Black Guy Fawkes is a Folk Singer-Songwriter born and raised in Baltimore, MD. He currently resides in Cumberland MD. Growing up in the DIY music scene, he is now taking his music on the road for all to experience. Drawing influence from artists such as Against Me!, Frank Turner, Green Day and Bob Dylan, Black Guy Fawkes creates a sound that is heartfelt folk yet energetic and punk driven.
After seeing that he is a fan of Frank Turner (who we interviewed recently regarding his forthcoming album), we thought it would be good to find out a little more about the person behind Black Guy Fawkes, here’s how we got on….
You’re called Black Guy Fawkes, firstly, please introduce yourself where are you from and what do you do?
My name is Ian Robinson. I play guitar and sing under the pseudonym Black Guy Fawkes.
Do you also play with a band or are you strictly a solo artist?
It’s a mixture of both. I do have a backing band called the Co-Conspirators who are like brothers to me. There’s Corey Mackereth who plays lead guitar and Zach Dodge who plays bass. Corey’s been around since the very beginnings. Zach joined in February of 2020… right before the world went awry.
Black Guy Fawkes is a great name, explain how it came about?
Haha. So back in 2014 (or 15) my college friend Jeremy Kaler and I were sitting in his office, talking about Black Anarchists. I thought it would be funny if there was an anarchist named “Black Guy Fawkes” and instead of the Guy Fawkes face on the mask, it was Spike Lee’s. He told me that should be my musical pseudonym and I should write protest songs. I was iffy in doing that, but his words to me were “do it. Have fun. See where it takes you” and since then…. I’ve been Black Guy Fawkes.
Have you ever plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London?
I shouldn’t be answering this question without my lawyer present.
I hate to pigeonhole musicans but I wanted to ask about the style of music you play, you refer to it is ‘Appalachian Folk Punk’ - please tell me what this is and maybe suggest some other acts that might fall into this genre.
So I live in Western Maryland in the United States. My town is called Cumberland and it’s about 2 hours outside of Baltimore. It’s an Appalachian region filled with bluegrass and the sense of community is strong.
While I’m not a huge bluegrass fan, it still influenced my playing to an extent and how I write music. There’s a song on my first record, ‘Trying Times’, called “The Ghost of Stacey Warner”, that was HEAVILY influenced by Bluegrass playing.
For the folk punk aspect, I’m lucky enough to be in a scene with acts like Apes of the State, MJ Bones, Matt Pless, A Day Without Love, Local News Legend, Taillight Rebellion and many of others.
Please describe yourself using just 3 words....
Resilient, Fun-loving, passionate
‘Fawkes and Friends’ is a podcast that you host with your good friend Ed Cunard, how did this come about?
Ed and I met in March of 2023. He told me that he had a karaoke podcast for a bit which I was amazed by. We became friends after that and went to a few shows together, including Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings. I always had the idea of starting a podcast for a while but never knew how to execute it. I brought the idea to him and we just ran with it. It’s been a lot of fun. There are many musicians I admire and I’m glad to have the time to talk about the things that make them unique.
I saw that you recently chatted to the legend that is Frank Turner about Lost Evenings and his forthcoming record ‘Undefeated’ (due for release on May 3rd) - how did it go?
It went incredibly well! I played 2023’s Lost Evenings, and that was my first time actually MEETING him. That said, we didn’t really get to speak that much since he’s running around doing 5,000 different things. So having him on the podcast was a lot of fun just being able to actually sit down and talk. Such a good dude.
You cite Frank as an influence, were you star struck when you spoke with him?
Hahahahaha. Yes. At Lost Evenings, I was walking down a long hallway to the green room and he’s literally walking my direction, he smiled and held his arms open for a hug and in my mind I went “OH GOD IT’S HAPPENING!”
What is it about Frank’s music that resonates with you?
When I was 19, I was falling out of love with music and didn’t know if I wanted to play anymore. I grew up a pop punk kid and I felt out of touch with what those early 2010 bands were singing about. A friend of mine gave me a copy of his second record ‘Love, Ire & Song’. Instantly, I was hooked and it just showed me that you can still be punk on an acoustic guitar. I went to my first Frank show in 2012 and that’s when I knew I wanted to exactly THAT.
Through Frank, I discovered a world of artists I would’ve have found out about. So Frank embodies everything I want to be as an artist. His writing is extremely vulnerable and honest. It pushed me to be more honest with myself and to live life to the fullest. Enjoy the journey. And he knows how to bring people together both as artists and as fans. He builds such a good sense of community and is constantly uplifting others.
There wouldn’t be a Black Guy Fawkes if it wasn’t for him and I’m truly honored to know that he digs what I do.
Looking at Spotify, you have material dating back to 2018, would you say that the subject matter of your music has remained constant throughout or has it changed? If so, how?
I feel like it’s changed slightly. The music I write now is a bit more vulnerable and more personal than before. Not saying that what I wrote about before wasn’t personal, but what I’m writing now is me kinda spilling my heart out on paper.
I just listened to a selection of tracks from your latest 6 track EP ‘Intrusive Lullabies’ and I was surprised, for some reason, I assumed your music would be a lot more ‘hardcore’, what I hear is much mellower, heartfelt and laid back, did you ever go through an ‘angry’ phase where you just wanted to rebel and tell the world to go f*ck itself?
Oh I do that every day on the internet. Hahahahah.
