Cola Town Underground

In Episode 22 we chat with William Nicholas Clay the director of Party Hard, a small budget debut independent film made in Charleston and Columbia SC. Find information about the film at partyhardmovie.com including links for viewing as well as soundtrack information, which also features South Carolina independent artists.

Chris Bickel is an independent filmmaker and punk rock icon here in Columbia SC. We discuss his DIY filmmaking approach as he completes work on his second underground grind house film BAD GIRLS.See the trailer (NSFW) and more at badgirlsmovie.com

Here we have a fresh episode from the outdoor beer garden of WECO as we bring to you this discussion with Eddie Newman and Dylan Dickerson of Comfort Monk - a Columbia SC DIY arts collective which is part record label, part podcast, and part TBD. Check out the Comfort Monk music compilations on Bandcamp.com and also the releases from local label bands Stagbriar and Dear Blanca on the Comfort Monk imprint, as well as listening to their podcast on your favorite streaming platform. Also - John from CTU will be guest hosting an episode of CM soon...

Part two of our conversation with Molly Ledford, discussing her involvement in the 90’s Columbia indie music scene, and a chat with the members of Verna Cannon. Intsagram: @lunchmoneymusic @machine_puppet Web: puppettimemachine.com

Part one of our conversation with Molly Ledford, a Columbia SC based songwriter, musician, multimedia artist, and our first Grammy nominated guest. Molly is a creator of children’s based music and performance projects such as Puppet Time Machine, and Pears 4 Bears. Intsagram: @lunchmoneymusic @machine_puppet Web: puppettimemachine.com

David Bluetile is the owner of Bluetile Skateboards – which for 18 years has been a retail skateshop, DIY music venue, and art space. We had a great conversation with our old friend David – whom Troy, John, and JB all share a mutual connection with screen printing, punk rock, and skateboarding. Bluetile recently celebrated...

Marcum Core AKA MIDIMarc is a hip hop producer/beat maker who is known for his prolific output and versatile range of styles. He has volumes of work released over the years and is a frequent collaborator with SC legendary rapper FatRat Da Czar. He’s also known to serve up a pigeon (hot dog) for you...

Episode 15 marks the 1st Anniversary of our podcast, which we recorded live at a small party gathering at Cola Town Bike Collective. We had a live musical guest (Sean Thomson, who provided this episode’s music – look him up on Bandcamp), as well as a few past guests drop in to visit. This episode...

In this episode we have a discussion with Free Times arts and entertainment editor Jordan Lawrence about music, media, and some tips and thoughts about the local music scene.

Trahern Cook is a visual artist who can be seen around Columbia and the Southeast with his easel making lovely scenic paintings with energy of the captured scenes. He captures pieces of Columbia, and frequently is “jam painting” to live concerts. He’s a music lover and really friendly guy as well. Enjoy our chat we...

Episode 12 is online – with Cola Town Bike Collective. http://www.ridesporocket.com http://colatownbikes.com

Preach Jacobs is a hip-hop emcee, photographer, and journalist who produces his own pop up performance shows in Columbia SC as well as on the road. He also has a line of t-shirts and stickers under the name Mo Besta Soul, and his own podcast called The Negro League. Basically, he has a lot going...

Phill Blair is co-owner of The Whig, North America’s Greatest Dive Bar. Phill is also a key scene figure in Columbia’s beer, arts, and music cultures, with his organization and booking for several of our city’s favorite events. Phill also has collected many “Best Of” nominations and awards over the years in Free-Times, either personally...

David Stringer is the founder and editor of SceneSC.com – a multimedia website and music blog. SceneSC was founded in 2008 and aims to bring attention to independent and up and coming South Carolina bands. David publishes the SceneSC blog, as well as several video series, and promotes live shows as well. The SceneSC annual...

Sean Rayford is a freelance photojournalist and commercial photographer based in Columbia, SC. He is a 2001 graduate of the University of South Carolina and Jasper Magazine’s 2017 Visual Artist of the Year. Recipient of the 2016 Best Photo Story award from the South Carolina Press Association and named by Time Magazine as one of...

Eva Moore is the Executive Editor at Free Times, Columbia’s weekly alternative news outlet, and a musician formally with the local indie rock bands The Gadgets and Perfect Sleeper. You can find her work at http://free-times.com

Dan Cook is a musician, writer and editor. He served as editor of Free-Times from 2002-2016, co-founded the Colossal Music Crawl as the paper’s music editor in 1999, and has played in Columbia bands including Lay Quiet Awhile and The Verna Cannon. His latest musical project is the minimalist, all-instrumental project A Spot on the...

Sloane Spencer will tell you that music changed her life. She championed Southern roots music long before she knew it had a following. Like many ultra-fans of music discovery, Spencer started a music blog. Country Fried Rock quickly added a Top 5 streaming station in its genre. By 2012, Spencer’s friendly, knowledgeable interviews found their...

Episode 4 is now online, with our guests Tim Gardner and his wife Lorie Gardner and his brother Stan Gardner – part of the Lula Drake Wine Parlour team. Lula Drake Wine Parlour in Columbia is a unique spot to enjoy natural wines. Tim Gardner fell for the grape while in grad school at UCLA....

Episode 3 of our podcast is with our old Columbia friend Scott Burgess, Owner of Bierkeller Columbia – a beer garden experience brought to Columbia by Scott as influenced by his experiences living in Germany, and his subsequent home brewing trials to replicate those beers he came to love in his time abroad. He formed...

Our guest on this episode is Julia (Liz) Elliott. Her writing has appeared in Tin House, The Georgia Review, Conjunctions, The New York Times, Granta online, Electric Literature, and other publications. She has won a Rona Jaffe Writer’s Award, and her stories have been anthologized in Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses and The...

Welcome to Episode 1 of Cola Town Underground – live from the Vault (at The Whig in Columbia, SC). Our guest is Philippe Herndon, the founder and product designer for Caroline Guitar Company, a guitar effects business noted for some really unique products – the Kilobyte, the Météore, and more! We talk with Philippe about...

Join the members of Grand Republic, indie rock lifers from Columbia, SC, as they gather at their favorite watering hole to share their views on music and life and a life in music. Each episode they’ll be joined by special guests: artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, novelists, pirates… people who bring a little something extra to Cola...