Fawkes and Friends: Kiri Oliver (Early Riser)

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Fawkes and Friends

31 episodes

6 days ago

Folk punk griot Black Guy Fawkes (and his trusty 2520 sidekick Ed) talk to a variety of musicians and other creative types about their creative process, their work, the social justice issues that affect them and their communities, and often hit them a few silly quickfire questions at the end.

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Fawkes and Friends: Kiri Oliver (Early Riser)

Fawkes and Friends

57 minutes 9 seconds

9 months ago

Fawkes and Friends: Kiri Oliver (Early Riser)

The first episode of Fawkes and Friends in 2025 is the preliminary gathering of the Matt Flood of Asbestos Records Appreciation Society, as labelmate Kiri Oliver of the band Early Riser joins Black Guy Fawkes and his pal to talk about a shared love of the album format, the brilliance of Mikey Erg and his unwavering commitment to playing in almost every band at Fest is Gainesville, what Early Riser’s fantastic song “Strays” was written about and how other people can see their own unique situations in it, falling in love with music at a young age before the question of “cool or uncool” comes into play, and so much more.

Cover photo courtesy of Marc Gaertner

Early Riser is a cello-driven pop-punk band from Brooklyn, NY. They originally formed as an acoustic duo of Kiri Oliver (vocals/guitar) and Heidi Vanderlee (cello/vocals), who released their debut album Currents in 2017. They found their permanent lineup and evolved their sound with the addition of rhythm section Nicole Nussbaum (bass/vocals) and Mikey Erg (drums/vocals), resulting in 2021’s Vocations. Inspired by the songwriting of The Mountain Goats, Against Me!, AJJ, and The Front Bottoms, Kiri writes clever, relatable lyrics about mental health, social relationships, and figuring out what’s important to you. She has a knack for capturing life’s challenges with a sense of humor and a focus on positivity and growth. Her words are elevated by the band’s soaring cello riffs, driving rhythms, and tight vocal harmonies. Early Riser’s third album, Big Life (Asbestos Records, 2024) was helmed by legendary indie rock producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady, Waxahatchee) and packs their biggest punch yet with a set of fun and fierce sing-along anthems that explore themes of isolation and connection.

They have also had the honor of covering songs about cats for the official tributes to two of their favorite artists, The Weakerthans and Jack Terricloth. For more Early Riser, check out their web site at https://www.earlyrisermusic.com/

For more Black Guy Fawkes, check out Music | Black Guy Fawkes (bandcamp.com)or https://asbestosrecords.bigcartel.com/. He’s also on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, etc as Black Guy Fawkes–spelling is extremely important here and, not surprisingly, he’s on music streaming services as well: Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon. You can probably find Ed drinking in a karaoke bar or in the crowd at a punk show. The show also now has a playlist of music from guests that have appeared, and guests who will be appearing, and you can check that out on Spotify as well: Fawkes & Friends: The Playlist - playlist by Ian Robinson | Spotify