 10 p.m.)

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"Looking back on it, we were just starting out and doing it for the love of it, not thinking about all the complex ways it's gonna go," D says, visions of compilations and international club nights and a vast social recombination dancing in her head. "And looking back it makes perfect sense that it happened here. San Francisco is based on openness and being interested in new ideas for the sake of new ideas, not for commercialism."

"This is a city of misfits, which is why we fit in," Adrian says.

"It's not misfits," D corrects. "It's people with different ideas who feel proud of them. It's being more evolved." — Jonathan Zwickel