Episodes

Earlier this year, Love Jones returned with the album, The Greatest Show on Earth, their first album since 2010, and Ben Daughtrey, Barry Thomas, and Jonathan Palmer discuss their journey to releasing the new album with Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak on Soundtrack Your Life. They also talk about their start as a band in 1990 and how they ended up in LA, where they would meeting the likes of director John Favreau and actor Vince Vaughn. Favreau and Vaughn who were making an indie-film called Swingers...

Erin Marlow of It's a Fandom Thing and Jenn Owens of My Streaming Bubble are back to talk the soundtrack of The Bear, Season 4, with Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak as we all wait for the much anticipated 5th and final season of The Bear. This episode was recorded from a livestream shortly after Season 4 was released but was kept until now with Season 5 just days away. From favorite S4 needle drops to reactions to the stunt casting for the season, Erin, Jenn, Nicole and Ryan break down the good, the...

Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten of the Seattle via Chicago vs New York band Chinese American Bear join Ryan Pak to discuss their new album, Dim Sum and Then Some, which was released back on May 8, 2026. They discuss Anne and Bryce's favorite cities to get dim sum, their favorite meal on tour, the strangest meal they've had on tour, and how they came up with the band name. They also discuss some of their favorite scores and they play Life in 3 Tracks. Chinese American Bear is out on tour now! For M...

Award winning music editor and composer, Micha Liberman, joins Ryan Pak to explain the role of a music editor on a production on Soundtrack Your Life. They discuss the Emmy nominated episode "Sitzprobe" from Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building and the complexity of working with multiple teams to create a fake musical production. They also chat about Micha's career, from being an assistant to composer John Frizell to current projects like Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, Running Point, ...

Actress Nicole Alyse Nelson, from the Oscar nominated short film, Jane Austen's Period Drama, joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to talk about recently nominated film. The music for the soundtrack was composed by Alex Winkler who also wrote the end credits song "Slide Up" featuring Bryce Charles. The stark differences between the score and the song show Winkler's musical range. From how Nicole got involved with the project to the instructions she was given on how to handle a live chicken, all of ...

Pop Culture Writer Chris Deville (Stereogum) has just released his first book, Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion, back in August of 2025. He joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to discuss the soundtrack to the 2011 Nicholas Winding Refn film Drive. Both the film and the soundtrack have become very influential. The film launched Ryan Gosling into a superstar leading man and the soundtrack's influence has permeated into both the indie and pop music space, i...

Candice Lim, former host of Slate's ICYMI, former producer of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, and total pop colture savant, joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to talk about the soundtrack to the 2004 Adamson, Asbury, and Vernon directed film, Shrek 2. As with many blockbuster sequels, the Shrek 2 soundtrack is filled with expensive needle drops, covers of famous songs, and a new song that was nominated for the 2004 Best Original Song Oscar. That would be the Counting Crows' "Accidentally in Love", ...

This episode is part of the Pocasthon 2026! We're supporting the YWCA of Minneapolis. Please learn more about the YWCA of Minneapolis here Tom Schraeder is a songwriter and composer and he scored the 2025 Brian Bertino film, Vicious,. He talks to Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak and scoring the film as well as his previous scores like The Dark and the Wicked, on this episode of Soundtrack Your LIfe. Tom also discusses his path to becoming a composer, collaborating with rock musicians such as Mars Wil...

We've launched a SYL Merch Store! 10% for the month of March by using promo code SYLMPLS. All profits will go to various organizations in Minnesota. Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak break down the 2026 Oscars Best Original Song category. It looks like Huntrix's "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters is the heavy favorite but Raphael Saadiq and Sinners is the most nominated film of the year. We break down the nominees, songs snubbed from the short list and give our thoughts on the Best Original Score categ...

Pop Culture Writer, Tamar Herman, joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to discuss the blockbuster soundtrack to the Maggie Kang's 2025 film, K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025). As someone who has covered the K-Pop industry for years, Tamar is the perfect guest to talk about the impact that the soundtrack has had on pop culture and the K-Pop writers and producers who helped shape the songs that have completely captured the zeitgeist. We Discuss: - The careers of EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, pre-Demon Hu...

Scott Interrante of Big White Elephants and This is the Greatest Song I've Ever Heard in My Entire Life joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to discuss the soundtrack to the 2024 Luca Guadagnino film, Challengers. The film was scored by the team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails) who have worked with Guadagnino multiple times before (Queer, Bones and All, After the Hunt). The soundtrack was also accompanied by a remix album from Boys Noize. The score won the Golden Globe for Best Ori...

Mometu President Bryan Louzil joins Nicole and Ryan Pak to discuss the soundtrack to Mike Judge's 1999 cult classic, Office Space. The soundtrack boasts needle drops from artists like Scarface, The Geto Boys, Slum Village, Canibus & Biz Markie, Ice Cube and Kool Keith. Obviously, we have to talk about "Still" by the Geto Boys which soundtracks the infamous "printer scene". The soundtrack supervisor for Office Space is Karyn Rachtman, whose illustrious career includes soundtracking Pulp Fiction,...

Comedian and Filmmaker, Cameron Smith, joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to talk about the soundtrack to the 2007 Jake Kasdan film, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. While the film flopped at the box office, it has become a cult classic and star, John C. Reilly is planning to take the Dewey Cox songs on tour in 2007 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film. We Discuss: - How the Film Influenced Cameron In His Formative Years - The Great Songs and the Massively Talented Songwriters Behind Th...

