Operatic For The People

Those Canadians sure are a peace-loving people. A case in point is how fruitless my endeavours to coax Katie Stelmanis, the force behind Ontario electronic outfit Austra, into an all-out war with her countrymen Arcade Fire are. Austra’s debut, the one-woman bedroom recording Feel It Break, was widely hailed, with Stelmanis’ operatic vocal style drawing comparisons to Florence and Zola Jesus. Still, The Suburbs beat it to the 2011 Polaris Music Prize (think Canada’s Choice). She’s often talked about feeling isolated as an electronic artist in Canada, and Arcade Fire seemed to spearhead that ‘real instrument’ movement. Given that they both have albums arriving this year... is it not time for revenge?

She giggles all the way from Toronto.
“No, I don’t think so! To be honest, I think Arcade Fire are on a totally different level. And I think more so than spearheading the real instrument thing, they acted like they represented the sound that is Canada. I’d say 10 years ago, every single band here wanted to sound like Arcade Fire. There’s starting to be a little more recognition for electronic music in Canada but still the guitar bands absolutely, undoubtedly, reign supreme. There’s no question.”
When you talk to Stelmanis, everything seems to be a gradual process, a slow move from outsider status to centre stage. As you might gather when you hear her incredible voice, she was classically-trained from a young age. It wasn’t a case of ambitious parents pushing her, however. Quite the opposite. While her mother and father were listening to Kate Bush and the like, this kid would be shushing them so she could complete her four hours daily training. It was her first act of rebellion, but it seems like she was going in the opposite direction to most bolshy teenagers.
“Pretty much! My parents liked to rebel against the system. My dad grew up in a strict Italian Catholic home and became a Hare Krishna when he was 20-years-old. They were both a little bit hippy, leftist. So yeah, I went into a regimented classical music schedule! They didn’t really understand it.”
A career in opera wasn’t for her, however. In another act of distinction, she decided to opt out, start writing her own material on the computer and perform live in small clubs and coffee shops over CD backing tracks. Around this time, she was also coming out. Considering her parents’ “leftist” leanings, revealing she was gay was probably easier than mentioning she wasn’t going the third-level route.
“The fact that I didn’t go to university drove my parents insane, particularly my mother. It was a major struggle for a really long time. Now they’re okay with it. Not 100% but they’re feeling better about it!”
It must make it easier when they see that her chosen path is proving to be a successful one. Since Feel It Break, it’s been an exercise in expansion, both in fanbase and Austra itself. After two years of touring with a six-piece band, second album Olympia is a group effort. Is she someone who found it hard to surrender total control?
“I used to be one of those people, but I’m definitely not anymore! I’m bouncing ideas off my band members and certain songs become something that I never would have made them become.”
Despite being open about her queer identity, and content for Austra to be held up as a fine example of a “gay band”, Stelmanis has always maintained that her social and political views are separate from her music. What did she make of fellow Canadian Grimes recently denouncing the music industry as sexist, stating that she didn’t want to compromise her morals in order to make a living?
“I think that it was well said. There is sexism in the music industry. I experience it in a different way because I’m obviously different to Grimes. It sounds like she’s dealing with a lot of people physically accosting her. But without a doubt, it’s difficult being a woman in music, there’s hurdles that men don’t have to go through.”
Which seems an insane situation in 2013.
“It really is,” she nods. “Though within the last couple of years I feel that feminism has become cool again. Ten years ago, a lot of women would not say they were feminists. I don’t consider myself to be a ‘political activist’ but I’m comfortable talking about queer politics and feminism. Mostly because I’m of the opinion that visibility is the most important thing for yielding change. If I talk about myself then I suppose that’s my role in that.”