Rising pop songstress Alyson actually lives in Los Angeles. More specifically, the dance diva lives in the heart of Boystown, West Hollywood. “It’s pretty much the only place in L.A. that I hang out,” she notes. “When I go out, I’m usually at The Abbey.”

Alyson must like living with gay men because prior to her stint in WeHo, the native New Yorker lived in Boystown East, Chelsea. Gay men definitely love Alyson, helping to propel her first commercially released single, “What’re You Gonna Do,” to the top of the charts, peaking at #4 on Billboard’s Club Play list.

With her new single “Feel You” poised to make it to the top spot, and her album selling briskly online and flying off the shelves at Perfect Beat, IN Los Angeles caught up with the singer/songwriter/producer to find out what makes her wanna dance.

A glorious blonde with a towering mane of curls, Alyson is hard to miss as she strolls into the Virgin Megastore on Sunset for our interview. We thought it’d be fun to give her some cash—enough to buy three or four CDs—and let her loose in the store. You can tell a lot about a person by what music they listen to, and we secretly wanted to see what Alyson would pick.

A deliberate shopper, she meanders her way through the store before settling on the first pick, the soundtrack to Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, which features one of our favorite crooners, the hot, hot, hottie that is Robbie Williams. “I just saw the film,” says Alyson, “and I loved it. It’s just so inspirational. It says that it’s okay to be a bonehead at times,” she adds with a laugh.

After some hearty praise from our part, Alyson decides to pick up the new Gwen Stefani album, Love Angel Music Baby—the deluxe edition we might add. That shit is bananas!

With just one CD left, Alyson chooses to make a surefire pick, Deborah Cox’s new greatest hits compilation. “I adore Deborah Cox,” notes our diva in training. “Her voice is just flawless, and she always has the best remixes.” And Alyson definitely understands the importance of a good remix. Her new single, “Feel You,” features a whopping twelve different mixes by such well-regarded DJ/Producers as Ralphi Rosario and E-Smoove.

“So what do my purchases tell about me?” asks Alyson excitedly. At first, we didn’t want to reveal our analysis, but after a little cajoling from the very persuasive singer, we offer up our thoughts.

1. Her purchase of the Gwen Stefani CD shows that she likes to stay current and have her ear to the ground.

2. The Deborah Cox pick tells us that she genuinely has a deep love and appreciation of dance music.

3. And the most insightful selection was the Bridget Jones record, which truly reveals a little of Alyson’s personality, a talented bubbly blond with lots of ambition.

Nestled inside Buzz coffee on an unseasonably chilly Los Angeles afternoon, we sit down to get a little more in-depth about her life and her music.

Have you been performing around L.A. a lot?
Yes, I’ve performed at a bunch of places around town—Micky’s, Palms, “here” on Pride weekend.

Do you get recognized by people when you’re out?
People have come up to me to say they’ve seen me perform or dig my music or something, but I’m pretty incognito. I’m a fresh face on the L.A. music scene, so not that many people recognize me when I’m out.

Not yet, anyways! Is being a dance artist something that will make you happy, is that what you want to do for the rest of your life?
My music is definitely dance and club oriented, but there’s a lot of variety in what I do. My album has dance, but also R&B, soul, and pop, so it’s hard to fit me neatly into a box as any one kind of artist. And yes, I definitely want to be a singer, songwriter, and artist for the rest of my life.

Did you have training for being a musician when you were younger, like playing instruments or taking voice lessons?
I play a little piano. I took lessons as a kid, but I never stuck with them because it’s something my mom made me do, so of course I didn’t want to do it! [laughs] I’ve taken a few voice lessons, but really singing and dancing and writing songs are just things that I’ve always done on instinct without any formal studying.

Have there been any prior incarnations of Alyson before what you are doing today? Like, were you a folk singer or something?
No! [laughs] I definitely have certain styles of music that I like, and some that I’m not crazy about, and what I’m doing now as far as dance, R&B, soul, and pop…those are the styles I’ve always been into.

Who’s your favorite artist?
I love Deborah Cox and Madonna equally for different reasons. I love Deborah Cox’s voice and the emotion that she puts into every song. Her voice is perfect for dance mixes! And I love Madonna because she’s such a pioneer and a strong independent woman. I really admire her for that. And I’ve loved all of her albums.

Don’t even get us started with Madonna. We’re slightly obsessed! [both laugh] You’ve released your album on your own label, which we could imagine poses a unique set of challenges. Is being signed to a major label something you aspire towards?
I love running my own label and my goal is to grow my label, to sign other artists and be a contender on the label side of things. Right now, the best scenario for me would be to have my label distributed by one of the four major record companies in order to increase my exposure. But I would never want to sign away the ownership of my music. That’s the biggest mistake that an artist who writes their own music can make. That’s why artists like Prince got out of their record deals and struck out on their own.

How did you hook up with Ralphi Rosario?
My record promoter, Sergio Goncalves, thought it would be a great fit with Ralphi’s sound. So Sergio sent a copy of my single to Ralphi, Ralphi was into it, and he did a killer club mix and dub. Ralphi is amazing!

So you just shot a video for the new single, “Feel You?”
Yeah, it’s Ralphi’s Club mix. It was shot on the streets and in the clubs of West Hollywood, so some people might see themselves in the footage! The video was just licensed to the two companies that supply music videos to clubs and retail stores across the U.S., so you’ll see it clubs soon.

Wonderful! What else are you working on now?
I’m busy promoting “Feel You.” We’re shooting two more music videos over the next few weeks for different mixes off the single, and I’ll be doing some shows around the U.S., including here in L.A. I’m also working on remixes for my next single that will be released in early 2005, and I’m writing and recording songs for my second full-length album that will be released next summer.

For more information on Alyson, visit http://www.alysongrooves.com/.