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

Hitting 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. We talked to director Rick Alverson about how he chose the music for his sub-cultural soundtrack.

Hitting 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.

“Artists like Amanaz and Bill Fey, they’re not necessarily difficult to find, but they’re a sub-cultural kind of music. It was really important to me that we illustrated that these men who seem like buffoons are educated, that they have an interest in culture. I wanted to use music that’s not really commonplace and shows an interest in culture. Much of it’s being played in the characters’ houses.

When the music is environmental, it doesn’t really matter if the filmmaker likes it or not. With the exception of the William Basinski, which was utilized more like a score, all of the vocal songs are very much set design. I love the Gayngs record for a number of conflicting reasons. This idea of soft rock and white R&B might’ve had ironic beginnings, but once that irony is stripped away, at the core there’s a real love of the music.

I’m also a big fan of ambient music. When I juxtapose these things with the images, what I’m looking for is music that doesn’t simplify too much — that has some use, has some contrast, and heightens the experience to some degree. But it stops being intellectual. Ultimately, you’re dealing with mood in the same way that if you’re sitting down to have dinner you put on a certain record.”