Over the past 3 years, Dirty South aka Dragan Roganovic has made an instant name for himself in the dance music industry, impressing the who’s who of international DJs, producers, media and music lovers with his uncanny ability to dish up ready-made dancefloor bombs.
Born in Europe and moved to Australia when he was 13, Dragan’s thirst for music took a hold of him from a young age. Unable to afford turntables, the youngster began ‘mixing’ with an old NEC Cassette deck, while his growing fascination with production saw him re-jig his home computer and start to make beats with it using demo music software. Inspired by everyone from Led Zeppelin and later The Neptunes, Dragan focussed his attention on producing mash-ups and bootleg tracks, with his natural ability to produce devastating dancefloor weapons seeing DJs clamber for promos – something that still characterises his rampant popularity.
The international attention didn’t take too long to swell either. When Dragan injected his trademark house groove into Evermore’s ‘It’s too Late’ rock hit in 2006, the entire dance music world stood up and took notice. Not only did dance luminary Pete Tong reward the track as one of his coveted ‘Essential New Tunes’ – the first Australian dance track to receive this accolade since Madison Avenue’s ‘Don’t Call Me Baby’ in 1999, but the gem was also licensed to over 30 compilations worldwide, as well as being picked up by Warner and Ultra (USA).
Included on his self-titled EP of 2006 out through respected Australian imprint Vicious Vinyl, ‘It’s too Late’, topped dance charts worldwide and saw Dirty South nominated for a coveted ARIA award (Australian Recording Industry Association) - a stunning follow-up to the previous year’s nomination for his red-hot single ‘Sleazy’. ‘It’s Too Late’s’ impact was also confirmed in early 2007, with a nomination for ‘Best Alternative Dance Release’ at Miami’s ‘International Dance Music Awards’.
No surprise that Dirty South stands as one of the hottest and most in-demand new artists in house music. His remixing credits read like an honour role of dance music’s finest, having reworked revered artists such as Depeche Mode, Mark Ronson, Roger Sanchez, Josh Wink, Tiësto, Chris Lake, Fedde Le Grande, Ferry Corsten and TV Rock.
Recent collaborations have also seen him team up with house kingpin Carl Kennedy for the dancefloor burner ‘Baby, I’m Gonna Leave you’, as well as Brit Paul Harris with ‘Better Day’, earning Dirty South another prestigious ‘Essential New Tune’ gong from Pete Tong.
While his productions go from strength to strength, Dirty South continues to excel in the DJing department. He’s toured the world, gigging throughout Europe, the UK, UAE, Canada and the USA and playing massive festivals across Australia including Good Vibrations, Future Music Festival, Summadayze, supporting the likes of Erick Morillo, Bookashade, Tom Novy, DJ Falcon and countless others. At home in Australia, he currently holds a residency with a national powerhouse club Onelove and he’s regularly touring interstate.
Home stereos are likewise kept grooving with his throbbing mix compilations, having delivered stunning offerings for Vicious’ ‘Clubwork’ (2006), Australian superclub Onelove’s ‘Your Disco Will Eat You’ (2007) and Ministry of Sound’s ‘Sessions 4’ (2007)
With only a few short years under his belt in the international production scene, Dirty South’s potential to achieve tremendous musical heights seems limitless. As his trademark blend of beats inspires more and more house lovers from across the globe to sit up and take notice, the future is certainly looking bright down south.
