ANY TRUE HOUSE FAN knows that there have been a few DVDs floating around as of late that chronicle the early days of House music in Chicago. Well, get ready for one more.

About three years in the making, the Chicago LP and DVD project is slated for official release this summer. Born of the desire to foster warmer communications in the Chicago House community, the project features many heavyweights from the early days, such as Farley and Marshall Jefferson. "We wanted to kill the stigma about people in Chicago not getting along and put together a timeless Chicago album and DVD," says DJ Skip, who collaborated with Steve "Silk" Hurley to make this project happen.

But what really sets this one apart from the other DVDs currently in rotation?

Says Silk and Skip: "We felt that a lot of guys' stories weren't being told the way they wanted to tell it. I think our project is like a House Music reality show. The DJs and producers are getting the opportunity to go to their neighborhoods and give glimpses of their lives, back into their pasts, back to the grassroots of how they started. That's important because a lot of our fans and House music enthusiasts know who we are but don't know who we were before the success."

5 Magazine wanted to take a moment to chat about what was crucial to the completion of the Chicago LP and DVD.

Tell us how this project started?

DJ SKIP: Steve and I knew each other and had similar interests in electronic dance music but never collaborated professionally. We were just buddies playing basketball. We started talking about House Music, how Chicago producers and DJs had never come together to work on one project. The Chicago LP/DVD project started in the summer of 2004, so that tells you how much time and effort went into creating this project.

STEVE "SILK" HURLEY: It actually started with twelve guys initially; we wanted to pull together some guys who had achieved a lot on their own but never together. When we started working on the project, we saw that more and more people wanted to get involved. It started snowballing into something bigger and better. People were giving us their best work, and it really was turning into something great. The video portion of it got more and more detailed, because we decided we didn't want to just do a documentary - we wanted to get up close and personal and find out how these guys got to do what they love for a living.

DJ SKIP: This project is like the first dance music reality show. As far as hours go, wow! 24/7 for three years straight seems to be about it, but Steve and I had one thing in mind: creating a classic project that everyone could be proud of, such as the talented producers on the album and the city of Chicago.

STEVE "SILK" HURLEY: We not only did A&R for the album, we produced tracks ourselves. I had to head up the legal department and Skip spent more time dealing with the artists. We ended up with 34 records. Normally, from our labels we put out a release every few months - quality instead of quantity. But we had 34 quality records to showcase to the world so the timing is everything because you only get one chance to make a first impression.

You and Steve have successful music careers, and there have been a few DVDs out there (UnUsual Suspects, Maestro, etc) covering different aspects of the early days of House. Why did you decide to do this?

SILK + SKIP: We wanted to give people a real outlook on the artists. None of the DVD was scripted; the music is all original and unreleased. It's these guys expressing themselves to the fullest. We have a great deal of respect for the documentaries that are out because each one carries its own form of originality and helps promote the culture. However, we wanted to do something a little different and out of the ordinary for our genre and bring the fans closer to us as people, not just entertainers.