February 6, 2026 • 7 mins
The extraordinary Bret McKenzie joins Jonesy & Amanda to chat about his upcoming Aussie tour!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
My Heart podcasts here, more gold one on one point
seven podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the free iHeart app.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You're listening to the Jonesy and Demanda podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Who Doesn't Love Brett McKenzie.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
He is, of course, one half of the Kiwi musical
comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. He's also the songwriting
powerhouse behind the movies The Muppets. I found one of
the songs in the Muppets. That's the one he want
an Academy Award for Man or Muppets so moving. I
wept during it. Imagine crying in a Muppets movie. He's
also done the music for Minecraft, the movie. He is
(00:43):
a genius. Will Brace Yourself Soon. He's heading across the
Tasman to us to bring his tour to our shores,
and he joins us.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Now Brett mackenzie, Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hey Jones, Hey man, thanks for that.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
I was going to do a roll call. I was
going to say, I can't, let's do a role call,
but I thought.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You know, Brett's here.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
That's right, Jones, Murray, we can we can start the
we can start the interview.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But it's so great to talk to you.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
I must say, Flight of the Conchords was something that
bonded me with my son and my nephew or anyone
around that age. It was something that we could all
share as far as you know, just phrases from the
show and things like that.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It was such a such a great show.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Oh thank you. Yeah, we were so lucky. A few
people have come up to us over the years and
said that it was one of those shows they could
watch with their teenage kids or the kids. And then
now those kids are adults, they've all grown up. But
there was quite a cool show for connecting people. And
I've got that. I've got young kids now, and so
I do know what they mean. Like when you find
a show that everyone can watch together, it's such a
(01:41):
win for the family.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
What are the phrases that people most quote to you
from the show?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Britt, You've got it going on? Often shouted across the
street at me.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Because as long as it's not it's business.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
That's right. And then often sometimes you know my name
Brett when the America, you got called brit in America
because the accent and everything. And sometimes in America I
go into a cafe and order a takeaway coffee and
they say what's your name? And I say Brett, and
they got someone goes Britt and I don't know Brett.
And then it continues to play out and you see
someone on the line who's a conference fan can't believe
(02:20):
that this is happening in real life.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
There's such a look at your big, open, beautiful face.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Is it fun to play gormless or is gormless also
part of your personality?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I definitely lean into the TV show. We lean into
being naive and not knowing what's going on. I think
I am pretty open minded to being so naive is
not the right word, you know, but I'm open to think.
I try to stay open and kind of I haven't
gone down the rabbit hole yet. I'm still, you know,
believe in humanity.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
But also, you've composed so many I didn't realize I
was just reading here that you composed from The Simpsons
that Homer goes through the windshield.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
And the Simpson. Is so fun writing for The Simpsons
because you do the demo and then you email it
off and then and then it comes back and it's
got the Simpson singing it. Yeah, it's a really cool
gig here.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
You've won an Oscar, You've won a Grammy, which is
the one that's that people are most impressed by at
a barbecue.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
I would recommend winning an Oscar if you're looking for
barbecue credibility.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, because i'd imagine handy one.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
It's a good one.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And it'd be like that scene from Notting Hill.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
You're standing there and someone says, so what do you
do and you say, well, I'm you know, I'm in
I'm in the arts, and I go, good for you,
that's right.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I remember one time when i'd left. I did a
lot of theater at school and was in bands at school.
And I remember I went to like a kind of
a sort of traditional boys college, you know, like we
were uniforms and and and I remember when I was nineteen,
I was at university and I got one of those
student jobs. And the job I got was wearing a
costume of a boat to promote the local theory. And
(04:06):
I was standing down in the business district in Wellington
ending out flyers for the Fury and I was I didn't.
I was like, oh that's not bad, you know, twenty
five an hour or something. This is a good Saturday
morning job. And then this guy walks up in a
suit and he's like, bread, how's it going? Didn't see
me at school? And he was like, he's like, are
you're still You're still doing the theater?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, at least you got a little tug.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
I haven't think about that here. You know, you go
down a circular key in Sydney and there's a dude.
