The Ballad of Wallis Island screenwriters and co-stars Tom Basden and Tim Key recently embarked on a multi-day tour around Nashville as part of the promotion for their new film, which Scene critic Craig D. Lindsey calls “a quaint, quirky breath of fresh air” in this week's issue.
The English filmmakers went to a Nashville Predators game, shopped at Carter Vintage Guitars and, of course, took in the sights on Lower Broadway. The Scene caught up with the duo as they stopped by East Nashville record store The Groove for a Q&A, followed by a listening session of the film’s soundtrack.
Basden and Key, perhaps best known stateside for their television work, discussed the influences on what is a musical-performance-heavy film, the Nashville-adjacent artists they are fans of and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You guys are known for all these things — film, TV, comedy, poetry — and music's not necessarily at the top of the list. But when watching the film, it's clear that you have a passion for it. Where does that come from, and when did that start?
Tom Basden: I'd been doing musical comedy for some time. My first comedy shows of my own were songs, short songs, quite short and sort of silly comedy songs. But I guess I've liked the idea of doing more musical stuff over the years. And then when we made the first short film [which inspired the feature film], that was an opportunity to write a different type of song for a sort of fictional artist. And that was really fun. As with this film, it let me immerse myself in songwriting without the embarrassment of it being me and without it being songs that I'm releasing as myself. It was a kind of an alter-ego thing, which is very nice to avoid how exposing it can be.
Tim Key: He's much more into music than I am. In my solo work, when I'm doing live stuff, I love selecting the music and having this stuff underneath my show. So I'm always on the lookout for evocative music, which adds a little bit of emotion to the story, which is what happens in the film. When we first did the short film [that The Ballad of Wallis Island is adapted from], I think it was neither here nor there that it was about a musician when we started writing it because we hadn't heard the music. And then we had a discussion about how we would make the music, which was a no-brainer; [Basden would] just write the music and be the musician. … This was like a realization that he could actually also execute becoming a credible musician on camera, which is kind of spectacular to see. … You don't know until someone shows you what they can do exactly the extent of their talent.
When you hear “comedy” and “musical” together, you usually think of a parody film, but this is a comedy with really good music in it. Is that a tough tonal balance?
TB: Tonally, I think the kind of comedy that we have made over the years, and that we enjoy, is stuff that feels really grounded in reality and very truthful with really believable characters. We've never really written anything parodic or tried to do something cartoony. The characters have always had to feel really truthful. And I think that's the same for the things in the film. Whether it’s the music or the costumes, you want to feel authentic and for the audience to believe it’s real.
TK: With humor, you can take people in very different directions. It's a very powerful thing. ... And I think, obviously, music is as well but in totally different ways. So even when you were doing your songs onstage, he had no interest in just changing a few words from a famous song to get a cheap laugh. A lot of the songs worked because there was something very funny happening, but also he was actually writing a proper song.
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Are there any Nashville-adjacent artists who have inspired you?
TB: There are a lot of what you'd call country or alt-country artists like Gillian Welch or Jason Isbell or Ryan Adams that I've loved over the years and whose music definitely has had an influence on me and influenced the songwriting of this film because it's very emotional. [Country is] very emotionally raw, and I love that about it.
TK: We went to Rippy's yesterday afternoon, and there was a guy who came over to our table, and we had a nice chat with him. And then, a couple of minutes later, he's on the stage and just absolutely fantastic. So it feels like [Nashville is] kind of densely populated with incredibly talented musicians, and there’s not enough stages to accommodate them all at one time.
Were there any films that influenced you?
TB: Something like Inside Llewyn Davis was a real influence for me, the fantastic way they use fictional musicians, fictional songs in that to to just create this real character and and put him in the real world.
What stood out most to you on your tour around town?
TK: Walking down to Broadway … that's just great. This sort of thing that people here would be used to, that's quite a normal thing, but for us, [seeing] bar upon bar where there's live music and people completely into it … That's really exciting for us because there's nothing like that where we're from.
