Dirty South

In the three years since the release of his eponymous debut EP, big-room-house DJ/producer Dirty South (a.k.a. Dragan Roganovic) has impressed the who’s-who-complex of international DJs, producers, media, and music lovers with his otherworldly knack for dishing out high-energy dance-floor bombs. Born in Eastern Europe and relocated to Australia at age 13, Roganovic found his calling early. Unable to afford turntables and the stuff for music production, he began “mixing” with a prehistoric NEC cassette deck and coaxing beats out of his home PC using demo music software.

Much later on came that self-titled EP, which featured the explosive house anthem “It’s Too Late.” The track topped dance charts worldwide and got him nominated for an ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Award. In 2007, the song was nominated for best alternative dance release at Miami’s International Dance Music Awards. By then, Roganovic was on the remixing fast track, redoing cuts by Depeche Mode, Tracey Thorn, and David Guetta, and racking up “Essential New Tune” gongs from Pete Tong.

His rep as a remixer finally got around to Interscope Records higherups, who assigned him to Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Eruption” earlier this year. The label execs were so impressed with the result they also hired him to gussy up the Pussycat Dolls’ “When I Grow Up.”