Audio

The Conversation Hour (although technically 12 minutes and 49 seconds)

Well, first I thought this was just small blurb on ABC New South Wales Radio but it is actually an interview with the guys from The Conversation Hour with Richard Fidler. Anyhoo, have a listen to it here or in the audio section.

On their own, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are just two unassuming guys - but working together they make for a kind of folk-comedy explosion called The Flight of the Conchords. They describe themselves as ‘New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody act’ and have enjoyed total sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe. They currently have an arrangement with HBO in the US for a 12-episode TV series due to screen in 2007.

One of their songs is about girls wanting to kiss them (they hoped that if they wrote a song about it, it may happen - and it did!). “The first time it happened we didn’t know what to do. There was quite a big line… about ten girls (maybe seven - I was rounding up - using the Swedish rounding)… They were sort of like, ‘Come on, you said you were going to kiss us!’ and then we were like, ‘That’s just our characters’ - you’ve got to be careful what you wish for…”

Bret has quietly tasted success previously - as an elf in The Lord of the Rings. “I got to tell Arwen to hurry up,” he remembers. “It was crucial for the third film to succeed… Quietly, I think I influenced the success of the film. A lot of people don’t even know it’s me - even my family was surprised when I told them.”

From: ABC New South Wales - The Conversation Hour with Richard Fidler