The release of Ministry of Sound’s mid-year uber-release Sessions is drawing near, and after the mega response that Dirty South’s contribution received in the past, not surprisingly he’s been invited back to be a part of this year’s massive three-disc installment. It’s no surprise at all, because the man who’s otherwise known as Dragan Roganovic has developed into one of our country’s most successful and influential DJ/producers working on the international stage. Based in Melbourne up until only a few years ago, recently he’s been touring all over the world, getting props from Erik Morillo and working in the studio with the Swedish House Mafia.

As busy as Dirty South is, he’s freed up time in his schedule to return home in June to help promote the release of Sessions, with a national tour that will see him making an appearance at the massive We Love Sounds festival in Sydney. And he says he can’t wait. “I’m definitely looking forward to it, as I miss playing in Oz. I think We Love Sounds is going to be amazing and also all the club gigs should be great. It would be nice to go back and see the old friends/promoters and other familiar places.” ITM grabs Dirty South for a chat before his winter homecoming.

Hi Dragan, this is Angus from inthemix in Australia. How are things going for you, and whereabouts in the world are you at the moment?

Hey mate, good to hear from you. I just got to Stockholm, which is my base while I’m doing my Europe May Tour. I love it here because it reminds of Melbourne, and the people are also very nice and chilled out just like at home. Also while I’m here I get to hang out with some great friends and do some studio work.

We’ve seen very little of you in Australia recently, which counts as a pretty good indication of how much international success you’ve had over the past few years. Has the momentum been keeping up in 2009?

I actually miss Australia a lot and cannot wait to come back and play soon. Things have been great though, especially touring. As I mentioned before, I am in the middle of the European tour and after this I come back to Oz to do a tour for the Sessions compilation. After the Oz tour I will spend 3 months touring Europe again for their summer, with some South American dates in between.

Early in your career you were strongly tied to electro, but since then you’ve been very successful in expanding your sound and escaping the dreaded ‘pigeonhole’. How much of this was something you’d consciously worked on?

I think it’s very important for every artist/DJ/producer to keep changing and evolving their style. It is the only way to move forward. It is also easy to fall into a trap of keeping the same sound/style, if this style is making the artist successful. I believe the only way to stay in this music industry is to keep things as fresh as possible

What special treats can we look forward to this year from you in terms of production? Any sign of an artist album on the horizon?

I have quite a mobile studio setup now days, so I’m always working on something new. I’ve done a remix for a track by the Swedish House Mafia and also a remix for U2 which should be out soon. My new single We Are just got released on Beatport and I am constantly working on new material, alone and collaborating with friends. I just finished a new track with Sebastian Ingrosso and will be working with him and Axwell on a few projects, so look out for those in the future. I think eventually I would like to do an album, but for now I will most likely do single tracks and concentrate to put out a few release on my new label.

How would you describe your sound in the opening half of 2009?

I think its simply big room house music. It has vocal elements, some of it is more melodic, some more techy, but always has good energy.

*There’s been some excitement back home over the fact that you’ve been recruited back to mix a CD on the latest Ministry of Sound Sessions release. Are you excited to be part of that project again after last year’s effort?

Two years ago, John Course and I mixed Sessions 4. It went really well so when Ministry asked me to come on board once again I was very excited to do another compilation for the Oz market. This CD also requires me to do the tour in oz, which made it even more exciting.

The tracklist as a whole is pretty edgy! Does it give you any kind of a thrill to include music that’s a little less than obvious, in a release that’s effectively going out to mainstream music lovers?

As I said it’s very important that the CD reflects my music tastes and DJ style. This way people can get the idea of what to expect to hear when I do my shows. I’ve been playing this style of music for a while and its been working really well at all my shows so I hope Australian fans like my disc.

There’s been a new wave of house music that’s taken hold in the last 12 months, a big-room sound associated with producers like the Swedish House Mafia, and labels like Toolroom Records; it’s a diverse approach that mashes up elements of progressive, techno and electro. Is it something you’ve identified with strongly?

I definitely play the music that the Swedish House Mafia has been putting out and I’ve been collaborating with them because I do like their vibe. Toolroom is also a great label that I mixed a compilation for last year, so they are definitely on my radar when it comes to their releases.

The presence of a tune like Wipenberg’s Chakalaka on your Sessions CD demonstrates that even trance has been making inroads into house music. Are we witnessing a new era in dance where all the old boundaries are being broken down?

For me trance has a lot of melodies, and it makes sense to use some of those influences and try new things out with house music. This is great because new ‘styles’ of house are evolving and its keeping things more interesting. I would love to see house music get more melodic and emotional.

What can fans expect for your DJ sets?

I will be playing some new material of mine, which should be ready by the time the tour starts. I will also play a lot of edits I make to keep things even more interesting and of course some of the tracks on the ministry compilation. See you at the show!

Ministry of Sound’s Sessions Six is out May 15th, and you can catch Dirty South at the following shows…

Sat Jun 6th – We Love Sounds, Sydney
Sat Jun 6th – Family, Brisbane
Sun Jun 7th – Warehouse Festival, Canberra
Sun Jun 7th – HQ, Adelaide
Fri Jun 12th – King St Hotel, Newcastle
Sat Jun 13th – Platinum, Gold Coast
Fri Jun 19th – Billboards, Melbourne
Sat Jun 20th – Soho, Sydney