Ryan Heffington has been described as the "sweaty love child of Freddy Mercury and Martha Graham." I completely agree; if those two had made babies, their kiddies would probably have the charisma, organic talent, and out-of-control precision Heffington exudes while performing just about any activity. The man commands attention when he’s grilling vegetables, let alone when he’s performing "Dirty Diana" in a packed nightclub. A born superstar dancer, performer, designer, and choreographer, Heffington’s ferocious, uncompromising energy lights up -- think psychedelic high -- before loosening up the world one stage, club, or impromptu street performance at a time. From his arrival in the City of Angels his determination was to simply be himself. Only he is someone, probably the only one, who’s as comfortable in a leopard leotard as he is in a vibrant Rastafarian getup or just some casual low pumps and jeans. Put mildly, he’s like no other.

On September 24, the world’s foremost trance & electronic producer and DJ, Tiësto (Tijs Michiel Verwest), kicked off a 175-date World Tour with three stellar nights at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The tour seeks to promote the October 20 release of his fourth studio album, Kaleidoscope. On the new album, Tiësto collaborates with such acts as Sigur Rós, Nelly Furtado, Calvin Harris, and Tegan & Sara. The first single released in July, “I Will Be Here,” has already been a hit in Europe and recently penetrated the iTunes Top 10 Dance Chart. This comes after a long string of successes, including a Grammy award for his album Elements of Life, numerous endorsement deals, the start of his label Musical Freedom, and five European #1s. Tiësto is one of the most sought-after producers, having remixed tracks by such epic headliners as Madonna, Britney Spears, Sarah McLachlan, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paul Oakenfold, Moby, Tarkan, Kanye West, The Killers, and Maroon 5. Tiësto is not one to sit around, and the new album marks fresh developments in his musicianship and certainly solidifies his global popularity. We hunted Tiësto down during his New York visit to get the lowdown on his fast-paced globetrotting, in and out of the hottest nightlife venues around the world.

You may remember Scott Harrison from back in the nineties when he was often spotted in the enclaves of New York’s VIP rooms and parties. After a decade as a club promoter, Scott had an epiphany. The seemingly dazzling world of glitz and status in NYC nightlife was not everything he wanted, after all. He'd soon begin dedicating his life to providing clean water to millions of people around the world. In just three years, his organization, charity: water has raised over $11 million.

For a decade now, Miami's citizens have flocked en masse to a party called Poplife. Initially created as an antidote to all that’s tried-and-trite in nightlife, the weekly throwdown blew up into a bona fide event-hosting group. The Poplife principals are Barbara Basti, Jake Jefferson and Aramis Lorie. Basti and Lorie are two of the original four founders; Jefferson came on board after he’d been sneaking into Poplife parties for so long that the other members decided to induct him into the crew. Together, the current threesome have devised some of the most incredible evenings in Miami, from bringing in record labels Fool’s Gold and Ghostly International during the town’s much-heralded Winter Music Conference to one-offs with everyone from Calvin Harris to Black Moth Super Rainbow.

Soap opera star turned LA nightlife entrepreneur Michael Sutton has quite the diverse CV. He's been nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards, he was a co-founding partner for a private membership community called Xenii, and he's had ownership in LA hotspots The Lodge Steakhouse, Memphis, Charcoal, and supper club Goa. His new joint Guys & Dolls has been a hit among the West Coast elite.

Tequila's never been done enough justice. It's informally known as either (A) the drink you do awful, terrible things on in college, after which you vow to never taste it again, or (B) a spirit imbibed by bottle-service embracing luddites who wouldn't know a refined drink if they were bludgeoned over the head with a glass of it. Nightlife artist Ravi DeRossi and star bartender Phil Ward are changing all of that with Mayahuel, which might be the first bar truly dedicated to showing American drinkers why the stuff isn't for the worst kind of exploits so much as the best kind of drinking. The place looks like an unearthed Aztec basement bar; dark, shadowy, and generally perfect for a mixology revolution.

You had a streetball / Hip Hop show on an Ivy league jazz radio station. That's not really a question, more of an observation.
And a good one. I had the world’s first-ever talk radio program discussing playground basketball on WKCR 89.9FM. It was called On the Fence, and came on earlier in the evening every Thursday before me and Stretch Armstrong’s hip hop show. I also wrote the first article on sneaker culture in media history, titled "Confessions of a Sneaker Addict.” It ran in Source magazine in 1991. I also hosted the first TV series ever dedicated to sneaker culture, called It’s the Shoes, which ran for two seasons on ESPN. I could go on but I’ll stop there!

What kicks do you have on permanent ice?
There is no pair on permanent ice in my closet -- everything gets worn at some point! There are definitely joints that only come out on special occasion when they’ll be a good amount of heads that will understand what’s on the feet and can appreciate it.

DJ to the stars Cassidy Podell started on the turntables in fifth grade. Since battling club owners for entry into venues (to work, of course) as a teen, the UES-born mixmaster now works with a list of clients on the level of: P Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Jay Z, Kanye West, Oprah, Barack Obama, and Mariah Carey. And if that's not enough, the 27-year-old has recently discovered and produced new club-track sensation O'Neil McKnight (the album drops later this year). Cassidy acquaints us with humble beginnings, a first meeting with P Diddy, and his rom-com guilty pleasure.

The man who takes care of the day-to-day at LA's hottest nightclubs (Hyde, Area, Foxtail) under SBE's Sam Nazarian claims he's a dedicated family man well before he's a nightlife guru. "I’m family guy, I have two little boys. I have one side -- the cool factor, being ahead of the game and in the nightlife scene -- but at the same time I have another side that people don’t normally get to see." Nonetheless, he's running some of the biggest celeb magnets in LA and is constantly surrounded by bottles and models. Can he really turn out to be a normal guy?

From his perch in the Rooftop Bar high above Kittichai, Robert d’Arcangelo -- general manager of the Thom Bar and A60 -- calls the shots at 60 Thompson (and sometimes pours them).

What are your favorite places?
My favorite restaurant is La Siesta in Sperlonga, in a small beach town at the beginning of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Not cheap, but the food and style of service is basically perfect. Stresa in Paris is another. In the city, really, there’s a small Argentinian restaurant on the Lower East side called Azul Bistro. The food is always consistent, the service is very casual, but if it’s any type of date or business meeting, I can always count on things going the right way there. If you pay attention to the ceiling, it’s plastered in old Argentinian pin-up centerfolds, but a lot of people don’t notice.