America's most wanted dance DJs

Skrillex: Sonny Moore is from LA and used to be an emo kid (with “good ­reason”, he explained to the ­Guardian last year when we asked: “Is this the most hated man in ­dubstep?”) and singer with screamo band From First To Last, but reinvented himself in 2008, to the chagrin of his ­detractors, as Skrillex. His ­high-energy ­interpretation of ­dubstep has been huge in the US, and he won two Grammys for his album Scary ­Monsters and Nice Sprites. Photograph: Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images

David Guetta/Swedish House Mafia/Tiesto: Alongside the Swedish trio and Dutch DJ Tiësto, Guetta has been crucial in European dance music’s rise in the US, especially via his collaborations with the Black-Eyed Peas, Nicki Minaj, et al. Billboard claimed Guetta has “changed the face of the US charts”. All three acts polarise opinion. Swedish House Mafia’s film Take One captured the jetset lifestyle of Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso. They’ve sold out Madison Square Garden and play Milton Keynes Bowl in June. Photograph: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Kaskade: Kaskade, AKA Ryan Raddon, has had a busy year. His double album Fire & Ice, featuring Skrillex and Dada Life, topped the US dance chart and reached No 17 on the Billboard chart, he was voted America’s Best DJ by DJ Times, and headlined Identity Festival, Live Nation’s first electronic music tour. When he tweeted “ME+BIG SPEAKERS+ ­MUSIC=BLOCK PARTY!!!” about a free show on Hollywood Boulevard last ­summer, a riot ensued when LAPD closed it down after too many fans turned up. Photograph: Chelsea Lauren/WireImage

Luciano: The Swiss-born Chilean-raised ­Luciano first made his name in Chile, where he ended up playing to thousands at Santiago’s Love ­Parade. After moving to Europe, he became resident at CircoLoco at ­DC10, then Ushuaia, then moved to Sunday nights at Pacha. He is the founder of Cadenza Records, based in Geneva and home to the likes of Loco Dice and Carl Craig. In the past few months, he has been ­collaborating with the Neptunes ­supremo Pharrell Williams and, more surprisingly, er, Lenny Kravitz. Photograph: Kish Communications

Calvin Harris: Calvin Harris’s collaboration with Rihanna last year, We Found Love, was a huge smash in the US, and pretty much ­everywhere else. It was the ­longest-charting No 1 in America last year, staying at the top of the Billboard charts for 10 weeks. His own single Feel So Close also reached 22 in the ­Billboard chart, and will feature on his ­forthcoming album alongside Awooga, featuring Kelis. Calvin will be playing four times in Miami this week. Photograph: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images Europe

Richie Hawtin: The English-Canadian Richie Hawtin is best known for his minimal alias Plastikman, under which pseudonym he has released six albums in the past eight years. Hawtin has done several US bus tours in the past ­couple of years. When he guest-­edited a special issue of Mixmag last month, he wrote a feature on the rise of rave in America, admitting: “I’ve been a little concerned by the explosion in popularity of EDM in the US”, but concluding 2012 was a “year zero” moment and he was excited by the “endless possibilities” Photograph: C Flanigan/Getty Images

Afrojack: The Dutchman Nick van de Wall’s first hit in the US was Take Over Control, featuring Eva Simons, ­originally released in 2010, the video of which showed them ­driving through Death Valley in California. Last year, Give Me Everything, his collaboration with Pitbull, went to No 1 in the US. AKA ­Afrojack, he ­features in the new Ultra Music festival film Can U Feel It, which has just opened in the US, and has been announced as one of the headliners of the Electric Daisy Carnival in New York in May. Photograph: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Deadmau5: Canadian Joel Thomas Zimmerman, AKA Deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”, as even your gran must know by now) is more of a full live act than straight DJ. He played a massive 53-date US tour last year, including four nights at the ­Hollywood Palladium and five at New York’s Roseland Ballroom. You won’t find him at ­Ultra though: he has posted a 12-minute rant on YouTube, ­critising the ­festival for ticket prices (£595 for a VIP ticket) and ­exclusivity contracts. Photograph: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Diplo: Diplo, AKA Wesley Pentz, featured with Skrillex and A-Trak on the front of Billboard in the US last month, which proclaimed: “Dance DANCE evolution … ready for mainstream global domination.” The producer and DJ’s projects include his collaboration with Switch as Major Lazer, and producing everyone from Usher to Bruno Mars. He’s a former boyfriend of MIA and produced her hit Paper Planes. “The major labels, the A&Rs, are very frightened now,” he told Billboard. “They see that things are in our hands in a lot of ways.” Photograph: Jordan Strauss/Getty Images

A-Trak: Diplo’s fellow Billboard cover star A-Trak, Montreal-born Alain Macklovitch, made his name winning the DMC World DJ championship when he was 15. Since then, he has been Kanye West’s DJ, collaborated with Armand van Helden as Duck Sauce, whose Barbra Streisand hit was Grammy-nominated, and produced the likes of Lupe Fiasco. “It’s a time where all of us are able to rewrite the rules,” says A-Trak of the US explosion in dance music. “It’s like there are no more rules. There is a captive audience, and it’s hungry.” Photograph: C Flanigan/FilmMagic