CMW 2008: Katie Stelmanis
Wednesday March 05, 2008 @ 11:30 AM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Katie Stelmanis

KATIE STELMANIS Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Official Website: http://www.stelmanis.com

Toronto singer/songwriter Katie Stelmanis has just released her debut album, Join Us, on Blocks Recording Club. Although she was previously a member of riot grrl squad Galaxy, Stelmanis is new to playing the live circuit as a solo act. Her latest material sounds nothing like Galaxy, and critics have described it as a cross between Depeche Mode and Kate Bush. ChartAttack caught up with Stelmanis to ask her a few quick questions.

So, you're about to play the big industry event that is Canadian Music Week. What's the most shameless thing you've ever done to promote yourself?
Katie Stelmanis: The most shameless thing, I guess, was probably with my old band when we were first printed in the newspaper, and then we went running down the streets with it, and then we ran into some guy who was like, "I work for EMI." We gave him all our contact information and stuff like that. Then he came into my restaurant like two years later and was like, "I remember you. Good going on that move," or something like that.

What's the hardest part about being an up-and-coming artist?
I think the hardest part is knowing what to do, basically, and just like, knowing what shows to accept and what shows to not accept and just, like, how to promote yourself and I don't know… just everything. Just knowing how to do things and get by. I find I'm really clueless about a lot of things, but you have to be on your toes all the time, I guess.

How important is it for you to circulate and flirt with the audience before or after the show?
Well, I mean, I guess I've never really been in too many environments where I had to do that. I've mostly just been playing shows for my friends and stuff like that. So I guess just recently I've tried to make an effort to talk to people and introduce myself to people and stuff like that. Generally, I find that I'm not very good at that, but I'm making an effort to be better at it, I guess.

Have you ever stolen from someone else's rider? If so, who was it and what did you take?
Yeah, I've definitely stolen from other peoples' riders. Pretty much like every time there's a rider, I'll steal from someone else's rider. It depends. I remember one time, my band — my old band — played for some Zipcar fundraiser at The Phoenix. We played with God Made Me Funky and we stole all their alcohol 'cause they got way more than we did, and just, like… pretty much just alcohol, I guess.

Have you ever been graded before according to ChartAttack.com's Rock 'n' Roll Report Cards?
No, I don't know what that is.

Does the idea of being graded bring back bad memories of being in elementary school or high school?
The idea of being graded brings back memories of being graded in all the classical competitions I did when I was a kid, for piano and singing, et cetera, and basically, I'm cool with it as long as I get a good grade. But I'm a pretty sore loser — and competitive! Which I suppose can be a good thing and a bad thing. I guess I'd like to be graded.

Have you done anything new or interesting this week?
I went to the cottage and I went cross-country skiing. I haven't done that since I was, like, 10. That was fun.

Katie Stelmanis plays the Horseshoe Tavern on Thursday, March 6 at 10:10 p.m. as part of the annual Chart/Horseshoe/Canadian Music Week showcase.

— Kate Harper