Recently, I caught up with Doctor Noize, known in his adult releases as Cory Cullinan. Our conversation was as thoughtful, joyful, layered, and community-oriented as his music. Around the same time, I found myself inspired to bake my very first truly successful loaf of homemade white bread. Soft, golden, and perfect, it became the anchor of a meal that somehow tied together two separate Lhyme features into one deeply comforting moment. I toasted it, buttered it, melted cheddar over the top, and served it alongside the pot roast from my Richard String feature. For the first time, two Lhyme stories unintentionally complemented each other on the same plate—and it felt exactly right. Food and music, meeting where they always do: at the same table. That alignment made diving into Cory’s story even more meaningful. Check out the recipe below!
Doctor Noize’s latest single and music video, “1-2-3-4-5-6-7 A Song,” is both playful and subtly brilliant. Performed with the Colorado Children’s Chorale and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, the song introduces children to the fundamentals of songwriting while reminding adults that we often understand these concepts more than we realize. What do Ludwig van Beethoven and Taylor Swift share? According to Doctor Noize: structure. Sonata form and pop songwriting are more alike than different—they’re related. Elements like verses, choruses, development, and resolution are all connected. Once you recognize this, it’s hard to unlearn it. Suddenly, you see that you can also write a song. The track is part of Positive Energy!, Doctor Noize’s upcoming retrospective album, which drops on his birthday, October 30. The music video—directed by his daughter Sidney Cullinan—is warm, nostalgic, and deeply personal, showcasing footage from over fifteen years of performances, recordings, and collaborations. Cory calls it “a love letter to the people I am fortunate to record and perform for and with.” His gratitude and sense of connection are woven into everything he creates.
Doctor Noize is a Stanford-educated father and a successful musician known for topping charts. He is a commissioned composer for stage and screen, an author, an award-winning teacher, a speaker, a studio owner, and a humorist. His work focuses on creating strong male, female, and diverse characters that encourage collaboration through contrasting perspectives rather than competition. His workshops and performances foster curiosity, imagination, and joy, appealing not only to kids but to anyone open to having fun. Yet, beneath the joy lies a story shaped by significant loss.
Cory grew up in what he describes as a Leave It to Beaver–style childhood in Silicon Valley. His father was the mayor of a major city in the 1980s. His mother was deeply involved in the community. His older brother was a nationally recognized computer programmer by age fifteen, so notable that he appeared on The Today Show with Jane Pauley. Within a single year, everything changed. Cory’s brother passed away from a brain tumor. Soon after, his father died by suicide, devastated by the loss. In an era when therapy wasn’t readily offered—and teenage boys weren’t encouraged to talk about grief—Cory turned to music. Music became his language. His friend. His way of processing what he couldn’t say out loud. He began writing songs—about loss, confusion, beauty, and resilience. People listened. Before he finished high school, his music was already reaching others. Through music, Cory learned the power of community—how shared experiences can become chosen family.
That belief is why Lhyme resonated so deeply with him. In a world increasingly divided by digital noise, politics, and cultural tension, Cory believes music and food still do something essential: they bring people to the same table.
Looking ahead, Cory has an exciting year planned with the release of Positive Energy! (The Music of Doctor Noize) in February 2026. This album serves as both a retrospective and a renewal, featuring two songs from each Doctor Noize album along with several new tracks. It celebrates the music, messages, and community he has built over the years. The rollout is thoughtfully paced, with new singles and videos released throughout 2026, each focusing on a theme meaningful to Cory. The first, “Diversity,” drops in January and emphasizes inclusion at a time when many voices are being discouraged from valuing it. Cory intentionally chose this topic, believing he can speak up as part of a demographic that should be advocating for it. The song was created in collaboration with Grammy-winning Alphabet Rockers and pianist-vocalist Vivian Fang Liu. In March, he will release “Some People See,” a deeply personal track about disability and resilience, inspired in part by his wife, who is fully blind. The song highlights the creativity, strength, and adaptability of people with disabilities, challenging common perceptions of limitations. Later in spring, “Funk the Planet” will come out—a collaborative, Earth-focused track that promotes environmental awareness. It features a mini supergroup of artists, including Grammy winners and international collaborators, blending funk, hip-hop, and orchestral sounds into a joyful call to protect the planet. Overall, Positive Energy! isn’t just a look back; it’s a continuation of Cory’s lifelong belief that music can educate, connect, and foster empathy. It’s a reminder that joy, paired with purpose, can be a transformative force.
