The Comedy director Rick Alverson on creating a sub-cultural soundtrack

The ComedyHitting theaters last November after a Sundance debut, The Comedy is a “hipster”-driven character study that steeps in irony, reflected first and foremost by its title. Director Rick Alverson describes the film — which stars Tim Heidecker of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! — as depicting characters who are “as sympathetic as they are reprehensible, living in a progressively malignant social paradise.”

But for as notable as the film’s premise is, its ties to music and its unconventional soundtrack make The Comedy more than the typical art film. Alverson — the former front-man of the quiet, experimental pop band Spokane — called on his friends in the Jagjaguwar family for the film’s musical backdrop, which contrasts uncomfortable and antagonistic situations with the ambient music of William Basinski, the soft rock/R&B of mega-group Gayngs, the hazy indie sounds of Gardens & Villa, and more.

Here Alverson walks us through his intentions for the obscure soundtrack.

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