Brett Isaacoff hosted a release show for It is rain in my face. in August and continues to showcase bands who might not be well-known enough to play at the Black Cat or the 9:30 Club.

As Hurricane Sandy blew through Washington, most people holed up in their homes. But Brett Isaacoff, founder of local label DZ Tapes, invited people into his own basement for an intimate, do-it-yourself concert with artists Blithe Field, Teen Suicide, Mono Lisa, Marble Lion and Cetwing.

Starting this summer, Isaacoff and his roommates began to use their apartment, which is located near the Rhode Island Avenue metro stop as a D.I.Y. space. Running a venue is a natural extension for Isaacoff, who has been involved with music since his childhood growing up in Silver Spring.

Isaacoff’s apartment, which is referred to as “the Dougout”, is just another part of the growing Washington D.I.Y. scene. While Washington has always been known as a stopping point for bands on tour, the city is working on developing its own local scene outside of the major acts that play at venues such as Black Cat and 9:30 Club.

Subterranean A, which was an apartment on R Street NW, was one of the most well known D.I.Y. spaces in Washington and hosted acts such as Lower Dens, Tennis, and Balam Acab during its run before shutting down this summer. But with the fall of one D.I.Y. space, a handful of others have cropped up in its place, such as the Dougout, Casa Fiesta, and Paperhaus, among many others.

“D.C. has some pretty welcoming D.I.Y. spots,” Isaacoff said. “There are some other decent spots around town filling the void left by the death of Subterranean A, my favorite of which is Hole In The Sky. It’s an artists’ warehouse complete with show space and screen printing lab.”

Before Isaacoff began to curate shows, he started a blog in 2007 titled Dayvan Zombear to distribute new music he liked to his friends. After he saw growth in the blog, he began his own cassette label titled DZ Tapes, which includes acts based anywhere from Brooklyn to Moscow.

One of his favorite parts of the label has been the opportunity to host shows for the bands that release music on DZ Tapes. In August, he had the chance to throw a cassette release show for the Brooklyn artist It is rain in my face., the moniker for musician Mat Jones.

“Mat and his buddy Andrew were touring the East Coast to promote their latest release as Pressed And, and we were lucky enough to line up a time to host a show with both acts at the Dougout to celebrate the cassette.” Isaacoff said. “We ended up having a lot of fun, and all the acts put on stellar performances.”

Yesterday’s show came together because of good timing. Isaacoff had been in touch with Spencer Radcliffe, the man behind experimental artist Blithe Field, and decided to use the Dougout as the Washington venue for Blithe Field’s tour with Mono Lisa.

This coincided with the East Coast tour of Marble Lion, a band from Quebec Isaacoff had been in contact with. Isaacoff was able to pull together these three bands as well as the campus-based acts Teen Suicide and Cetwing for the show, as well as this university’s Teen Suicide and Cetwing.

The Facebook event for the show claims that it featured a “psychedelic pentagram of sonic soothsayers and ghoulish nightingales,” which might be true, but it also was some pretty great music in an unconventional space.

“The shows we put on are almost always just as any house show should be: loud, fun, and free,” Isaacoff said.