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EP13 → Pen Pals, Music Snobs & the Friendships That Stick (with young adult author, Justin Carroll)
In this episode, I sit down with longtime friend and author Justin Carroll — but this one starts in a way that still kind of blows my mind…
we met on a plane…
he was a kid traveling alone… I was an adult, minding my business, reading a music magazine…
and he just looks over and tells me the band I’m reading about is crap…
then proceeds to tell me what I should be listening to instead…
which… honestly… bold move…
we ended up exchanging addresses — actual addresses, pre-email, pre-everything —
and became pen pals…
he’d send me all the new music coming out of the UK and Europe…
I’d send him what was happening in the US…
and somehow… that turned into a friendship that’s lasted all this time…
from there, we get into everything…
nostalgia, of course — those early days, the music, the way we discovered things before algorithms decided for us…
Justin’s journey as a writer… aging…
and how books and music can act as escape hatches when life gets heavy…
we talk about real life too — caring for aging parents, shifting responsibilities…
and how those moments quietly change you…
there’s a thread of creativity running through all of it…
how people connect to art in completely different ways…
and how numbers, analytics, and social media don’t always reflect what’s actually real…
we get into identity, belief systems, boundaries…
protecting your peace…
and learning when to cut out energy that doesn’t belong in your life…
music stays at the center…
for both of us — a constant, a comfort…
something that shapes who you are without you even realizing it…
Justin talks about his character Hemlock Jones — and how that reflects parts of himself…
that slightly offbeat, introspective way of moving through the world…
and then… because it’s us…
comic book shops… cemetery walks…
shared World of Warcraft love… questionable hotel experiences…
all the random threads that somehow still connect…
this one’s layered… nostalgic… a little chaotic…
but grounded in something real —
friendship, creativity, and the things that stay with you long after everything else changes…
Sayonara Cupcake is a community for music + art lovers.
We share stories, poetry, music, and things worth falling down the rabbit hole for — no monetization, ever. 🫶
📍 Find us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/sayonaracupcake/ (where the community lives)
🔗 Everything in one place → https://linktr.ee/sayonaracupcake
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