By Will Yannacoulias
Photos By Twenty2 Soul Photography
Saskatoon’s GreenWing released their debut single “Social Cues” June 29. GreenWing’s debut has been much anticipated, as members Zakk Strelioff, Travis Williams and Matt Stinn have worked with a number of musicians in Saskatoon over the years, separated by six degrees or less from everyone in the scene. “Social Cues” delivers perfectly the memorable melodies and heavy indie-rock energy of GreenWing’s live sets, released just in time for those summer playlists. Matt Stinn spoke with NSMZ about the band’s first release and momentum moving forward.
Though longtime friends, GreenWing as a project came together in 2021, and “Social Cues” dates back to the very early days of the band. “It was one of the first songs I showed to the fellas when we first started playing together” Stinn told NSMZ. “This song became pretty integral in laying the tonal palette that GreenWIng would start to write other songs within. Lyrically, the song talks about how I went through a bit of an awkward misread of a friendship that turned out to be pretty off base. With a little time, space, and music, this is obviously much funnier - so why not write a song about it?”
GreenWing’s recording process is DIY with a twist; Stinn is a professional audio engineer, who owns and operates Rainy Day Recording Co. In Saskatoon. Stinn shared that “we wanted to be as hands on with this as possible and to approach the record at our own pace, so 'Social Cues', and the rest of our upcoming album, was recorded and mixed by myself at Rainy Day with production and assistance from Zakk and Travis. Once mixes were completed, we enlisted Trevor Case (Case Mastering) to help us put the final touches on things.”
Canadian tour date announcements for GreenWing are coming soon, as well as a second summer single before the streaming & physical release of their debut album. Until then, “Social Cues” is available on all streaming platforms.