Tinywiings is performing during Sled Island on Thursday, 10pm at Ship & Anchor & Friday, 11pm at #1 Legion (Upstairs).

Interview Audio:

Interview Transcript:

Willow (CJSW)
I’m Willow Pfluger with CJSW 90.9 FM. I’m here with Tinywiings at Sled Island 2026.

Tinywiings
Hello.

Willow (CJSW)
Do you want to start by introducing yourself?

Tinywiings
Yeah, sure. So, I’m Tinywiings. I am born and raised in Calgary. I’m a rapper, singer, songwriter. Yeah, that’s, that’s the main, main thing.

Willow (CJSW)
This is your first year performing at Sled Island.

Tinywiings
Yes, it is. I’m super excited.

Willow (CJSW)
What are you most excited about?

Tinywiings
I don’t know. I think just being a part of the whole festival, like I’ve attended it before, but I’ve never performed at it, so I’m super excited to be part of it this year.

Willow (CJSW)
Yeah, are there any artists you’re excited to see this year?

Tinywiings
I’m actually really excited for the artists that are after me tonight, Arlo Maverick, and K-Riz & the Family, and then Tea Fannie. I’m super excited to go see her, and then I only just picked up my artist pass, so I, I haven’t been able to go to anything else yet, but I’m excited to see what else is around that I can check out too.

Willow (CJSW)
Yeah. Okay, so I know you’ve collaborated with a bunch of artists like 86Love, Eazy Mac, and more. Who is your dream artist to collaborate with?

Tinywiings
Ooh, I think it changes a lot, but right now I’d probably say like Flo Milli. I really love Flo Milli. I’ve always loved Flo Milli, so she’s one of my faves, just stays consistently a fave, and also Snow Tha Product. I love her too.

Willow (CJSW)
Yeah. You’ve previously mentioned that you used to write poetry, which turned into you rapping and writing music. How did you transition from writing the poetry to actually performing?

Tinywiings
My oldest brother, his, he is/was a rapper, and his name is PiK, and he’s from Calgary as well, and he was the first one who kind of told me, you know, that rap is just like poetry to a beat, so he kind of showed me how to, how to put it together like that, and then yeah, just kind of went from there, just flowed.

Willow (CJSW)
Were you scared to perform your first time?

Tinywiings
Kind of, but I’ve always been like, I was more than I was nervous, but it was really like excitement too. So I just always try to tell myself whenever I feel anxious or nervous that it’s actually just excitement, and then I just get excited.

Willow (CJSW)
That’s such a great way to look at it.

Tinywiings
I know.

Willow (CJSW)
Do you still write poetry?

Tinywiings
I do, not as much, because I feel like Tinywiings is a lot more like clubby, upbeat, and whatnot, whereas my poetry was a bit darker, so it just kind of depends on my mood. But I just been really busy with the music and stuff, but I always like, I, I do have a poetry page, and I, I love poetry always, so.

Willow (CJSW)
What does the song writing process look like for you?

Tinywiings
Um, definitely finding a beat that I love first, that’s like the main thing, because if I don’t like the beat within the first like two seconds, and I’m like, no, next, because I just feel like people will say the same thing, it’s like the beat is what you hear first, and then yeah, I get my ideas from random things, a random rhyme, or sometimes a life experience, sometimes it’s just a turn-up song, but yeah, if I’m collabing with somebody, sometimes we write together, but a lot of times I’m just writing by myself in my room with my cat.

Willow (CJSW)
How do you want your music to make people feel when they listen?

Tinywiings
I want them to feel just like upbeat, empowered, confident. Am I allowed to swear? Okay, I was gonna say one of my favorite compliments somebody gave me was I listened to your song, and it turned me from a sad bitch to a bad bitch, and I was like, oh my god, that’s amazing, because people have told me, you know, it helps them get through a breakup or whatever. Yeah, I don’t know, and I feel like I’m quite versatile too, like I have other songs that are more serious or about like addiction and stuff like that, so it just depends what people hear first or what they’re in the mood for. I feel like there’s always a Tinywiing song that could fit your mood.

Willow (CJSW)
Yeah, you have a large…

Tinywiings
Catalog, I know.

Willow (CJSW)
That’s amazing, like there’s so many different things that people can discover.

Tinywiings
Mmhmm, yes.

Willow (CJSW)
Congratulations on signing your first major record deal, by the way.

Tinywiings
Thank you. Yes, I’m so excited.

Willow (CJSW)
How did it feel to sign it?

Tinywiings
Oh my god, I was so excited. Like, my manager called me, and he’s like, “You got signed to Sony Music!” Like, and I was with my family at the time. We were just driving back from Canmore, so they heard me like freaking out on the phone. And then when I finally got off the phone, they’re like, “What? And I was like, “Oh, I just got signed to Sony,” so everybody’s super happy for me, and I’m so excited. So, yeah, it’s amazing.

Willow (CJSW)
Oh my gosh, that’s so exciting! Yeah, what plans do you have for your music?

