Austra frontwoman Katie Stelmanis, with her dog Solomon. (Alex Urosevic, QMI Agency)

The first thing you notice about Toronto band Austra, other than their synth-driven dance-pop sound, is the siren-like, trembling vocals of frontwoman Katie Stelmanis.

It compares to those of other singular female vocalists who have come before her like Florence Welch (Florence and The Machine) or Bjork.

Turns out she had great training.

Stelmanis joined the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus at the age of 10, where she sang regularly for the Canadian Opera Company.

Later, while learning both viola and piano, she studied opera privately for four years before balking at studying at the university level in Montreal.

“I was a pretty diligent classical student up until the age of maybe 20,” said Stelmanis, 27, at her local coffee shop the night after Austra’s 2011 debut, Feel It Break, lost the Polaris Music Prize to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs.

“I think it definitely helped a lot. I learned how to sing at a pretty young age. So it’s like riding a bike. I know the basic techniques. I know how to breathe. I know different mouth shapes to make to produce different sounds. I think I’ve kind of approached what we’re doing in the indie pop world with the same diligence that I did studying classical music. I think my whole band is like that.

So it’s just like a level of commitment. Well, I guess it’s like the epitome of DIY (Do It Yourself) to be honest.”

Austra, rounded out by drummer-programmer Maya Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf (formerly of Spiral Beach), was formed after Stelmanis played with the band Galaxy (also featuring Postepski) for three years, appeared on F--ed Up’s The Chemistry of Common Life and then released her solo debut, Join Us, in 2008.

The band gets its name — which means Goddess of Light — from her middle name which comes from her Latvian grandfather on her mother’s side.

“We originally chose the name Private Life and then I found out there’s a band in 1981 that released one record called Private Life on Universal so we couldn’t use that name so it’s so stupid,” said Stelmanis. “So we were just down to the wire and pretty much people around me, like my friends, like other musicians were like, ‘Just call it Austra, like it’s so cool. It looks so good written.’ I hated it. But I was like, ‘All right, fine.’ Now I like it though.”

Austra, who kick off the Canadian leg of their latest North American tour in Vancouver on Wednesday night (Nov. 16) before arriving for a hometown show at Toronto’s Phoenix on Dec. 1, have been real road warriors since Feel It Break came out in May.

They’ve performed tours in Europe — where it’s doing particularly well in Germany, Austria, France and Italy — and the U.S. twice.

“Mainland Europe has kind of been the biggest market for us so far,”

said Stelmanis. “Europe is definitely more open to the type of music we make, like big, dramatic, female voices, dance music. Compared to a lot of other countries, they’re very open to non-local acts. I find the U.K. very hard to penetrate. It’s very U.K.-centric, like they really support and love their own artists, and if you’re not from the U.K., it’s kind of hard to break into that.”

Recently called Lady Gaga by someone on the street while in Europe, Stelmanis — who’ll admit she likes Beyonce — said she was an early fan of the Mother Monster but not anymore.

“She’s OK. I think I liked her a little bit more when she first started. I find her a little bit boring now. I guess my main problem with her is that I’m not really a fan of her music so I find the rest of it not entirely believable because of that.

“I do think it’s good. I love her presence in pop culture. I love what she’s doing. She pushes boundaries. I’m just not particularly interested. But I think it’s good she exists. I think that it’s a good time for women in music for sure.”

AUSTRA AIMS FOR PERFECT '10'

Toronto band Austra, who begin the Canadian leg of their latest North American tour on Wednesday (Nov. 16) in Vancouver, is gunning for a live show that is a “10”.

“We have a little game where we have levels of one to 10, trying to get the next level,” Austra frontwoman Katie Stelmanis told QMI Agency recently.

“Like every time we play a show, ‘Tonight’s going to be Level 5.’ So far our max level is like Level 5 or 6. And one day we’re going to be Level 10.’

“It’s just about getting into it and singing and dancing and everything. Just making it a spectacle. Outfits are a big deal to us, definitely. We try and work it in an unconventional way. I think it’s important. It’s what people are looking at. People need to be visually stimulated by something. We don’t wear basic fashions or regular things because we like to look king of freaky. We like to freak people out a little bit. One of my backup singers will often draw on a unibrow. We have sparkles all over faces.”

Stelmanis says this will be the first proper Canadian trek for Austra and she can’t wait.

“I am excited. We haven’t really toured Canada,” she said. “We put a lot of effort, and a lot of love into our live show. We take a lot of inspiration from a lot of different places. Like in general, even though we’re like a dark band, I really want the live show to be fun.

I want people to get into it. And ideally I want people to dance and to move and everything. If we have an audience dancing all night that’s the most successful show for us.”

Austra Canadian tour dates:

Nov. 16 — Vancouver — Electric Owl

Nov. 17 — Kamloops — Cactus Jacks

Nov. 18 — Edmonton — The Brixx Bar & Grill

Nov. 19 — Calgary — HiFi Club

Nov. 20 — Lethbridge, Alta. — Tongue N Groove

Nov. 22 — Saskatoon — Amigos Cantina

Nov. 23 — Regina — The Exchange

Nov. 24 — Winnipeg — West End Cultural Centre

Dec. 1 — Toronto — The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Dec. 2 — Montreal — Cabaret du Mile End

Dec. 3 — Ottawa — Ritual Night Club