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Austra
Song "The Beat and the Pulse"
Written by Katie Stelmanis
Performed by Austra |
Bio
"I don't think it's possible for me to write in a major key," says Katie Stelmanis, co-founder and lead singer of Toronto trio Austra. It's not like the longtime vocalist and producer makes satanic references or has an austere demeanor. Quite the opposite. But on Feel it Break Stelmanis, drummer Maya Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf have crafted a dark, danceable album suitable for both ritual incantations and clubs; an album hearkening back to the sleazier side of new wave but still deeply rooted in Stelmanis's classical and operatic upbringing.
This confluence of classical and electronic has always been at the heart of Stelmanis' career. At the age of 10, she joined the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus, where she sang regularly for the Canadian Opera Company. While simultaneously learning viola and piano, Stelmanis pursued a career in opera, studying privately for four years while making plans to pursue the genre further in college.
A week before school started, the singer made a decision that would affect her subsequent musical career. "I wanted to stay in Toronto and didn't want to live in Montreal," recalls Stelmanis. "So I decided to just not go to college, get a job, save up for five years and go on my first tour."
Spurred on by her production work for soundtracks for local plays, Stelmanis began immersing herself in electronic music. With new obsessions Björk, PJ Harvey and Nine Inch Nails weaving their influence, her goal was clear: "I wanted to make classical music with really fucked up, distorted, crazy shit on there."
In 2008, after playing with the band Galaxy for three years, Stelmanis appeared on Fucked Up's The Chemistry of Common Life and released her debut solo album Join Us. Inaccurately labeled as goth, the album – written and recorded entirely by Stelmanis – combined dark yet poppy synth melodies with the singer's operatic voice.
Stelmanis has remained fiercely independent, managing every creative, technical and business aspect of her career herself. For example, she has undertaken six self-organized tours in the past three years, including a self-booked tour of Europe.
With Austra and Feel It Break, she's created her most successful work to date. Written primarily by Stelmanis – "most of the songs are finished in my bedroom," she says – and mixed by Damian Taylor (Björk, The Prodigy, UNKLE), the album rests nicely between ethereal pop (like Kate Bush) and seedy early-'80s British new wave (like Soft Cell). On the first single "Beat and the Pulse," Austra have created the warmest cold track of the year, a pulsating, synth-driven attack laced by Stelmanis' gorgeous, towering vocals.
"For me, music should be a release," says Stelmanis, who makes music that works on both headphones and the dancefloor. "If I can emotionally stimulate the mind and the body through music, I'll feel like I've accomplished something significant."
Website
www.austramusic.com
www.myspace.com/austra
www.facebook.com/pages/Austra/124441027607242
Discography
Feel It Break (2011)
The Beat and the Pulse (single, 2010)
SOCAN Connection
"Faces to Watch," SOCAN Words + Music magazine, Sept. 2011
Katie Stelmanis, member since 2007
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