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Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers: Rolling with Charleston’s Music Scene
Published: August 27, 2024

Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers is a locally-focused interview series hosted by Kalyn Oyer of the Post & Courier and Charleston Scene. As the name suggests, Kalyn hops on a Charleston Bike Taxi with one artist from the group, en route to meet the rest of the band for beers. The bike taxi ride features a quick round of silly questions, and once they are all together, the conversation delves into more about the band.

Kalyn launched the project in October 2023 alongside former coworker Isabel Adams, and it has become a semi-regular feature on the P&C YouTube, with seven episodes released thus far. The latest being with Charleston indie rockers, Homemade Haircuts. It is also the first episode that Kalyn made with her new collaborator, Alexis Hamilton.

Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers: Homemade Haircuts (2024)

“I was watching Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and my brain immediately thought of the name,” Kalyn says. “And it was like, oh my God, if we had a Charleston version of this, it’d be so funny to do a Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers.”

When Kalyn brought the idea up the Post & Courier, they liked the idea, but nothing came of it for almost a year. Eventually, Kalyn decided she was just going to do it. She got together with Isabel, who handled the video stuff, and filmed the debut episode with The Simplicity.

“Little mics and a GoPro attached to the bike taxi,” Kalyn laughs. “Super DIY.”

Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers: The Simplicity (2023)

Overall, Kalyn is glad to be working with local artists in this way, as it allows her to contribute to and connect with Charleston’s creative community in a laid-back environment. Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers offers a lens into the daily lives of musicians living in Charleston, and offers them a valuable, visible platform to share more about their work.

“It’s a way for me to talk to more local bands again,” Kalyn says. “Since I haven’t been able to feature them in other ways in the paper, it’s nice to give them a shout out and also learn more about them and sit down with them and hang out with them, which I love doing.”

Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers at Kudu with Homemade Haircuts. Photo by Laurel Mac.

Early Roots: The Fringe

Kalyn’s interest in the local music scene runs deep, as does the inspiration behind Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers. She started out freelancing long before she accepted her current position as Features Editor for the Post & Courier, and during that time she co-hosted a Charleston music scene podcast known as The Fringe.

The Fringe ran from 2016-2018, and featured a collaborative effort between Kalyn and DJ Edwards, formerly of Real South Records and the band Never Better.

“I really wanted to get more involved with the local scene, in a personal way,” Kalyn recalls about starting the podcast. “I always wanted to do a radio show or some sort of like, me talking about music in some aspect.”

The Fringe season 1 photo by Caitlin Edahl.

The weekly podcast featured interviews with local artists, and playlists of new music chosen by Kalyn and DJ. It was eventually picked up by the Post & Courier and continued under their wing until it came to an end. After that, Kalyn continued to write about local music for Charleston Scene until the pandemic came along and sent everything flying off in every direction.

“I missed doing the podcast,” Kalyn says. “I really loved doing that. I loved interviewing artists more frequently.”

Times have changed, and space for music coverage in the paper is hard to come by these days. Bands on Bike Taxis Getting Beers gives Kalyn a creative space of her own, while supporting the local community and entertaining the masses in the process.