“The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with — nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mixtape tells a story. Put them together, and they can add up to the story of a life.” — Love Is a Mixtape, by Rob Sheffield
Before songs could be shared without actually buying them, and before they could be plucked out of a cloud library you didn’t build yourself, there was the mp3. A rare gem that had one had to go to the local Radioshack or a crowded smoky basement to purchase; these musical bits of data defined the lives of music nerds like you (and me). There were tracks you hated, liked, or loved, some mp3s more than others. The ones you coveted made you feel emotions deeply. And you believed, when all of your beloved pieces of music were meticulously arranged by you into one carefully curated mix, they conveyed a message that would take an essay to explain. A mix was made for aimlessly driving over the speed limit around your hometown with buds, for muting the boredom of a soul-crushing job, and for representing a piece of your heart as you placed it in the hands of your crush. In other words, they communicated much more than words. Can you relate? If yes, you’re gonna go crazy over today’s Staff Pick Premiere, “Mixtape Marauders.” The story of high school BFFs Patrick and Cheech was written by brothers Peter and Ian Edlund (Ian plays Cheech!), who were inspired to write this hilarious and charming ode to friendship while Peter was crashing on Ian’s dorm room floor. Peter explains: “I had been thinking about a movie built around music and set in my hometown, but I wasn’t really sure what form that would take…I talked to Pete [McNally, who plays Patrick] and Ian about creating versions of themselves whose lives had played out very differently. What would that look like? How would some of their traits and personality quirks manifest themselves in these weirdo, alternate universe cousins. They both came to Stanwood, Washington [Pete and Ian’s hometown] a week before the shoot, stayed at my parent’s house and lived the lives of these characters. My mother was legitimately worried that Ian was this person now, and I had to comfort her and say, “No, he’s just in-character. He’ll stop hotboxing your car when the rehearsal process is complete.”
