Hometown mix

Bill Picture

When fans of the hybrid tunes known as mashups need their dance itch scratched, they make a boogie-beeline for Bootie, the country’s first monthly mashup party, which turned three in August, or its cozy spin-off, Mini-Bootie, at alternative dance party Pop Roxx.

Bootie cleverly gets its name from pirate-speak for stolen treasure, since mashups—bootleg dance remixes created by digitally combining the vocals from one song with music from another—are rarely authorized by the original artists. The widespread popularity of Bay Area mashup DJs and Bootie has earned the city a reputation as a mashup mecca. “San Francisco has just the right mix,” explains DJ Earworm, a popular mashup DJ-producer and Bootie regular. “It’s a really creative city, and it’s a technology-oriented city.”