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

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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 a...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 Rac...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 -...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 Captur...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
*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 ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 Intro...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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:...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
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 SocialsBlueskyInstagramWriting SiteYouTubePatreon Learn more about your ad c...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
(00:00:00) Introducing Michele Catalano and Why Did She Pick Spawn? (00:07:33) Thoughts on Spawn the film (00:17:36) Soundtrack Composer Graham Revell and ILM Worked on this Movie? (00:19:03) Breaking Down the Best Songs of the Spawn Soundtrack (00:31:51) Todd Macfarlane Post-Spawn (00:33:46) Thoughts on the Spawn Cast (00:37:59) The Blade 2 Soundtrack as The Follow up to the Spawn Soundtrack / Happy Walters' Legacy (00:44:39) What...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Love Trapped

    Former Bachelor Clayton Echard’s casual one-night fling turned into a paternity nightmare. When the news broke about the scandal, no one believed Clayton at first. He was a reality TV star, and an unpopular one at that. Clayton found himself trying to prove the truth, while trapped in a web of lies, manipulation, and threats. He would soon discover he was not the only one. At its core, this is a story about who you believe and why. It’s an epic battle that would take a group of strangers, citizen sleuths from across the world, to crack the case and finally hold someone accountable. New episodes of Love Trapped are released every Thursday, starting February 26th, 2026. If you would like to reach out to the Love Trapped team, email us at lovetrappedpod@gmail.com and follow along on Instagram @glasspodcasts.

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices