FoTC FAQ
Flight of The Conchords
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Click the links below or simply scroll down to view the FAQ Conchords blurb
Who the folk are Flight of The Conchords?
How did the comedy genius that is F o
The C happen?
What the folk is their sound?
Are they that folking funny?
Where the folk can I see them?
In their own words
Exclusive Q & A on What The Folk!
with the guys in November 2005
Can I contact the muthafolkas?
Who the folk are Flight of The Conchords?
FoTC (as I shall type hereafter to save
finger wear and tear) are Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.
They used to be "New Zealand's 4th most popular guitar-based
digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo". Now they
are "the almost award-winning fourth-most-popular folk
duo in New Zealand."
They look like no one you know. Probably.
If they do RUN... RUN AWAY...
Flight of The Conchords
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How did the comedy genius that is F o
The C happen?
Once upon a time, a long long time ago,
in a land far far away lived two guys.... Actually it was
Wellington in New Zealand. And it was the late 90's. Bret
and Jemaine were flatmates back then and both dropped out
of university. Bret "dribbled on for ages" studying
English and music at Victoria University while Jemaine attempted
to study film and theatre but eventually gave that up. In
1998, they were sharing an old villa in Mt Victoria and performing
in local productions around town.
Jemaine was writing and performing in Skitz
and also teamed up with fellow comedian, Taika Waititi (Taika
Cohen), as Humourbeasts, a comedy production which won the
Billy T comedy award in 1999. McKenzie was a keyboard player,
but both flatmates decided they wanted to learn the guitar
also, and started writing songs.
Of their first gig at the Indigo bar Jemaine
says "We thought we were going to be the band that played
that night. We had about three songs we had written. But we
just started being thecomedy act. People were laughing at
our songs and we went back every two weeks".
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What the folk is their sound?
The Sonic Boom! Two guys with guitars (some
other funny looking instruments have been known to put in
the occasional appearance). They write their own lyrics and
music, and are very humorous laid back performers who do a
mean Bowie impersonation. It should be noted that chairs are
a great deal more interesting with the guys sat on them.
A bit about F o The C material
Conchords EP The Distant Future released on SubPop in August 2007. A full length Conchords album is due early next year.
Flight of The Conchords have released
one CD of live songs. Their Folk
The World CD was self funded back in 2002. Check out audio snippets of the Flight of The Conchords Folk
The World CD at SmokeCd’s.
The Conchords have also made a 6 part BBC radio show and it was released May 1 2006. Online purchase info. Read more about the show on the WTF! forum
I
tend to think of them as comedians first when it comes to
material they put out. Don't yell at me for their lack of
CD's. I don't expect them to release albums or DVD's of live
shows like bands might. But thats just me. Comedians do release
DVD's and CD's of their shows, so give the guys some time
and I am sure it will happen. The guys have been around a
fair whiles now, and tend not to rush anything. They also
work on other projects outside of the Conchords and can be
off doing other things for months at a time. Hence it sometimes
goes very quiet on the Conchords front for months at a time.
New tracks
available on What The Folk. To hear/see/download live tracks
from the guys go to the Sound or Vision pages. MP3 and WMA format
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Are they that folking funny?
I could lie and say yes, but I won’t.
They are better than *that*. They folk! Combining music with
humour and the fact that they can play more than three chords
apiece is another plus point. Met the guys back in 2002, they
made me laugh, I had a vision and threw together this site.
Rumors that they are paying me a fortune are completely (un)true.
The sound of Jemaine’s voice crooning sexy French words
is reason enough. *Le baguette* takes on a whole new meaning.
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Where the folk can I see them?
If you are lucky enough to live in New Zealand,
occasional sightings have been known. The guys have been seen
out and about performing at The
Classic and also the Indigo bar (now known as the San Francisco Bathhouse) and BATS.
2002 - 2004 saw the guys
performing at the Edinburgh
Fringe. In Edinburgh, Scotland no less. (Yeah, well, YOU
try writing this!) See Folk
The Fringe for write ups from Edinburgh. They have also
been known to do small tours, and play various other comedy
festivals as far afield as NZ, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands,
US, UK and Ireland. More
recently they appeared in New York with Demetri
Martin and also in LA
2005 saw them out and about
in London, UK, recording a 6
part radio show for BBC Radio 2. It aired in September
2005 and was pretty popular. The guys became something of
a cult hit with colleges and universities up and down the UK
and quoting lines from the show the night before became the
done thing. A CD of this show was released May 1 2006.
An HBO
special, One Night Stand was also recorded the summer
of 2005 and aired in the autumn in the US on HBO. 30 whole
minutes of Conchord goodness. Read more about it HERE.
Its been well received and is still proving popular. No news of it being released on DVD.
Flight of The Conchords have also had guest
appearance on Conan O'Brian and ..... . Bret's jersey/sweater/jumper
proved the biggest hit and has its own fan club.
2006 saw the Conchords back in New Zeland supporting Bic Runga on her national tour and in the US at various gigs and recording their HBO pilot show in New York. They were also in Austin, Texas at SXSW in March 2006.
