Saskatoon’s Friends of Foes

Check them out at the Exchange next month
by morgan carter

…back in the Queen City

It’s still early, but Friends of Foes has already kicked 2016 off with a bang.

The four-piece Saskatoon outfit just released Faults with an accompanying video — the first single from their upcoming six-song EP of the same title, which is to be made available Feb. 12.

On Feb. 20, they’ll cap off their first tour of 2016 — an eight-stop string of shows across Western Canada — with a final stop at The Exchange in Regina.

The band, which was founded in 2013, has already played about half a dozen shows in the Queen City, where band mates Matt Stinn and Keegan Stretch agree they’ve connected well with local audiences.

Across much of Canada, that seems to be the case for the band, which has performed from Vancouver to Montreal.

“Going West for us has always been really comfortable, because we’ve played quite a few shows in those markets before, in places like Edmonton, Calgary and Regina, where we’re developing fan bases. Going there feels like a second home, and it’s very comforting,” Stinn says.

“In November, we went out to Montreal and back, and those were all markets we hadn’t played before. They were smaller shows. But, at the same time, it was very exciting to visit these new markets and play for new audiences. Different cities definitely embrace differently but, overall, I’d say it’s been positive.”

Friends of Foes, Stinn says, has been received well in Regina. They’ll be looking to continue that trend in February, when they’ll be sharing the stage with local favourites Coldest Night of the Year, Dagan Harding, and Laska — three acts they’re quick to laud.

“It feels like the perfect show to end the tour on,” Stinn says.

“We’re friends with everyone we’re playing with, and it’s in a city where we’ve got a ton of friends — Regina is our second home.”

The audience at The Exchange will get an added bonus when they take the stage. The final show of a tour, the two bandmates agree, isn’t “business as usual.”

“Very different,” Stinn says. “For me, the last show of a tour always feels bittersweet. Yes, it’s done. But then you’re like, ‘Crap, I’ve gotta go back to my day job now.’ At the same time, coming off a tour, having a band play together every single night for, you know, ten days or two weeks — whatever it may be — after a tour, you’re always better.”

“On our last tour … we played our last show in Thunder Bay and we were so tight,” Stretch adds. “It’s amazing what being together to play every night does.”

Friends of Foes played sixty shows nationwide in 2015 — a campaign they view as a building year. They have even higher hopes for the next twelves months.

“We’re always going to be pushing to grow and to tour more and more and make more fans,” Stretch says. “We have to work on being more consistent in playing in each area so people don’t forget about us, right?”