When writer-director Jefferson Root was making his first film, a romantic comedy about four guys, their obsession with mix tapes, and the women who put up with them, he naturally wanted to stack the sound track with his own favorite songs. By the fall of 2002 a rough cut of Mix Tape had been shot and edited–a process that took two years–but Root still hadn’t gotten permission to use the songs he needed, including Sebadoh’s “Think (Let Tomorrow Bee),” which plays a pivotal role in the plot. Without it he would have had to reshoot a key scene, but luckily Root’s brother Joel, bassist for local band the Reputation, was on tour and opening for Lou Barlow in Boston. “Joel, you’ve got to help me out,” Root remembers saying. After Joel approached Barlow at the show and explained the context in which the song’s used–as “the smoking gun that backfires” when it’s included on a tape–he gave Root permission to use the tune.
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Still, Mix Tape’s depiction of crushes and breakups playing out in audio form is close to his heart. “It’s a little embarrassing to say, but I’ve made a few tapes in my time, with a few Sebadoh songs here and there.”
“No, because he only has it on vinyl!”
