Soundtrack Your Life by Ryan Pak

Soundtrack Your Life

by Ryan Pak

Introduce yourself.

Starting from my childhood, I've been obsessed with music. Perhaps, it was because I was growing up in the Twin Cities at the height of Prince's fame, or because my sister would give me the inside scoop on the music industry when she started to work at Capitol Records, but music has been a huge part of my identity. In high school, I started an online music site, where I reviewed albums and interviewed bands. I started the site with 2 goals in mind: get free music and to score points on my college applications.

My friend created a sleek website and by e-mail bands cold, I somehow ended up interviewing bands that I worshipped and that are still relevant today. The idea for this site probably came from watching Almost Famous and Rushmore, and believing that I was some brilliant hybrid of Wes Anderson and Cameron Crowe. In college, I became a Film Studies major, and I started writing screenplays. I also started listening to a lot of NPR shows, that kind of blurred the lines between radio and what we now know as podcasts. This American Life, Radiolab, and A Prairie Home Companion showed me a world of storytelling that didn't necessarily have to be in the film or TV format. I loved the idea of storytelling in general and I believe that my podcast combines my love of music, film and storytelling.

"Not everyone gets to do what they love, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't keep trying."

- Ryan Pak

Share an experience that has shaped who you are today.

When I was running my online music site, I learned to write interview request e-mails to bands / their publicists. This skill has helped me reach out to guests for the podcast. As a college student, I somehow ended up backstage, talking to Death Cab for Cutie before they’ve became one of the biggest bands in America. I've been able to snag some of my music heroes for the podcast and I probably would've never had the guts if I hadn't done it before.

Tell us about your podcast audience.

We have a great audience of film and music lovers. One of the recurring topics that has come up on the podcast is discussing songwriters who write songs for fictional characters or bands in films. Our audience loves to discuss these writers as well as some titans in the industry that have written multiple Oscar nominated songs.

What makes your podcast unique?

We discuss soundtracks with guests and we ask that the guest have a personal connection to the soundtrack. The guest picks the soundtrack we discuss and sometimes the reason why they picked their soundtrack is more fascinating than the soundtrack / movie itself! This ensures that the podcast doesn't sound like the recitation of a wikipedia page.

DT, host of the Space Castle YouTube Channel, returns to Soundtrack Your Life to talk to Nicole and Ryan about Marc Webb’s 2009 film, 500 Days of Summer. Lots of stories or heartbreak in our 20s follows since this film is a perfect backdrop for our Valentines Day episode. Tales of heartbreak, dumping someone over their bad music taste, making mixtapes, and more are shared as we dive into the time capsule that is 2009.

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Welcoming Back DT and The Steve Holt Story
00:04:42 – Is 500 Days of Summer is a Revenge Film?
00:15:11 – 2009 Slang and Tropes
00:19:48 – Character Arcs or a Lack There of
00:25:29 – Mixtapes!
00:28:39 – The Immediate Impact of the Film on Pop Culture
00:30:59 – The Infamous Party Scene and Karaoke Choices
00:34:34- She and Him and Hit Record
00:41:36 – The Fashion in 2009
00:44:52 – The Soundtrack and How Some of Its Bands Peaked in 2009
00:50:30 – Movies that Remind us of 500 Days of Summer
00:56:24 – Our 20s vs 30s in Retrospect
01:01:26 – Dating People with Bad Music Taste
01:07:09 – One Last Embarrassing Dating Story
01:12:09 – Thank You and Goodbye

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