It’s quite a rarity in a scene which is dominated by big brands that you stumble upon a party which is undoubtedly one of clubland’s little gems, currently buzzing away in a well known sunny seaside town called Margate. Now this town and it’s surrounding areas has been far from quiet over the last 10 years or so, with a scene of clubbers loyal to their music which even takes them venturing to London and afar. But on their home ground you will find Stimulation, one of Kent’s best underground dance nights currently run by the enthusiastic and dedicated Dj/Promoter Dom Young. And so after hearing and seeing with my own eyes how good this party really was, I have decided to ask Dom a few questions so you can all read what him and his Stimulation are all about!

Hi Dom, firstly thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions, how has your week been so far?

Hi, no worries, thanks for taking the time to ask me. Yeah it’s not been too bad thanks, been running about like a blue arsed fly for most of it though, lol, final push before the big night and all that.

So tell me how did you evolve into being the budding Dj that you are?

Well back in the day, lol, from aged 13ish I used to be well into my Drum & Bass, every now and then me & my mates managed to get a little spin on someone’s decks, which of course always left us wanting more! To cut a long story short I saved up my pennies for my own set of decks (soundlabs man!!!). I managed to pick up mixing fairly quickly and after years of mixing D&B just for fun at house parties, about 7-8 years ago I started to get into Trance….yeah I know….couldn’t get further apart in genre’s ay! Lol, well, trance developed into liking Hard Trance/Hard House after a few trips to Ibiza, clubbing regularly and seeing the DJ’s loving it on stage I was just itching to get up there myself & play to a live crowd, but just didn’t know how to get into the scene! Finally about 1 ½ years ago I went to a club in Margate where I got introduced to several DJ’s & the then promoter of ‘Stimulation’. I told them how much I loved hardhous and they gave me a trial set, liked what they heard and so the rest is history as they say lol.

Have you always lived in Margate? - Tell us a bit about your background.

Yep, born & bred, I’ve always lived around Thanet where most of my family life, watched the area change rapidly in the last few years! Did all the normal stuff….you know….went to school, bunked off school, got drunk in parks with my mates, lol, oh dear, that doesn’t sound too good does it! Seriously though my parents have always been great in supporting me and I’ve now got a beautiful wife who does the same! Oh yeah…and 2 cats, lol!

Like a lot of other Dj’s you now play a range of music including hard dance and electro, how do you think this benefits you as a Dj?

Yeah I love to play different styles, really getting into the dirty side of electro now! Hence my next night having 2 rooms. There are definitely benefits to playing more than one style, for instance I’ve been playing out a lot recently doing electro nights meaning my name is out there more than it would be if I only played Hard House. I think people like to see DJ’s playing a range of stuff nowadays.. shows more skill I spose as every style is slightly different to mix, keeps you on the ball!

So who has inspired you over these years?

Anyone that has a passion for what they do really, I tend to watch what a lot of people are doing and take what I think are the best factors & apply them in my own way to what I’m doing. It goes without saying the big headline DJ’s/Promoters/Producers drive me on but I tend to follow brands & DJ’s slightly further down the ladder shall we say, as those people are purely driven by their love for what they do rather than just the next wage packet, makes for a better night in many cases.

So with most Dj’s venturing into production these days, is this something you’ve also considered?

Of course! I already like to make intros for my sets at ‘Stimulation’, it just brings the night to life in my eyes. Just need a little more time before I make tunes though as very busy keeping the day job going! lol

So what got you into the promoting game?

Well to start with I never imagined I'd promote, I just wanted to be a DJ but after only playing a few sets for ‘Stim’ I was given the main role in promoting the night!! Everything moved really quickly from not even having a set in a club to DJing/promoting my own brand! Must have been all them years of wishing building up inside me just burst out and I grabbed it all with both hands! Now it seems to be something I just have to keep doing! I think addiction is the word, lol

I agree promoting can be very addictive, along with it's trials and tribulations - but what about it do you enjoy?

