As you read in our August 2008 issue on the street now, one of our favorite artists in the House Music community, Ultra Naté, has been stepping out lately as a DJ in addition to her vocal work. Her latest full album release, Alchemy: GST Reloaded is a two-disc set of remixes from last year's Grime, Silk and Thunder album, featuring edits from the likes of Kenny Dope, Quentin Harris, Craig C and more as well as a full disc of edits mixed by Ultra Naté herself. Alchemy goes on sale on August 19th; you can find out more, preview some of the tracks and keep up with the busy Ms. Ultra at myspace.com/ultranatemusic.

Quite a bit of our interview with Ultra had to do with DJing; here's an extended quote (you can read the whole thing now by joining our member's section):

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.

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.

You can also hear Ultra as a DJ every Sunday on Radio FG, which broadcasts in France and throughout the French-speaking world on terrestrial radio at 9pm Paris time (that's 3pm Sunday on the East Coast, 2pm in Chicago and noon on the West Coast) on radiofg.com.