He went from being a successful collegiate sailor to spinning records

By Ross Forman
Outsports.com

He played soccer and hockey, competed in track & field and was an advanced-level downhill skier. But sailing was Scotty Thomson’s true calling.

Getting to know Scotty Thomson

  • For fun, he has a saltwater aquarium. “That’s another obsession of mine,” he said. “It’s a very relaxing, tranquil thing that I love to do, though it’s very time-consuming.”
  • Admits that he is, “a big computer-dork.”
  • On his perfect man: “That’s a tough question … someone who is respectful.”
  • Active in website design and management. Previously worked at Gucci in their e-commerce division.

He was an All-American sailor at St. Mary’s University for four years before graduating in 1998.“Sailing was a full-time thing, just as it is for any other [collegiate] sport,” said Thomas, who celebrates his 34th birthday on June 7. “Practice, traveling, training, working on your equipment, or just reading about [the sport]. I had an incredible amount of devotion to the sport; people don’t realize how intense that level of sailing is. It’s very intense.”

Especially when your school was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

“Soccer and hockey, [my time playing these sports] waned in high school when the sailing took over more and more,” said Thomas, who graduated from Friends Academy in New York in 1993. “I’m pretty athletic, so anything I wanted to do, and put my mind to, I was good at. I played soccer for a long time; hockey was just something I did for fun. I was really good skiing, too.”

But sports or athletics weren’t his final calling.

“People are always shocked when they see my All-American sailing certificate on the wall (at home), and right next to it is my DJ booth. They think [the combination is] so weird,” Thomson said, laughing.

In reality, it must be Thomson’s Gemini personality shining through.

Thomson, who lives in New York, is now a full-time DJ, who has had gigs at Avalon, XL, SBNY, HK Lounge and elsewhere in his home state. He also has been hired to play at clubs in Chicago and Los Angeles.

And sports are now completely in his past, “unfortunately,” he said.

“Right now, my music takes up most of my time,” Thomson said. “If I’m not traveling and spinning places, I’m working on music, listening to music, researching music; that kind of stuff.”

Thomson, who is gay and “recently single,” said his spinning combines recognizable music with a mix of classics and a lot of European imports, stuff that other DJs don’t traditionally play. And it’s music and beats that “get people very excited, such that they want to know what it is.”

Fun is key to Thomson’s musical world.

“I like to show up with a smile on my face and I’m excited to play music for people, and I think that kind of comes through in my sets,” said Thomson who, in the past, has sported a Speedo while spinning and never is afraid to go shirtless to showcase his muscled physique.

“I always had a huge CD book in college and people always told me to bring my CDs to parties because I always had a lot of fun music; I was always buying upbeat stuff that people like to hear when they’re drinking or having house parties,” Thomson said. “I didn’t even think of it as DJ-ing then, but I guess I was a DJ-in-the-making.”

Related: Thomson's website

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