Katie Stelmanis: You Oughta Know

Posted on Sep 25th 2009 2:30PM by Nick Flanagan
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A couple of years ago, Katie Stelmanis' name was primarily known to her family, friends and acquaintances. Of course, there was also a modest collection of in-the-know folks familiar with her warm electronic music and classically-trained voice, as well as her work with youthful feminists Galaxy and indie choir Bruce Peninsula.

But since then, a collaboration on F---ed Up's Polaris-winning 'Chemistry of Common Life' album has raised her profile, as has a helping hand from the band's guitarist Mike "10,000 Marbles" Haliechuk, whose continual praise on their Looking for Gold blog have netted Stelmanis a single on Vice/Loog and an ongoing North American tour opening for CocoRosie.

"In general, I think the F---ed Up collab gave me more cred," Stelmanis tells Spinner. "[It] was extremely valuable. I worked with them at a really important time in their career and rode on their coattails for quite a while."

That said, the prospect of a helping hand was somewhat new to her. "I have been doing the same stuff from the day I started playing solo, just booking my own tours and emailing lots of people to introduce them to my stuff," she says. "I think that because I've traveled so much and met so many people I am starting to get better opportunities, which is nice. Things are definitely way more exciting then they were a year ago."

For his part, Haliechuk thinks the attention is very deserved. "[Katie] sounds so much better than anything else," he tells Spinner. "She isn't part of some cool scene, she is just a better singer than anyone else in a band right now. She can write better music than most other bands. Its just that simple. She's a musician where everyone else is just in a band."

In spite of a work ethic that kept her well-traveled and productive, recognition only poured in after she got strategic. "After I toured Canada for the first time, I decided that it was a rather pointless effort for me," she says. "The cities are too far away from each other, but more importantly, there is no community for the type of music that I make. I think people started paying attention when I started touring to far off places.

"For some reason, even if you play to 10 people in London, when you go there, or anywhere really, people think it's a big deal and start taking you more seriously. It's such a different experience booking shows in that city because you can play eight venues in a week and play to a completely different crowd in a different area of London every night. Also, it's so weird to have all the music bigwigs you dream about and read about coming to your shows, because that's where they all live. We got a review in NME playing a show to nine people at a crappy bar in Brixton."