Soundtrack Your Life

Soundtrack Your Life

Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak host Soundtrack Your Life, a podcast about the film and TV soundtracks that shape pop culture. Each episode features a guest who shares personal stories about a soundtrack that's meaningful to them. Ranging from the iconic best selling soundtracks of all time to cult favorites, they cover them all. Discover hidden gems, behind-the-scenes stories, hot debates, and deep dives into the most iconic songs in movies. 🎧 Perfect for fans of: • Movie and TV soundtracks • Original songs! Fake bands! Real good needle drops! • Music and pop culture connections • 80s, 90s and Y2K nostalgia • New soundtrack releases • Exclusive interviews with bands, artists and pop culture experts New episodes are released on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month. Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes and more: Subscribe to our pop culture writing site at: Connect with Soundtrack Your Life on the Web: Music: Phil Bertulfo of This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/

Episodes

The Mask (1994) w/ Robert Yaniz Jr. - The 90s Latin, Swing and R&B Soundtrack That Gave Jim Carrey a Billboard Dance Chart Hit

August 24, 2026 • 55 mins
Robert Yaniz Jr of Crooked Table and Back to Bluey joins Ryan Pak to talk about the soundtrack to the 1994 Chuck Russell film, The Mask. The soundtrack is considered to be at the forefront of the 90s swing revival with its throwback soundtrack that included artists like the Brian Setzer Orchestra & the Royal Crown Revue. Jim Carrey’s iconic cover of “Cuban Pete” landed Carrey in the top 40 on the Billboard Dan...
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The Empire Strikes Back (1980) w/ Darin Lundberg - The John Williams Soundtrack Score That Refuses to Rest on Its Laurels

August 10, 2026 • 64 mins
Darin Lundberg of The NostalgiaCAST and the Back to Bluey Podcasts joins Ryan Pak to talk about the soundtrack to the 1980 Irvin Kershner film, The Empire Strikes Back. The Oscar nominated score was done by the iconic John Williams, who is as synonymous with the Star Wars franchise at this point as its creator, George Lucas. Darin shares why he goes back to The Empire Strikes Back and it's accompanying score more than the other 2 ...
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Swingers (1996) - The 90s Swing Revival Soundtrack Where Love Jones Contributed More Than A Song w/ Love Jones

June 22, 2026 • 50 mins
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....
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The Bear Season 4 (2025) - The Show's Soundtrack is Known for 90s Rock but Season 4 Tweaks the Formula w/ Erin Marlow and Jenn Owens

June 8, 2026 • 78 mins
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 f...
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Chinese American Bear Discuss Their New Album and Explain Potato Europe vs Tomato Europe

May 29, 2026 • 43 mins
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 Li...
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Only Murders in the Building (2021 - Current) - Award Winning Music Editor Micha Liberman on His Emmy Nominated Episode & Other Stories from His Career

May 25, 2026 • 62 mins
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 ...
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Jane Austen's Period Drama (2024) - The Soundtrack for the Oscar Nominated Short Film Blends a Chamber Pop Score with an End Credits Banger w/ Nicole Alyse Nelson

May 11, 2026 • 42 mins
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 in...
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Drive (2011) - The Soundtrack That's Too Cool To Listen To with Pop Culture Writer Chris Deville

April 27, 2026 • 69 mins
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 i...
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Shrek 2 (2004) - The 2000s Blockbuster Pop Soundtrack Tries to Go Bigger than Its Predecessor with Pop Culture Writer/Podcaster Candice Lim

April 11, 2026 • 64 mins
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 Son...
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Vicious (2025) - What Did Composer Tom Schraeder Learn From Scoring Vicious and The Dark and the Wicked?

March 16, 2026 • 65 mins
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. The Vicious Soundtrack Score is out ...
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2026 Oscars Best Original Song – K-Pop Demon Hunters vs. Sinners Soundtrack

March 9, 2026 • 39 mins
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 th...
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Pop Culture Writer Tamar Herman on Whether the Music in K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) is Actually K-Pop

February 23, 2026 • 70 mins
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 Disc...
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Challengers (2024) - The Reznor/Ross Soundtrack Score Drives the Film with Scott Interrante

February 9, 2026 • 64 mins
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 re...
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Office Space (1999) - Why The Gangsta Rap Soundtrack Works So Well with Mometu President Bryan Louzil

January 26, 2026 • 67 mins
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...
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Walk Hard (2007) - The Soundtrack and It's Brilliant Original Songs with Filmmaker/Comedian Cameron Smith

January 12, 2026 • 59 mins
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 -...
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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Doubling as the Perfect Christmas & Halloween Soundtrack with Musician Sean Griffin

December 22, 2025 • 51 mins
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 sing...
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GO! (1999) - The Soundtrack that Perfectly Captures the Late 90s with Author Eric Gee

December 8, 2025 • 69 mins
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 Ca...
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Adventureland (2009) - A Timeless 80s Indie Period Piece Soundtrack with Pop Culture Writer Rachel Brodsky

November 24, 2025 • 65 mins
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 Cur...
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The Greatest Showman (2017) - Film Musical Soundtrack with Singer/Broadway Star Kelsie Watts

November 10, 2025 • 35 mins
Singer and star SIX, Moulin Rouge 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 Hans...
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Tales From the Crypt Writer/Showrunner Alan Katz on the Legendary Composers on Tales

October 31, 2025 • 46 mins
*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 ...
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