Dinosaur Jr, Beastie Boys, The Pharcyde members & more on soundtrack to ’90s-set film ‘Home Free’ (stream a track)

Dinosaur Jr‘s J Mascis and members of Beastie Boys, The Pharcyde, Jurassic 5, and Luscious Jackson have contributed to the soundtrack of new film Home Free, a ’90s-set college comedy with a social message. The soundtrack was created by Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas, who envisioned it as a ’90s mixtape. Here’s a little more about the film:

“Home Free” is based on the real-life experience of Onion Creek Productions founder and director/producer Aaron Brown and writer/producer Lenny Barszap of Entertaining Entertainment. In 1997, as sophomores at the University of Texas at Austin, Brown and Barszap invited an unhoused philosophy professor to crash on their porch – where they hosted several parties, many of which their friend and fellow UT Austin student at the time, Adrian Quesada, also attended. Twenty-five years later, this became the premise for the film “Home Free,” which explores profound themes of friendship, personal growth, and social impact through the lens of comedy.

Says Quesada: “I’ve known Aaron and Lenny since back then, I was in a band they came to see and supported. We were part of each other’s worlds, I remembered those experiences and stories from their house. When they described the soundtrack, I knew we’d all align on the concept since we were influenced by so much of the same music in that era – hip hop, jazz, indie. Then learning how passionate they were about the cause and hope for the story making some kind of impact out in the world, these were all big selling points for being a part of this project.”

Quesada adds, “Technology for music’s come a long way to where we’re able to collaborate with artists from anywhere, sharing and making music with our musical heroes and tapping into our creativity in a time when it was otherwise halted. It was a process of surreal stuff – the song with Mix Master Mike and Mascis is that fully. J. sent a bunch of guitar options for the song and then Mix Master Mike ran with it in a way we couldn’t have imagined. This sums up the whole soundtrack best. Here’s two people who maybe wouldn’t have been on a song together, yet here they are. It nails the concept of what we were trying to do with this body of songs: bringing unexpected names and sounds together that all work.”

The Home Free soundtrack also features members of A Giant Dog, White Denim, Shakey Graves, Ghostland Observatory, and more, and is out January 31 Nine Mile Records. You can listen to the very-’90s “Tent City,” which features SlimKid3 (The Pharcyde) and Akil the MC (Jurassic 5), and check out the tracklist, below.

“Home Free” Motion Picture Soundtrack

1 (A1) – Bufo – Nightshade Revival – 0:03:24

2 (A2) – Mix Master Mascis Mix – J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr), Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:04:23

3 (A3) – Bittersweet – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:01:00

4 (A4) – El Poeta – Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:01:04

5 (A5) – Stay High -Fatlip (The Pharcyde), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:44

6 (A6) – Sub City Serenade – Luscious Jackson, Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:55

7 (A7) – Am I Allowed – Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:24

8 (A8) – Undiscovered – Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:11

9 (B1) – Chokin – Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:01:04

10 (B2) – Movers – Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:01:08

11 (B3) – Tent City – SlimKid3 (The Pharcyde), Akil the MC (Jurassic 5), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:03:20

12 (B4) – Wait – Neal Francis, Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:03:24

13 (B5) – Casablanca – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:00:48

14 (B6) – Centrifugal – Buffalo Hunt, Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:03:27

15 (B7) – Talk Strange – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:39

16 (C1) Rampage – Karl Denson (Rolling Stones), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:13

17 (C2) Go Dancin – Benji Hughes, Chris Boosahda (Shakey Graves) – 0:03:13

18 (C3) We Were Young – James Petralli (White Denim), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:03:27

19 (C4) I’ve Got Memories – Ghostland Observatory – 0:03:09

20 (C5) Pedialyte – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:00:56

21 (C6) Splatitude – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:02:28

22 (C7) The Descent – Steven Bernstein (Lounge Lizards, Sex Mob), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:03:45

23 (D1) Trembling – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:01:55

24 (D2) Snuggle Bunny – Benji Hughes, Chris Boosahda (Shakey Graves) – 0:02:41

25 (D3) Sizing Up – Skerik (Critters Buggin, Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade), Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:03:48

26 (D4) Home Free – Benji Hughes – 0:03:38

27 (D5) Bittersweet Goodbye – Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas) – 0:01:48

28 (D6) Today – Ben Kweller (Smashing Pumpkins cover) – 0:03:45