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When it comes to Cory’s food memory, it begins with bread. His mother was legendary in their neighborhood for it. Growing up, they never bought bread—she baked everything herself: white loaves, wheat bread, sourdough, seeded breads. Cory can still remember the taste and texture clearly. Moist. Chewy. Smaller than store-bought loaves. Gone within two days because you had to eat it fresh. The smell alone would pull you downstairs. Thick slices topped with butter or melted cheese—often cheddar. As a kid, he loved simple melted cheese sandwiches, where the bread itself was the main event. Especially in the winter, it was pure comfort. Even now, while touring, Cory still seeks it out. A small bakery. A fresh loaf. Suddenly, he’s back in his childhood kitchen, flooded with memory. Of all breads, his favorite remains the simplest: a slice of fresh white loaf with cheddar on top. Not the healthiest—but deeply grounding. He also loved his mother’s seeded breads, which he now compares to musical texture—more layered, more complex—while white bread was uncomplicated joy.
These days, Cory and his family eat intentionally. His wife—who is fully blind—still cooks most of their meals, navigating the kitchen entirely by memory. Their daily routine includes vibrant salads with avocado, pomegranate, and seeds, yogurt topped with what she insists are very important seeds, and Brazil nuts. They allow themselves just a few “fun foods” a week—and one dessert. That dessert? Cory loves wildly indulgent ice cream—Ben & Jerry’s–style chocolate loaded with cookie dough, cookies and cream, caramel, Oreos. All of it. There are traditions, too. Every winter holiday, the family makes peppermint bark to give away. And growing up, Cory’s mother baked an Icelandic Vínarterta cake every year. He admits—laughing—that he didn’t actually love it, but he pretended to because she loved the tradition so much.
Food stories follow him everywhere—even to Prague. While recording “1-2-3-4-5-6-7 A Song” with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Cory jokingly sent photos of himself eating American fast food—Burger King, Mexican food—just to tease a very foodie collaborator. Of course, he also ate incredible Czech meals. But sometimes, the joke is worth it.
For this Lhyme feature, the food choice felt obvious. A perfectly comforting loaf of homemade white bread—simple, clean, and deeply satisfying. Toasted. Buttered. Finished with melted cheddar, just the way Cory loved it as a kid. Homemade bread is comfort made tangible. Warm, soft, and gently chewy, it fills the kitchen with a familiar, grounding aroma as it cools. The crust is just golden enough. Sliced thick, it’s perfect with butter or melted cheese, meant to be shared and enjoyed slowly. It’s the kind of food that brings people to the table—and reminds you why you stayed.
Served on its own and alongside a pot roast dish from another Lhyme feature, it unintentionally tied two stories into one complete meal. If you’re craving something warm, nostalgic, and grounding this season, check out the recipe below!
Homemade White Bread Loaf
*Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm milk (110°F)
- 1/2 cup warm water (110°F)
- 2 tablespoons pure cane sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast (one packet)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (plus more for brushing)
- 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil for oiling the bowl
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the warm milk, water, and sugar, then sprinkle the yeast on top.
- Let it sit for 8 minutes, until it becomes foamy.
- Add melted butter and sea salt.
- Stir in 2 ½ cups of flour; add the remaining flour little by little until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
- Knead by hand for 8-9 minutes, until smooth and elastic. The dough should be soft but not sticky — add one to two tablespoons more flour if needed.
- Place in a lightly oiled bowl.
- Cover and let rise 1 hour, or until doubled.
- Punch down the dough and roll it into a tight log.
- Place in a greased 9×5 loaf pan.
- Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake for 28–32 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
- Brush the hot loaf with melted butter. Cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
- Serve the bread toasted with a slice of melted cheddar cheese. Enjoy!
