“It’s really nice to come back and play to a home crowd,” says Dragan Roganović of his date with Stereosonic this summer. The festival shows will be Dirty South’s biggest yet on home soil, but the Northern Hemisphere has got him in good practice. Every weekend he’s in a new city (or three), with thousands-strong crowds hanging on every anthem.

It’s hard to overstate just how convincingly the DJ has accelerated onto the international A-list. Since turning heads with his ubiquitous remix of Evermore’s It’s Too Late in 2006, Dirty South has been on an unbroken hot streak in the studio, earning friends in all the right places.

A host of mainstage jocks keep a close eye on his Phazing Records label to stock their SD cards, with his Coming Home remix a 2011 blockbuster. Meanwhile, his tie with the unstoppable Swedish House Mafia juggernaut remains watertight. Across the Northern summer, he ticked off career highs at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Tomorrowland in Belgium, the Global Gathering and Creamfields double in the UK, and the Ibiza circuit.

When inthemix gets on the phone to Dragan, he’s slotting in some downtime in Melbourne before heading back to the States for an eight-week tour. This is the working life of Dirty South. Time to hear about some highlights.

You’re back in Melbourne at the moment, right?
I’m home for just a week, then back over to the States for more touring. I came back for a little 10-day break. Just to chill and catch up with the family. I’m building a studio in Melbourne, and I need to look over that. Meeting architects and all that.

Just days ago you were in New York playing Electric Zoo. I see you ended up doing two sets at the festival.
I ended up playing three times in New York. It was planned to be Electric Zoo on Saturday and then my after-party at Pacha that night. Martin Solveig pulled out ‘cause he hurt his back, and I happened to be in New York a day early, so the guys from Electric Zoo asked if I could do his slot. It’s a great city and it was cool to pull off three sets in one weekend. It was much better than I expected. It’s an ever-growing market there, they’re really hungry for the music and the DJs. I think that’s really exciting.

What’s your opinion on why this dance music boom is happening in the States?
Oh wow, I have no idea! I think I started playing there around 2007 and I saw already then it starting to grow. That growth has been exponential over the four years since. I’m not sure what started it to be honest; it’s many things, one after the other. It is the strongest market to play in the world right now.