DJ Sam Young gets around and has the tales to prove it.
As we speak (on the phone), he’s just waking up at his St John’s Wood home after another late night and is preparing for Damien Hirst’s Christmas party later.
“Kasabian’s doing their entertainment,” he says. “I helped get their record deal. I used to work for a record company. The label I was with didn’t want to sign them, they were oohing and ahing. A friend of mine just started doing A & R at Sony BMG so I took their demo in and then yeah, that was it.”
Young, 31, is best known for regular spots at celeb hangouts Chinawhites and Boujis, which may seem far removed from the Camden scene but he begs to differ.
Sam once attracted the attention of The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers for playing a bootleg of Somebody Told Me.
But instead of telling him off, Brandon said it was “a pretty cool mix”.
Last week, he was asked to look after Usher, who passed by Boujis after the X-Factor.
He said: “He needed to fly really early so we were killing time. I wasn’t djing, I’d finished my set. We were having crack-babies – a shot they do in Boujis, champagne, vodka, strawberry and passionfruit.”
He once played a party for gangsters in Scunthorpe: “It was full on. Howard Marks did a talk. It was the who’s who of the UK crime scene. The police were outside, really nervous of all these people getting together. A lot of the guys had their own little stalls, selling their own DVDs and books. It was a bit weird. The only time I saw the guy that booked me again was at the premiere for the film about Bronson and that was full of heavies.”
The son of A-list photographer Richard Young, Sam stumbled into Djing on a whim: “When I was about 13 we used to get Christmas money and my brother said let’s buy some turntables so we can be DJs so I said OK fine.”
When his brother went to college, Sam was left with them and the rest is West End clubland history.
It’s not always an easy job: “It can be hard if the crowd are difficult. If they’re not receptive to what you’re playing or if you read the crowd wrong they can make it harder. It’s all digital nowadays so I have every type of music on me at all times. It’s not like the old days where you have one or two bags of records and you’re screwed if you didn’t have what they want.”
His secret dancefloor-filling weapon? “Play some Michael Jackson, or Prince or Stevie Wonder. I’m a sucker for the obvious people. In a wedding or office party you put one of those on, you’re on to a winner – usually.”
He uses alter ago Sam Roqwell less and less, but returns to it when releasing his underground work.
He’s well-placed to witness excess: “You see people always spending a silly amount of money. Specially in the current time – I’ve seen it a lot.”
The secret to being a successful DJ, he says: “Work hard, keep your head down, it’s a lot of how you go about who you know, you need the talent as well, you can’t just wing it. If you’re not as good as you think you are, you’ll soon get found out.”
He said: “I’ve had my own nights at Hoxton Pony and Proud Camden. The crowd is different, they probably think they’re a bit cooler in Camden, same in east London they may think because they’re partying in Hoxton they’re cool but actually there’s no difference musically – unless you’re going to a specialist night. You’re more likely to get a tip in the West End from some rich Arab dude for playing a song while some guy in Camden might buy you a beer.”
He’s reputed to be one of Prince William’s favourite DJs and, has drawn up a personal top five of stag do hits for the soon-to-be married royal, in case he gets the call.
He said: “If he asked me to DJ at the wedding I would definitely.”
The Prince has been known to request a tune or two: “He likes the classic dance music. He’s current, not cheesy at all. All the times I’ve met him he’s liked stuff that was big at the time, like Outkast Hey Ya and Shakedown at Night. I’ve seen him dance – and the girlfriend.”
He’s reputed to be one of Prince William’s favourite DJs and, has drawn up a personal top five of stag do hits for the soon-to-be married royal, in case he gets the call.
He said: “If he asked me to DJ at the wedding I would definitely.”
The Prince has been known to request a tune or two: “He likes the classic dance music. He’s current, not cheesy at all. All the times I’ve met him he’s liked stuff that was big at the time, like Outkast Hey Ya and Shakedown at Night. I’ve seen him dance – and the girlfriend.”
SAM Young’s top 5 tunes for Prince William's stag do:
1. Ludacris - Area Codes
2. Snoop Dogg - Ain't no Fun
3. Katy Perry - I kissed a girl
4. LMFAO - I'm not a whore
5. RUN DMC - Down with the King
Sam once attracted the attention of The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers for playing a bootleg of Somebody Told Me.
But instead of telling him off, Brandon said it was “a pretty cool mix”.
Last week, he was asked to look after Usher, who passed by Boujis after the X-Factor.
He said: “He needed to fly really early so we were killing time. I wasn’t djing, I’d finished my set. We were having crack-babies – a shot they do in Boujis, champagne, vodka, strawberry and passionfruit.”
He once played a party for gangsters in Scunthorpe: “It was full on. Howard Marks did a talk. It was the who’s who of the UK crime scene. The police were outside, really nervous of all these people getting together. A lot of the guys had their own little stalls, selling their own DVDs and books. It was a bit weird. The only time I saw the guy that booked me again was at the premiere for the film about Bronson and that was full of heavies.”
The son of A-list photographer Richard Young, Sam stumbled into Djing on a whim: “When I was about 13 we used to get Christmas money and my brother said let’s buy some turntables so we can be DJs so I said OK fine.”
When his brother went to college, Sam was left with them and the rest is West End clubland history.
It’s not always an easy job: “It can be hard if the crowd are difficult. If they’re not receptive to what you’re playing or if you read the crowd wrong they can make it harder. It’s all digital nowadays so I have every type of music on me at all times. It’s not like the old days where you have one or two bags of records and you’re screwed if you didn’t have what they want.”
His secret dancefloor-filling weapon? “Play some Michael Jackson, or Prince or Stevie Wonder. I’m a sucker for the obvious people. In a wedding or office party you put one of those on, you’re on to a winner – usually.”
He uses alter ago Sam Roqwell less and less, but returns to it when releasing his underground work.
He’s well-placed to witness excess: “You see people always spending a silly amount of money. Specially in the current time – I’ve seen it a lot.”
The secret to being a successful DJ, he says: “Work hard, keep your head down, it’s a lot of how you go about who you know, you need the talent as well, you can’t just wing it. If you’re not as good as you think you are, you’ll soon get found out.”
• Sam Young has residencies at Boujis on Thursdays and Sundays, Chinawhite Wednesdays and Fridays, and regularly appears at Bungalow 8, Covent Garden, Vendome Mayfair and The Hoxton Pony.
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