He was dressed up as Captain Cook for Captain Cook
Cruisers and many time after a few drinks I have
gone past and I said, are you actually a mascot or.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You indeed Captain Cook?
Speaker 5 (04:47):
And you're trying to get back to your time a
bit like Kate and Leopold.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Now he's a nighter graduate who's cranky as hell.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The Nike shoes gave that away.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Yeah, yeah, excuse me with your show?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I mean you're you're a comedian, you're a musician, you're
a storyteller.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
What what kind of what breat do we get at
the show?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Show?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah? Well the tour, I'm bringing a giant band, an
eight piece band from museum and the show is a
kind of live mixture of a music gig. So when
the band kicks in, it's a full sounds awesome I've
got like horns and backing singers, and the band's really cool.
And then in between songs, I start telling stories from
TV and film and you know, traveling and you know,
(05:26):
anecdotes and stuff. And then I play a mixture of
new songs from the records I've done, and then songs
from Simpsons and Concords and Muppets, and the show really
ends up being kind of a mixture of music. It
really is a mixture of music and comedy. Like the
audience is laughing, but then they're also being swept away
by music. So that's that's the kind of world where
(05:46):
I love to play.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, with the Muppets, I mean, you've worked with Celene
Dion and obviously Kermit and Tony Bennett, who was the
most impressive the one you went, you know, the pinch
me moment, someone who lived up to being a hero. Ooh.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I did a session with Mickey Rooney Uppets and that
was kind of that was crazy because he was in
his nineties and we had this one line. We needed
him to come to the studio and sing this one line.
And I mean, that's just someone who is so part
of Hollywood history, that's like so deep you know, it
was amazing. He walked in and what was bizarre was
(06:24):
he also had he couldn't sing the part. His daughter
was like looking after him and he had to take
his false teeth out because they were creating a weird
harmonic sort of tone in the recording. So it was
kind of amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And then I.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Remember we did the take. We did a couple of
takes and you know, you're a studio. You go, Okay,
that sounds great, Now could you do it with a
bit more energy or give it something? And then and
he goes, oh, no, I think you've got it. I mean,
and then he stepped away from the microphone. Was like, yep, well,
if Mickey Rooney thinks he has done, then you've done. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Sometimes teeth back in and had on out.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah he's you go, yeah. He was great.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And then I did a session with Lizzo that was
also really cool. She's so funny. She was doing The
Simpsons doing a song on Thissen's and she's super funny,
but also just sings like you'd imagine and sounds you.
Sometimes you write a song and someone who's like that
sings it, and it's so cool hearing something that you've
written transcend with an amazing singer like that. That's cool.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
It's just cool just to even talk to you.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
And of course the new album freak Out City is
out and you come into town, it's just going to
be it's just gonna be great to see you. And
you've got your band. The band's not split ends, is it?
By any chance you could kill two?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, there's a couple of other New Zealand beds.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
We will claim them as our own if you don't mind. Brett,
Thank you, Yeah, yeah, great, Brett.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It's so good to talk to you. For tickets and
tour information, head to tag dainty dot com dot are
you Brett McKenzie, thank you for joining us, Thanks for
having me here.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Thanks Brett.
