Ask any South Bay music nerd and they’ll tell you the Do It Yourself (DIY) music scene in San José is alive and well, thanks to promoters like Heavy Lemon and Crossthread. 

The DIY music scene refers to local bands gathering for concerts and events at often unofficial venues, offering a space for music genres that aren’t typically played in mainstream venues, according to an article by Browser Media Agency.

Organizers such as Heavy Lemon and Crossthread oversee events that contribute heavily to their grassroots third space efforts.

Haley Bayuga Graff, the community outreach manager for Crossthread, said the nonprofit’s name comes from cross threading, a term describing when a screw is inserted incorrectly, damaging the threads of the screw and preventing connection, which is how it felt growing up involved in alternative culture.

“You’re trying to shove something that doesn’t work and that’s how it kind of always felt growing up on the outskirts,” Bayuga Graff said. “Like punk and hardcore … There’s not always a place that’s accepting of what we like and who we are as people.” 

Crossthread is a nonprofit dedicated to organizing all ages events where the community can, “Express themselves through collaborative arts,” according to the organization’s website.

Chris Gough, head organizer for Heavy Lemon, said live music is powerful for connection.

“Being in a room with a bunch of people and experiencing a cool moment during a live set brings people together,” Gough said. “It makes them feel like they’re part of something bigger in some weird cosmic sense.” 

Heavy Lemon is a collective that hosts live music events in the Bay Area with the mission of hosting in safer environments and maintaining the live music after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Heavy Lemon website. 

On Friday, over 50 people gathered at the Black and Brown store courtyard, a vintage store on West San Carlos Street, to attend a Heavy Lemon organized event.

The event hosted five bands and almost didn’t happen. The original venue of Jade Cathay fell through, but within three days, a new venue was secured at Black and Brown.

Both Gough and Bayuga Graff said that providing all-ages spaces for young people to engage with the DIY scene is an important part of their organizing.

“They (kids) deserve to have their own spaces to be creative and where they’re not going to be judged … Where they can do what they want musically and artistically, but safely,” Bayuga Graff said. 

Both organizations exist during a time when music venues face financial challenges that lead to closure.

Art Boutiki, an independent venue and graphic novel shop in San José, permanently closed in December 2025 after 16 years because of rising operational costs, according to a statement made on the website.

“I came to the realization that keeping this place open was not sustainable and we were not one or two good shows from turning things around,” owner Dan Vado said in the same statement.

Bayuga Graff said that the shows they organize are always at or above capacity.

Mara Alvarez, a volunteer who helps book shows for Heavy Lemon, said the DIY scene in San José is a vibrant community.

“Theres a lack of third spaces for young people that aren’t like bars or 18 plus clubs, which are kind of seedy, so it’s nice have a place to go,” Alvarez said. “Heavy Lemon is one part of the big San José booking family.”

In the future, Crossthreads is anticipating a permanent physical venue and is currently securing investors and city permits.

“Its been the mission from day one … But our goal is to hopefully have something open by like the end of this calendar year,” Bayuga Graff said.