Theatrical costumes, genre-melding sounds and a galvanizing lead singer are what crowds have come to expect while at a Foon Yap and the Roar show. The self-described vampire-sex-metal-disco act is fronted by Woodpigeon violinist Foon Yap, and backed by Dean Martin, Garrett McClure and Mike Gratton. Their self-titled full-length release showcases Yap’s nearly operatic vocals in full range: belting out melodies, screaming and softly murmuring — sometimes all on the same track.

While the effort on this album may seem unfocused, Yap insists she was determined not to be bound by conventional musical genres. Refusing to typecast their audience, the album plays like a post-modern party mixer, offering up punk-inspired anthems and drums, but then breaking out into catchy surf-rock guitar staccatos that could easily be found on a pop record. The experimental instrumentation throughout the album keeps things strange enough to make the whole experience difficult to classify. Chalk one up in the win column for Yap.

She says she composes a song like most people would put together an outfit. Drawing on a diverse musical reserve for inspiration, Yap writes songs by trying out sounds until she develops a “wardrobe” that eventually becomes an eclectic but cohesive song. Although complex and varied, the trappings of this album don’t distract from the obvious talent required to compose and perform the wildly ranging songs found on it.

Fast Forward Weekly: There seems to always be an element of theatre in your performances. What was your last show like?

Foon Yap: The last show that we played, we kind of pulled out all the stops. We had backup singers and dancers. The costume I wore was a black mesh dress that covered my face. After the second song, I took off the hood so the crowd could see the mask I was wearing that was covered with gold jewelry. The whole costume was made by my friend. The concept was similar to a knight’s mask to cover my face. I had these high waisted shorts covered in gold. I told my friend I wanted it to look like a female warrior-knight type costume. It was all gold under black mesh. I took off a piece of the costume for every song to slowly reveal an identity.

Why do you engage your audience this way?

My hope is that they’re experiencing something. The aesthetics are really important to me. It’s really important to me that music looks like something. I think when you have the guts to do something crazy and out there, to an audience member it’s like “Okay, she’s going for it, then I’m going for it.” It’s so fun to see. Sometimes I think that people are afraid to fully experience music. I think a lot of people want to dance and yell while watching live music, but they can’t because not even the band is willing to do that and go for it. There’s a super brash, sexual, aggressive, humorous side of me that comes out. It’s a character. But everything is for fun. I don’t take myself seriously at all. I’m pouring blood all over my face and yelling at people. It’s like make believe when you’re a child and you pretend to be something else.

How do you make the leap to get “into character” for a show?

Oh God. I’m terrified. At this point, what I’ve learned is that if something scares me, it usually means I should do it. So I don’t even think about what will happen or how it’ll be received, so I just go for it. What I try to tell myself is that even if people hate it, it doesn’t matter, as long as I’m having fun that’s what it comes down to.

Why is your solo act so different from Foon Yap and the Roar?

My solo project is when I’m taking myself seriously. I’m playing music that is really heartfelt and tender and sensitive. Whereas Foon Yap and the Roar is like a giant bouncy castle filled with blood and whoever wants to join me in glitter.

I heard you learned to sing from YouTube. Is that true?

I watch a lot of YouTube because I don’t have a television. I think the first thing I learned off of YouTube was how to put on makeup. Right now I’m learning Muay Thai from YouTube. There’s a lot of voice lessons on there. I first found them about two years ago and started to practise. The Internet is amazing.