Welcome back to We Came From Celluloid, the podcast where two middle-aged dads from Ohio prove that expensive hobbies can occasionally pay for themselves. I'm Nicky P, here with Brian Pritchard, and this week we're diving deep into what happens when Tom Cruise's Lestat starts whispering song ideas in your head. Look, I'm not gonna pretend we're not a dad band. We are absolutely a dad band. But we are a dad band that takes this shit seriously, has perfected our skills over decades, and occasionally gets paid to do our expensive hobby. Try getting people to pay you hundreds of dollars to watch you play golf, Kevin from accounting. What We Cover:

• The psychology of being a middle-aged musician in business networking situations
• How Brian's "1212" song concept got hijacked by Tom Cruise's Lestat
• The dual vocal technique that's been haunting our performances
• Why Interview with the Vampire's villain makes the perfect song narrator
• The Jurassic Park song's real emotional origin story (spoiler: hospital waiting rooms)
• How personal trauma becomes movie-themed lyrics
• The art of hiding Easter eggs in music (including my planned "Nights in White Satin" sample)
• Rosemary's Baby and the beauty of dark lyrics over happy music
• Why collaborative songwriting is completely new territory for me

The Real Talk: Sometimes the best songs come from the worst moments. Brian's Jurassic Park track started as him processing his sister's emergency room visit, channeling that anxiety and hope into something that sounds like an emo band I'd never admit to listening to. But that's the magic - taking genuine human emotion and filtering it through our ridiculous movie obsession until it becomes something both funny and heartbreaking. Creative Process Deep Dive: We get into the nuts and bolts of how we work together - Brian starts with musical concepts and emotional foundations, I come in with the grand lyrical direction. It's collaborative in a way I've never experienced before, and it's producing some of our most emotionally resonant work. Key Moments:

• The moment Tom Cruise's Lestat invaded Brian's creative process
• My confession about performing songs with zero actual lyrics for months
• The parallel between Nicky's 12th birthday trauma and Brian's hospital anxiety
• Why Mother Mother's "Wrecking Ball" is the perfect example of beautiful/dark songwriting
• Brian considering repurposing drum tracks between songs

Bottom Line: We're finding that the best art happens when you stop fighting the weird intersections between high emotion and ridiculous source material. Tom Cruise makes a great narrator for songs about temptation. Sam Neil's relationship anxiety translates perfectly to emo songwriting. And sometimes you need a vampire whispering in your ear to find the right attitude for a track. This episode is for anyone who's ever had to explain their creative process to golf-playing business associates, anyone who finds emotional truth in horror movies, and definitely anyone who loves discovering Easter eggs in music. Ready to argue about whether we're taking this dad band thing too seriously? Follow us everywhere and tell us we're wrong. We can take it.