2007 - Late 2006 saw the Conchords heading back to the US to write their HBO comedy series. It began filming in March 2007 in New York and wrapped in late June and the guys returned to LA to finish recording their first full studio album.
Check the Gig Info page for recent
updates on gigs.
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In their own words
What The Folk! has an extensive online archive of all Conchords articles and interviews. View the full listings - Conchords articles and scans or Conchords HBO articles (for all news articles regarding the Flight of The Conchords HBO television series)
NZ Listener Conchords article and magazine scans - From Dec 2006. 4 page article.
"Most comedians are more serious about
comedy than we are," says Clement. "What we do is
a hybrid of us playing music and comedy."
McKenzie has a different way of putting
it. Sucking another Snifter lolly, he says perhaps they appeal
"because a lot of comedians actually want to be rock
stars. They wear cowboy hats and make-up. We're not that way.
We're a little bit country bumpkin".
Gone is their claim to be "the world's
foremost guitar-based digi-bongo acapella rap-funk comedy
fold duo." Now they are simply "the almost award-winning
fourth-most-popular folk duo in New Zealand."
Bret himself admits "when you describe
it as musical comedy…I wouldn't go to it!"
"Occasionally one of us writes the
whole thing, but usually we write them together." explains
Jemaine. "Sometimes it comes from a tune and sometimes
just from a sketch idea or a concept. There is no reliable
system, or we'd have a lot more songs if we knew the system".
North and South magazine article May 2006. 9 pages of Conchord goodness here on What The Folk!
Bret: "We wanted to learn how to
play guitar and we were learning together and started writing
songs and we started doing gigs but only very occasionally".
Jemaine: "It's only been in the
last couple of years that we've been doing it more often".
Bret: "We were going to be the
band at a comedy night".
Jemaine: "A new comedy night was
starting in Wellington".
Bret: "We were the band while the
audience came in".
Jemaine: "We got up there
and started playing in the background. The songs were quite
weird and funny and…you just can't stop people from
listening! Well, sometimes you can".
FoTC - London summer 2005
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Exclusive Q & A on What The Folk!
with the guys in November 2005
You may remember a while back I mentioned
about how The Guys/Bret and Jemaine/Flight of the Conchords/F
o The C, had said yes to answering some questions put to them
by fans here on What The Folk! <insert shameless plug here>
As its What The Folk's! third birthday during November 2005
they were happy to help me celebrate by taking part in a Q
& A.
After much merriment, sorting and agonising
of questions sent in, and a few emails to and fro, I felt
the guys would be running for the hills. But no! Jemaine emailed
back again and asked if anyone had any questions for Brian
their manager also. And some guy named Rhys. So those were
duly added. Wahey This is almost too easy I thought....
Time passed slowly. Occasionally it felt
like it had stopped. I double checked the earth was still
spinning on its axis and was duly informed by the man at the
Department for the Enviroment that no, time was not broken,
nor did it need speeding up any, and yes, the last time he
had looked out his window the earth appeared to still be moving
round. I thought he might be faking the last part by sitting
by the window and on a fancy desk chair that spins right the
way round. You know the ones that make you go dizzy if you
whizz round quick enough. Lots. Then stand up quick and watch
yourself topple....or try to...
I poked the guys with sticks only once.
And Jemaine dropped a line letting me know that Brian had
answered already, he was working on his and who knew what
Bret was up to. But we were getting there.
Anyways, this morning I awoke to an email
from The Guys. Well, Jemaine to be exact. He said "Here are Rhys' and my answers. Bret's touring Aussie
with the Black Seeds so I don't know when he'll get a chance
to do his."
I smiled lots when I read this, and I have
to admit, it did not come as a huge surprise. But yay and
yayness, we got some much anticipated answers to some burning
questions. Only not from Bret. Yet. I am hoping that he will
answer sometime in the not to distant future though. In the
meantime I thought it would not be fair to keep you all hanging
on. So here, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, is
the Question and Answer session with (Bret) and Jemaine. And
Brian. And Rhys.
Please credit What The Folk! if you mention
this Q&A stuff anywhere else online. Its always nice to
credit the source. The guys gave their time, I gave mine,
so take a minute of yours. Thanks.
READ THE EXCLUSIVE Q
& A WITH THE CONCHORDS HERE
JEMAINE'S EXCLUSIVE
Q & A HERE
BRIAN
NESBITT'S EXCLUSIVE (Rhys Darby) Q & A HERE
BRET'S BEEN OTHERWISE DISTRACTED BY TOURING
- His to follow later.
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Can I contact the muthafolkas?
In a word *snurglewafalobawhoosh*.
But by all means email
me. I threw together this site as I liked the guys and
loved their show. Honestly? I was bored and needed something
to pass the time. There is only so much I can tolerate before
insanity sets in. A temple of folk, a place for the lost to
find their way. If you find it here then I suggest therapy
asap. There is an official
Conchords site. Go there if you are looking to email them.
All comments/feedback are welcome
from people who know what a spollchuck function is. And how
to use it!
The 2003 tour poster for High
On Folk
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