Interview: Ultra Naté

By Tyler Schmith | December 20th, 2011

Look up "Dance Music Divas" and you will undoubtedly come across the name Ultra Naté.  The Baltimore native has been a powerhouse in the EDM genre for over twenty years, releasing five albums between 1991 and 2007 and an impressive catalogue of singles, 7 of which have hit the number one spot on the U.S. Dance Charts.  Now she’s working on her sixth album, the second single of which was released last week as a collaboration with Michelle Williams (formerly of Destiny’s Child).  The single, “Waiting on You” is a big-room dance floor stormer; a duet between two commanding female voices that just begs to be played during the peak-hour.  “We were brainstorming on who to bring in on it” Ultra says.  “Our managers are good friends and thought it would be great to get us together.  We thought it would be a good girly song so we sent it over, she liked it, and the rest is history”.

Her previous single "Turn it Up" (released earlier this year) topped the charts at number 4 and “Waiting On You” seems primed to perform even better.  Both are from her forthcoming album “Hero Worship”.  I asked Ultra when we could expect the full album to be released, but she was hesitant to give a firm date.  “I hate giving a projection.  If something happens or things go weird, the die-hard fans say YOU SAID IT WAS GONNA BE OUT THIS SUMMER!”  As Ultra concedes, a lot of things happen behind the scenes in an album release.  There are plenty of unexpected twists and turns that can delay things.  “Early 2012, between this Winter and Spring” was as specific as she would get.  “I’m keeping my fingers crossed”.  Ultra did confirm however that the next single “Save Me”, a collaboration with prolific house music producer Robbie Rivera, is already in the cue for a February release.

Over her lengthy career, Ultra has had the chance to experiment with a lot of different styles.  From Deep House to R&B to Drum and Bass, she’s done it all, but she says this album definitely takes it straight to big room hands-in-the-air pop dance territory.  Contributions come from some of the genre’s biggest names including Todd Terry, David Morales and the previously mentioned Robbie Rivera.  Of course, the underground is still strongly represented as well.  “The track with Morales leans more towards the traditional house sound.  He goes between the underground and commercial worlds really easily.”  Indeed the album is anything but one-note.  “The track after the ‘Save Me’ single is ‘Radio’.  It’s one of my faves and has more of an Electro feel, and is really kind of in a different place.  When I’m putting albums together its more about the feel and the story of the whole record.”

Besides putting in work on her latest albums and singles, Ultra also manages to organize, promote, and DJ at one of the mid-Atlantic’s best and longest-running house music events.  Her Sugar events in Baltimore were my first introduction to what soulful house was all about.  As a young and music-hungry DJ from New Mexico in the early 2000s, Sugar opened my eyes to a side of dance music that I had never really understood.  Sure I had listened to the soulful releases coming out from labels like Kingstreet and MAW, but the experience of seeing performances from names like Louie Vega, Barbara Tucker, Quentin Harris and Byron Stingily made an indelible mark on everything musical I’ve done since.  Sugar (now re-dubbed Deep Sugar) currently holds residency at the Paradox Nightclub, a legendary east coast venue, and continues to host some of the biggest names in House Music.

Among the many events that Deep Sugar throws throughout the year, the January marathon party generates a palpable excitement within the city’s house music community.  Doors open at 11:00PM and don’t close until 9:00AM the next morning.  This year’s marathon set on January 15th will feature acclaimed Miami duo MURK.  Made up of Ralph Falcón and Oscar Gaetan, MURK (also known as Funky Green Dogs) has a vast catalog of music stretching back to the early 1990’s, including 7 consecutive number one singles between 2002 and 2004.  They will be celebrating 20 years of making music in 2012, and Deep Sugar will be the launch pad for their upcoming world tour.  Ultra says she puts a lot of thought into who to book for these marathon parties.  “I was looking for a package.  A story or a DJ team or a concept for a party that would make sense for a marathon situation.  [MURK are] a house music staple.  With Liberty City and Funky Green Dogs, I don’t know if people are aware of what they have done.  They are one of the few that you can say perfected dance music globally.  I think people will really enjoy them.”

With Deep Sugar going strong and an emergence of other house music events featuring top-billed talent, it seems that the underground Baltimore dance scene may be enjoying an upswing.  I asked Ultra if she thought that might be true.  “I hope so.  A lot more kids are starting to dance to cool music again.  I’m not slagging anyone off, all music is relevant in some way, shape or form.  The problem is when people close their minds to varying styles.  With Baltimore it starts to become a difficult place to grow because it’s still so segregated, but people are starting to break through and not be so encumbered by difference.  It’s not like NYC were you grow up with different kinds of people.  If you wanted to, in Baltimore you could just stay in your lane and only be in an environment with like-kind of individuals, and then the creative energy gets lost and things get stagnant.  The new generation is starting to mix and mingle.  Hip Hop is now dance music, everyone out there is doing dance beats and Electro beats, and it’s trickling down to the kids who are getting out of the box of thinking that they can only be into Hip-Hop or only be into House.  Once people get past that, that’s when things really start to pop.  I’ve always tried to foster that at Sugar.  We have always catered to black, white, gay, straight, old and young... everyone in a unifying experience.  It’s what it should be about, that spiritual feeling and that emotion.”

Upswing or not, one thing seems certain.  Ultra Naté does not appear to be stopping anytime soon.  We’re excited to see what 2012 brings from this talent as her sphere of influence continues to grow.  Besides booking accomplished artists, Deep Sugar has also served to nurture many of Baltimore’s best up and coming DJs.  Ultra has helped to turn a lot of people on to that “spiritual feeling”, and there’s no doubt it will continue to be passed along far into the future.