Ultra Chic: Ultra Naté Reloaded
ULTRA: Oh yeah! Those are my big brothers, and I hope that will never change. We're still family and I couldn't be where I am today without those experiences and those emotions driving me. They'll be an integral part of me no matter where I go.
5: You mentioned your radio show earlier. Someone's actually playing House Music on terrestrial radio and not an internet station?
ULTRA: Yes, it's actually on the radio! It plays in France and all French-speaking territories, and I've been a resident DJ on there since last summer. My spot is every Sunday night at 9pm French time, so wherever you are, you just need to backtrack - that'd be Sunday at 3pm on the East Coast or 2pm for you in Chicago. It's an hour-long show called Radio FG. They stream it on the internet as well, so you can go to radiofg.com and hear it every week.
5: When we talked last year, there was still a lot of buzz about you DJing at the Winter Music Conference in 2007. Are you gigging now as both a DJ and a performer?
ULTRA: I do gigs where I may just be singing or may just be DJing or I may be doing both.
5: I'm sure there are DJs in certain cities that will sit back with their arms folded and wait to hear you - probably more than they would with any other out-of-town DJ.
ULTRA: Oh, I'm sure there are because of my name. But I've been doing this now for five years, since Sugar began.
You know, I grew up in DJ culture, and I grew up with really great DJs and I listened to what they played and how they played it. This goes all the way back to when I was just a club kid dancing around on the dancefloor. I have an understanding of that relationship with good music and programming and how music should sound both technically and emotionally. It translates from one to the other.
As an artist, it's not that difficult for me because you know what you like and what you get a response from and you can understand from that how to program for the dancefloor. The tough part as an artist is learning the technical skills that go along with it. That's a matter of practice.
I'm sure there are people who will have their arms folded, waiting to see, and that's fine. I've never been terribly worried about people who are overly critical. It's a question of, "Are you a DJ because you play out and put yourself into a position for people to critique you?" If you play music and you're into it, that's what DJing is really about to me.
I got into the music business because I was adventurous and experimental - I wasn't a trained vocalist or an expert songwriter or had any training of any sort before I went into the Basement Boys studio and wrote "It's Over Now". That's how I've always approached everything I've done in the music business. Whether it's up front or behind the scenes, I approach everything I do with the spirit of adventure and with no fear of making a mistake, because that's where the real lessons are learned. Fear is what holds people back more than anything - people are afraid of making a mistake or making a fool of themselves or hearing what people will say. That's never been my hang-up.
So if I trainwreck, which doesn't happen often... [laughs] It'll at least be a trainwreck between mixing two really great records by François K. That's been my attitude and it will never change.
5: I think it's because of the celebrity culture in dance music - there are a few people we can probably name who made their career as performing artists, and then switched to DJing when their stars dimmed a bit. And that's great, but some of them don't attempt to be GOOD DJs or learn any of the technical know-how - they're just banking on their name.
ULTRA: See, that's just unacceptable. If you're going to do it, you really need to bring it! When you're coming from a place when you've excelled in something else, some folks are naturally going to hear news that you're branching out into something else with a bit of skepticism. I'm not going to do something where I'm just using my status in the community as the get-over, because that's unacceptable to me.
5: That's a lot of stuff you have going on! Let's recap here all of the releases that you have coming up.
ULTRA: "Shining Star" by Sybil is out now on Traxsource, Beatport, all of the download sites. We also have a track by Jada called "Beautiful" produced by DJ Spinna. We're in the process of getting the remixes together and I'm forecasting a release of that in early September. And Alchemy: ST Reloaded will be out mid-August.
It's been an interesting year so far, for my own projects, for the new label, my radio show and all of these collaborations with singers and producers - there are a lot of irons in the fire!
+ Related: Top Ultra Nate videos and classic tracks
Ultra Naté is online at myspace.com/ultranatemusic and at ultranate.com. For booking information, check out peacebisquit.com. Ultra Naté's radio show can be heard on radiofg.com (and on radio in France). And keep your eyes peeled for Alchemy: GST Reloaded, Sybil's "Shining Star" and more!
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