Man, just the feeling on the night when it’s all going well! All the hard work has paid off, big smiles everywhere you look & everyone is loving it!! There’s not many feelings that are better than that!.....apart from playing at your own night that is, lol. That really is the main enjoyment I get when I know all the hard work for the last couple of months has worked & brought true clubbers together for a wicked party! That then drives you on to do the next, and then the whole process starts over again.

It's great to see so much enthusiasm in you! - what would you say your other main qualities are as a promoter?

Oh blimey, I hate blowing my own trumpet, but ok, lol, hard working, honest, passionate about what I’m doing, friendly..

The next party has creeped up on us being this weekend! - Tell us more about Stimulation and what you have planned on Friday night!?

Well as the last night was such a success at DV8 Margate we’ve now got both rooms this time, and so I thought we’d have a bit of Electro in the back room as well as Hardhouse in the Main. We’ve got a bunch of fantastic DJ’s planned from all over the country, including the mighty ILOGIK (Elastic Man Records) doing an exclusive Pioneer DJM 800 showcase! I’ll look forward to seeing that!, UGLY DAVE is on a south coast ‘Scum records’ album release tour, free copies available on the night by the way! Our other class act hand picked DJ’s in the main room include NIK BEATS, JENNARATE, SEBASTIEN & myself. Room 2 sees our 1st dabble in putting on a dirty electro night with some techy sounds thrown in, again top notch DJ’s from mainly the south east this time including PHIL GOOD, ABILITY, the ever increasingly popular guys from HCIYH - TOM KEYS & DAVE DOUGHTY also from ELECTROSENTIAL – HEAVY SET DJ’S. Amongst all the musical madness we'll have dancers, poi spinners, loads of glow stuff & face painting going on. Can’t wait!

Sounds like you've got a fun party planned indeed! Stimulation’s current home is DV8, tell us more about the venue?

DV8 is one hell of a good looking club tucked away underground with amazing lighting & great sound. It’s just changed management over the last few weeks but the previous owners were from London so it really does reflect the club feeling of up town! The main room has the DJ booth looking over a sunken oval dance floor with the rest of the room surrounding it with 2 bars & a nice large chill out bit, it holds about 700 people. Whilst room 2 holds aprox 150, it’s a warm feeling comfortable room which used to be the VIP area so nice seating round the edges, perfect for our electro debut! Good security add to the night in being able to relax whilst you’re clubbing!

I hear that that some of the buildings on the promenade recently suffered fire damage but thankfully the club wasn’t affected by this - I bet this was a big relief to you after settling into your new home?

Oh wow yeah that had me going for a bit! Thankfully the club didn’t get affected by it though, one of the arcades nearby got badly damaged so of course word started to spread quickly that the club was on fire! I couldn’t believe it! After speaking to the manager though I was told everything was fine and the night could still go ahead. Since then the club has even undergone a make over so it looks better than it ever has!

So looking ahead, where would you like to see Stimulation in say a year?

Oooooo, I can see us in good places in a year or so, our following is steadily growing so I'd like us to be hosting in London of course & maybe a night or 2 in Ibiza? It’s tough to promote a night tucked away in the corner of the country but we’re making steady progress so yeah, watch this space!

And additionally where would you like to see yourself as an artist?

Well pretty much the same as ‘Stim’ really and like I said earlier.. I'm looking into producing tunes soon as well as the DJing/Promoting so we'll just have to wait & see, lol, all looking good at the moment though with a few tricks planned up my sleeve!

And lastly, why do you think Stimulation is a great party to go to? Plug away!

We feel that we have the most unique party atmosphere you’ll find not just in Thanet but in any of the close towns or cities, we’ve steadily grown over the last year or so and the loyal clubbers definitely know their music & that just what we aim to provide them with! We don’t saturate the area with too regular parties, so by the time the next is on the cards the clubbers are crying out for the date to come round! It’s one of the only Hardhouse nights left in Kent and we always aim to give you a better night than the last! Now with the added Electro in the back room were in for one hell of a party! Due to the experience of the clubbers we never have any trouble, just hours of partying with loads of DJ’s for a pittance!