Tinywiings
So I have an EP that’ll be coming out really soon, and that’ll be the first thing that I’m releasing as a project through Sony. I don’t know exactly the date it’s coming out, but it’ll for sure be soon. And then I’m going to be going to New York to like Sony headquarters and meet everybody there and meet up with my manager and whatnot. But right now I’ve just been working on the music and putting it all together, putting the EP together and everything, and figuring out like the rollout and whatnot, so it’s been busy, but it’s been super fun.

Willow (CJSW)
Yeah, what advice would you give to other artists from Calgary?

Tinywiings
I think definitely just keep going, like there’s so much talent in Calgary. I know that the hip hop and rap scene isn’t as big as some of the other genres and stuff, but there’s definitely so many talented rappers and artists in general here, and I know it can feel like you’re stuck. I like, I definitely have felt that way, but just keep putting it out like it doesn’t happen overnight, but definitely, if you’re consistent and you want to learn, and you’re open to learning and performing whenever you can, then definitely you will go places.

Willow (CJSW)
Yeah, do you have any plans for shows other than Sled Island?

Tinywiings
Not right now. I just applied for, to perform at Pride, so I’m really hoping that I do that, because I did it last year and it was so much fun. So I just noticed yesterday that the artist applications were open to perform. I was like, “oh my god, I hope I can perform again,” but that’s it that I have lined up for right now. And then, yeah, we’ll see what the summer brings.

Willow (CJSW)
Where do you usually find inspiration from to like write your lyrics? Because I find that they’re so, they’re so witty, like, and so clever.

Tinywiings
Yeah, I don’t know, honestly, like, I think, because I’ve always loved poetry so much, I’m always thinking of rhymes, or just like I don’t even know how to explain what goes on in my brain, but it’ll be the most random things that give me inspiration. Sometimes it’s another song, or like an old song I rediscover. Sometimes it’s something on TV. Yeah, it really just comes to me randomly, unless I have like a specific idea, but I do try to be like clever or witty with the bars, because I just, I’ve always loved lyrics, and I don’t know, like I’ve always loved looking at people’s lyrics, like since I was little, I always would look them up and figure them out and memorize them, and I was like, oh my god, because a lot of people, they’re not actually listening to the words, like it’s just a, it’s a cool song, but then I love when you go back and you’re like, “wait, what did she say,” and then it’s like, “oh my god, that makes more sense,” so I love it when people actually like get the punch lines or the clever bars that I put in there.

Willow (CJSW)
Are there any artists that you kind of got inspired to start music from?

Tinywiings
Honestly, my brother, like, he was the main person who got me into it, like, I always loved, like, classic, like Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim, and stuff like that, but when I first started listening to them, I wasn’t like, “I want to be a rapper,” like it never really crossed my mind, even until my brother started doing all of his shows and performing and everything, that was like this kind of cool. So he’s definitely my biggest inspiration.

Willow (CJSW)
Does your brother still make mu?

Tinywiings
Well, he had kids, so that’s his priority, obviously. He does whenever he can, like we have a couple songs together called Runs in the Family, and then yeah, he does like some engineering stuff too, like he has a little studio that he rents out, I believe, and he records people there and whatnot, so whenever he can, he’s doing music stuff, and then he works at Global, so it’s like he’s doing the broadcasting kind of stuff there too, so kind of in the same genre, but yeah, he’s not like consistently releasing music anymore or anything, but he’s still, he’s so talented. Oh my god, like it’s crazy.

Willow (CJSW)
Well, the talent runs in the family.

Tinywiings
Yeah, I hope so. Oh my god.

Willow (CJSW)
You travel a lot from Calgary to Vancouver. I know you were in LA recently.

Tinywiings
Yes.

Willow (CJSW)
How has, how does that impact your music?

Tinywiings
Well, I feel like a lot of people think I’m from Vancouver, because I first kind of started doing shows and releasing music when I was out there. I released a couple songs while in Calgary, still, but then in 2020 I moved to Vancouver, so that’s when I just started doing, like, I really got into it, and yeah, I just, I do feel like Vancouver, it’s night life, it’s just it’s bigger, like there’s just more going on there, more acts coming and stuff, and it was a bit easier to collab with more like hip hop artists and stuff, there’s just more people, more artists. But yeah, I love Vancouver, I love the West Coast so much, LA was dope, that was, I mainly went down there, like my manager lives there, and we recorded at a studio there, and it was just inspiring, because it’s LA, it’s like, “oh my god, this is so cool.” And then I was in Philly for a while, I lived in Philly for a while, and that was super fun too, but yeah, I feel like I can write wherever and get inspiration wherever, but definitely when I moved to Vancouver, I feel like I had some songs that, like, were about the West Coast and stuff like that, so.

Willow (CJSW)
I think that is it for all the questions I have. Thank you so much for talking to me.

Tinywiings
Yes, of course. Yes, thank you so much for having me.