I do have some angrier songs like New American Meltdown which I wrote in the heart of a Trump presidency in America and I still write angry songs.
Intrusive came out of a place of fear and hope. I was battling a lot of mental health and personal problems at the time. I wanted to write an angrier record but I told myself “instead of writing bitter things, focus on how you’re actually feeling”.
Intrusive Lullabies was released in April 2023, isn’t it about time you got some new music out? (anything in the pipeline?)
I’m currently working on some new songs. I can’t say for sure when they’ll come out, but I got some things in the works.
I’m going to play a track on my new music radio show called ‘The Great Sisyphus’ - Please break the track down for me, what is it about and how did it come about?
Out of all the songs I’ve written, this one is my top 3 favorite. Sisyphus, for those unaware, was a greek king of Ephyra. He cheated death twice and was cursed to roll a ball up a hill, just for it to roll back down. Constantly doing this for all of eternity. Destined to fail. I imagined everyone just watching him fail constantly, for their own entertainment.
At its core, this song is about imposter syndrome. This is something I’ve struggled with for a good long while, and still do. I spend a lot of time feeling like a fraud/failure. I don’t like letting people down. And I’ve spent a lot of my days having people plot my downfall and waiting for me to fail. This song is a love letter to those waiting for me to.
Do you have a magic formula when it comes to songwriting? How do ideas come to you?
No real magic formula. Before I would force myself to sit down with pen and paper waiting for stuff to come to me. These days, I just let everything come to me naturally and go from there. I let my hand flow and whatever comes out, happens.
I also learned that I’m not necessarily one to write just singles/songs. I like writing thematic/concept records, so when I write, it’s usually in batches.
Tell me about any forthcoming live dates, tours, festivals or other events that you are looking forward to in 2024....
I’m pretty excited to be playing Camp Punksylvania! The folk at riot squad media put it on and they’re so loving and caring towards the punk scene.
I’m also pretty hype to be playing at Pouzza Fest this year in Montreal. I’ve heard so much about it and I’m glad to be able to play.
What do you LOVE about being a musician?
I get to travel, share my stories with people who have felt the same way I do, uplift, inspire, and I try the best food. What’s better than that? And being a black musician in the scene, I get to inspire more black nerdy kids like me to pick up and instrument or find peace in knowing its okay to be yourself.
And what do you HATE about being a musician?
I’m tired. All of the fucking time.
If you could collaborate with any artist or band (dead or alive) who would it be and why?
Dead, I would’ve love the chance to work with Richie Havens, Prince, Lemmy from Motörhead, John Lennon, and Joe Strummer.
Alive, I’d love to work on music with Hayley Williams, Dan Andriano, Bridge City Sinners, Frank Ocean, Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg, Brian Fallon, City & Colour, Laura Jane Grace, and Dave Grohl.
Apart from Frank Turner, have you ever met any other heroes? If so, please share the experience with us....
One person who I admire and I now get to call one of my best friends is Lauren Kashan. She was in a band called Sharptooth and was such a prominent voice in punk/hardcore and inspired me to be more outspoken with my beliefs. We met back in 2019 and since then have been the best of friends.
I was lucky enough to have met Chuck Ragan. I love hot water music and I got to meet him after a Frank show and we caught up a little at Lost Evenings.
I met Laura Jane Grace once in 2017 and she was the literal best.
My favorite hero and now one of my favorite friends in music now is Linh Le from Bad Cop / Bad Cop. We met at lost evenings as well. We sang one of my songs together on stage. She got me into Ted Lasso, and we quote always Sunny constantly. She’s another person whose activism and work truly inspires me.
Also on this list, Michah Schnabel and Vanessa Jean Speckman. Two of the hardest working musicians I’m glad to call friends. They remain the best musicians arguably the best lyricists on the planet and I will take an over abundance of bullets for them. They build such a good sense of art and community everywhere they go and I adore that so much about them.
I also opened for Violent Femmes and that was a fucking WHIRLWIND. Simply the nicest people and a huge honor.
Tell me 3 material objects that you simply cannot live without....
Guitar. Drink Packets, DVD of Cats The Musical
If you could curate your own three day ‘FawkesFestival’, which three headline acts would you choose (can be dead or alive)
Funnily enough, I host a festival called Fawkes & Friends.
Day 1: Bad Cop / Bad Cop
Day 2: My Chemical Romance
Dat 3: The Clash
We’re coming to your place for dinner at the weekend, what will you be preparing for us? Starter/Entree, Main course, dessert and drinks...
Starter would be oven roasted Brussels Sprouts
Main Course would be a Dry Brined Ribeye Steak wjth with creamy mashed potatoes and pan fried Asparagus.
Drinks would be Cheerwine (if you’re in the states…. You know) for a non alcoholic beverage, a bottle of Italian Cabernet Sauvignon and Uncle Nearest Whiskey.
Dessert would be Raspberry Sorbet
What are your views on the future of physical music formats? I see quite a few bands and artists putting out cassette tapes and even Minidiscs, do you think CD’s and Vinyl will continue to be the pioneers in this field?
If I don’t see the return of Hit Clips (if you’re a millennial…. You know.) I Will riot.
Finally, would you prefer to live with a dog that can clean or a cat that can cook?
A dog that can clean because I am a procrastinator.
We’d like to thank Black Guy Fawkes for taking the time to answer our ton of questions and we wish him every success in his future musical endeavours.Keep up to date with his sonic whereabouts via the socials below.
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