Flight of the Conchords will tour again, according to one half of the iconic comedy duo, Bret McKenzie.
In a recent chat with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, he insisted they will be back after keeping busy on different projects in recent years — McKenzie with his own music and film work, and his counterpart Jemaine Clement with notable works like Wellington Paranormal and the Emmy-nominated What We Do in the Shadows.
As time passed, the band struggled to find fresh material, but he emphasised that they aren’t yet finished.
“I think we sort of ran out of creative themes in terms of coming up with new ideas,” he told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
“In recent times when we do songwriting sessions, we’ve written like over 50 comedy songs, we come up with an idea and then we go, ‘Actually, it’s a lot like… we’ve already done this. It’s like another version of the same song’.”
What’s harder, McKenzie admitted, is finding the spaces they haven’t yet explored, “because there are less of them”.
“It’s not that they’re not there, it’s just that there’s a bit more work involved in finding new material.”
Flight of the Conchords rose to global fame in the late 2000s after their self-titled HBO series which turned awkward Kiwi humour into an international hit. It remains one of HBO’s most celebrated comedies, despite only running for two seasons.
“…Overnight people started recognising us and following us down the street. By the second season, it was much harder to film in public in New York,” he said.
Talk of a third season has persisted, though McKenzie said the band’s elusiveness has only cemented their reputation.
“It’s ironic that by not doing as much, we’ve become more famous,” he joked.
During a tour, referencing older material wouldn’t be all bad then, given its success. In fact, McKenzie was sure the jokes would age well.
Poking fun at half a set usually being a “variation of dick jokes”, he said: “I have a feeling that as we get older, I just think there’s something that could be really funny about a couple of old dudes singing ‘Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor’. Whereas a couple of 40 year olds is, it’s just a bit creepy.”
One thing was clear, he isn’t done with Flight of the Conchords: “I think we’ll do some more touring stuff. It’s really fun.”
McKenzie also confirmed he will tour Australia early next year to promote his second solo album, Freak Out City.
The new album, which follows his 2022 debut Songs Without Jokes, reflects a more playful and optimistic approach to solo music, after “obsessively trying to not be funny” the first time around.