Musician Sean Griffin (The Ruffians) is our guest to ring in the holidays by talking about Henry Selick's The Nightmare Before Christmas on Soundtrack Your Life! Sean has just released the Christmas song, "I'm in Love for Christmas", so he's the perfect guest for our holiday episode! Obviously, if we're talking The Nightmare before Christmas, we're talking about Danny Elfman, who composed the score, wrote the songs, and is the singing voice of Jack Skellington. We also talk about Catherine O'Har...

Author Eric Gee joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to discuss the soundtrack to Doug Liman's 1999 film, Go! From the B.T. score to the timeless earworm of Len's "Steal My Sunshine", to a new No Doubt song, Go! captures all the music that suburban kids were into in 1999. 00:00:00-00:09:30 Introducing Eric Gee & The Power of Personality 00:09:31-00:15:30 Why Did Eric Pick Go!? 00:15:31-00:23:00 The Soundtrack Supervisor and Capturing 1999 00:23:01-00:25:15 The Pulp Fiction Comparison 00:25:16-0...

Pop culture writer, and soon to be author, Rachel Brodsky (Time, LA Times, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, and more!) returns to Soundtrack Your Life to discuss the soundtrack to the 2009 Greg Mottolla film, Adventureland, with hosts Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak. Outside of Falco's hit "Rock Me Amadeus", the soundtrack mines 80s college rock over pop hits for this 80s period piece. Needle drops from The Replacements, Crowded House, The Cure, Husker Du, Big Star, & Lou Reed pop up in the film alongside a...

Singer and Star of SIX on Broadway, Kelsie Watts, joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to discuss the soundtrack to the 2017 Michael Gracey film, The Greatest Showman. The soundtrack spent 28 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts, and the song "This is Me" won the Best Original Song award at the Golden Globes and was nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. The songwriting team of Pasek/Paul (La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen) wrote all the songs for the film. 00:00:00 - 00:07:45 Introducing Kelsie...

*Trigger Warning: This episode has references to self harm and sexual assault. Alan Katz, formerly a writer/showrunner for the TV show, Tales from the Crypt, joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to talk about his new career in podcasting. Alan owns Costard and Touchstone Productions, which is home to podcasts such as The How Not to Make a Movie Podcast, The Donor: A DNA Horror Story, The Hall Closet, John Kiriakou's Dead Drop: What Makes a Spy Tick, and more! Nicole and Ryan also talk to Alan abou...

Singer, performer, and creator of Kat Robichaud's Misfit Cabaret, Kat Robichaud joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to discuss the soundtrack to the 1974 Brian De Palma film, Phantom of the Paradise. Oscar winner, Paul Williams starred in the film, wrote original songs for it, and scored the film. He was nominated for Best Original Score at the Oscars even though the film did not do well at the box office. 00:00:00 - 00:06:30 Introducing Kat Robichaud and the Misfit Cabaret 00:06:31 - 00:10:00 Wh...

Musician Reeya Banerjee has just released her album, This Place. She joined Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak on Soundtrack Your Life to discuss the new album as well as the soundtrack to Christopher Guest's 2003 film, A Mighty Wind. The soundtrack features the Oscar nominated song, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" and the Grammy winning song "A Mighty Wind". 00:00:00 - 00:08:10 Introducing Reeya and A Mighty Wind 00:08:11 - 00:15:07 The Original Songs of A Mighty Wind 00:15:08 - 00:17:46 The Awar...

The Nostalgia Pit's Colin Casserd joins Nicole and Ryan to discuss the soundtrack to the 1998 Roland Emmerich film, Godzilla. The soundtrack is aptly titled, Godzilla: The Album since barely any of the songs on the soundtrack actually appear in the film. For More Information About The Nostalgia Pit: Linktree Instagram Patreon Soundtrack Your Life Socials Bluesky Instagram Writing Site YouTube Patreon

Michele Catalano, creator of https://ihavethatonvinyl.com/joins Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to talk about the soundtrack to the 1997 Mark A.Z. Dippe film, Spawn. The film flopped at the box office but the soundtrack debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200...

(00:00:00) What's New with Kula Shaker and Why Did Crispian Select Wonderwall? (00:10:29) Wonderwall's Influence on Kula Shaker (00:13:47) Kula Shaker Sampling "Skiing" for Gokula (00:17:09) Wondewall as a Gateway into Indian Musicians (00:19:53) George Harrison's Love of Creating Music for Wonderwall (00:23:01) Wonderwall (the Oasis song) Renewing Interest in Wonderwall (the Massot Movie) (00:28:37) The Complexity of the Music (00:31:27) George Harrison Helping the Remo Four (00:34:22) ...

(00:00:00) Introducing Monique Powell from Save Ferris (00:12:21) How Save Ferris Ended up in 10 Things I Hate About You (00:18:32) Filming with Letters to Cleo (00:22:49) Soundtrack Composer Richard Gibbs and the Soundtrack Supervisor (00:25:00) Finding Music in Your Teens (00:30:07) Save Ferris Appearing on Roswell and Finding Music via TV Shows (00:36:18) The Ska Lifestyle (00:38:16) 90s Friends and Fake Rivalries (00:43:59) Why People Connect with Ska (00:50:44) Thank Yous and Goodb...