Everyone loves a good pop star — and by that, I mean pop stars who come with the goods. The pop artists who make us sing, dance and shout as they entertain with strong songs and visuals. I’m a total sucker for quality pop acts, be they classic (The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Supremes) or modern-day hotties like M.I.A., Santogold, Feist and Pink, who hook us with their music and outgoing personalities.

I would add 24-year-old Scottish songwriter, producer, remixer and vocalist Calvin Harris to the list of pop stars worthy of much attention and devotion. He’s been making solo dance tunes on cheap gear and computers since he was 15, with original tracks posted on MySpace netting him both millions of views and a label deal that he struck with EMI in 2006.

In the last few years, Harris has gone from stacking shelves at a Marks & Spencer to scaling UK charts with singles from his 2007 debut album, the tongue-in-cheekily-titled I Created Disco. DJs and underground heads dig Harris too, what with his ridiculously groove-laden originals like “Acceptable in the ’80s” and “The Girls,” and his dancefloor-filling remixes of artists including Jamiroquai, Groove Armada, CSS and Cut Copy.

Calvin Harris is a bona fide pop star — genuine, personable and attractive in a tousled, party-boy-next-door kind of way. All that, and he writes damn fine tunes, where boasts and bravado collide with self-deprecation and enormous hooks.

“I make anything that I think sounds good, but about 90 per cent of it hasn’t been heard by other people,” Harris explains by email. He’s writing rather than speaking to interviewers while recovering from a painful mid-September operation on his tonsils.

“I think the reason most people make music is so they can put all the things they like about noise and melody into their own songs. For that reason, I should like everything about my songs. Sadly that isn’t always the case, but it’s definitely something I’m working on.”

He may be humble, but like some of his sonic inspirations — he cites Timbaland, D’Angelo, Roy Ayres and British house duo Full Intention — Harris has a unique, identifiable sound. No doubt this is why other pop stars are lining up to collaborate with him, like Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Dizzee Rascal — with whom Harris produced and performed the number one UK hit “Dance Wiv Me.”

“I’m not the best singer or performer in the world, so producing people who are is like playing to my strengths,” Harris writes. “I’m much better at music than I am at singing.”

He also has a selective ear and golden touch when it comes to remixing, as is evident in his recent ace reworks of The Ting Tings’ “Great DJ” and Primal Scream’s “Uptown.”

“I do remixes because I can, and it’s fun too,” says Harris. “I only do them if I think I can bring something new and interesting to the package. If I don’t think I can, then I’ll leave it alone.”

Though he’s working to complete his anticipated sophomore album (“It’s going OK, but things keep slowing me down. I’ll get there soon, hopefully.”), Harris has spent a great deal of time on the road, performing with a full live band. At this gig, we’ll be treated to merrymaking courtesy of Calvin Harris, DJ.

“I play electronic music, basically,” he says of his selections. “It’s a real pleasure to play other people’s songs now, as I have been playing my own live for almost two years.”

Is the self-professed “dad-dancer” — check Harris’ many humorous MySpace blog posts for why he can’t dance, his thoughts on television and trampolines, among other things — now a full-on fan of mixing music to make people get down?

“No not at all,” replies the jokester. “If anybody starts dancing, I’ll cut the music immediately.”