But the controls of this magic jukebox are “busted”, he says.
“Everything’s mislabelled. What you think you’re selecting might send you a completely different way, and everything’s on the menu – sorrow, joy, horror, love – all the ways a life can go.”
So various characters, including one voiced by actress Kristen Stewart, are put through this dimension-hopping, life-scrambling retro randomiser. Some are based on Schneider himself, others are just made up, he says.
In reality, everyone has their own sliding doors moments when life could have turned out differently. Schneider looks back at the time a jazz combo played in an assembly at his grade school.
“I remember watching the bass player and being like, ‘I could be in a band some day’, and a lightbulb turned on in my head,” he says. “I think there’s a myriad of moments like that where I could have chosen one thing and didn’t, so it’s fascinating to consider that.”
The moment in France when his wife persuaded him to allow The Night We Met to be used in 13 Reasons Why could be seen as another turning point.
Schneider hit the jackpot in the lottery of life with that sleeper hit. He now hopes its popularity turns people on to the rest of their music.
“I want to keep trying to move forward and making new stuff,” he says. “And hopefully something that we make will have the same kind of impact that song has had.
“And I think over time, stuff we have already made will, I hope.”