My Heart podcasts here, more gold one on one point
seven podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the free iHeart app.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You're listening to the Jonesy and Demanda podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Who Doesn't Love Brett McKenzie.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
He is, of course, one half of the Kiwi musical
comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. He's also the songwriting
powerhouse behind the movies The Muppets. I found one of
the songs in the Muppets. That's the one he want
an Academy Award for Man or Muppets so moving. I
wept during it. Imagine crying in a Muppets movie. He's
also done the music for Minecraft, the movie. He is
(00:43):
a genius. Will Brace Yourself Soon. He's heading across the
Tasman to us to bring his tour to our shores,
and he joins us.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Now Brett mackenzie, Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hey Jones, Hey man, thanks for that.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
I was going to do a roll call. I was
going to say, I can't, let's do a role call,
but I thought.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You know, Brett's here.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
That's right, Jones, Murray, we can we can start the
we can start the interview.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But it's so great to talk to you.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
I must say, Flight of the Conchords was something that
bonded me with my son and my nephew or anyone
around that age. It was something that we could all
share as far as you know, just phrases from the
show and things like that.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It was such a such a great show.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Oh thank you. Yeah, we were so lucky. A few
people have come up to us over the years and
said that it was one of those shows they could
watch with their teenage kids or the kids. And then
now those kids are adults, they've all grown up. But
there was quite a cool show for connecting people. And
I've got that. I've got young kids now, and so
I do know what they mean. Like when you find
a show that everyone can watch together, it's such a
(01:41):
win for the family.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
What are the phrases that people most quote to you
from the show?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Britt, You've got it going on? Often shouted across the
street at me.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Because as long as it's not it's business.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
That's right. And then often sometimes you know my name
Brett when the America, you got called brit in America
because the accent and everything. And sometimes in America I
go into a cafe and order a takeaway coffee and
they say what's your name? And I say Brett, and
they got someone goes Britt and I don't know Brett.
And then it continues to play out and you see
someone on the line who's a conference fan can't believe
(02:20):
that this is happening in real life.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
There's such a look at your big, open, beautiful face.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Is it fun to play gormless or is gormless also
part of your personality?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I definitely lean into the TV show. We lean into
being naive and not knowing what's going on. I think
I am pretty open minded to being so naive is
not the right word, you know, but I'm open to think.
I try to stay open and kind of I haven't
gone down the rabbit hole yet. I'm still, you know,
believe in humanity.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
But also, you've composed so many I didn't realize I
was just reading here that you composed from The Simpsons
that Homer goes through the windshield.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
And the Simpson. Is so fun writing for The Simpsons
because you do the demo and then you email it
off and then and then it comes back and it's
got the Simpson singing it. Yeah, it's a really cool
gig here.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
You've won an Oscar, You've won a Grammy, which is
the one that's that people are most impressed by at
a barbecue.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
I would recommend winning an Oscar if you're looking for
barbecue credibility.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, because i'd imagine handy one.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
It's a good one.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
And it'd be like that scene from Notting Hill.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
You're standing there and someone says, so what do you
do and you say, well, I'm you know, I'm in
I'm in the arts, and I go, good for you,
that's right.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I remember one time when i'd left. I did a
lot of theater at school and was in bands at school.
And I remember I went to like a kind of
a sort of traditional boys college, you know, like we
were uniforms and and and I remember when I was nineteen,
I was at university and I got one of those
student jobs. And the job I got was wearing a
costume of a boat to promote the local theory. And
(04:06):
I was standing down in the business district in Wellington
ending out flyers for the Fury and I was I didn't.
I was like, oh that's not bad, you know, twenty
five an hour or something. This is a good Saturday
morning job. And then this guy walks up in a
suit and he's like, bread, how's it going? Didn't see
me at school? And he was like, he's like, are
you're still You're still doing the theater?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, at least you got a little tug.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
I haven't think about that here. You know, you go
down a circular key in Sydney and there's a dude.
He was dressed up as Captain Cook for Captain Cook
Cruisers and many time after a few drinks I have
gone past and I said, are you actually a mascot or.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You indeed Captain Cook?
Speaker 5 (04:47):
And you're trying to get back to your time a
bit like Kate and Leopold.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Now he's a nighter graduate who's cranky as hell.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The Nike shoes gave that away.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Yeah, yeah, excuse me with your show?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I mean you're you're a comedian, you're a musician, you're
a storyteller.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
What what kind of what breat do we get at
the show?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Show?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah? Well the tour, I'm bringing a giant band, an
eight piece band from museum and the show is a
kind of live mixture of a music gig. So when
the band kicks in, it's a full sounds awesome I've
got like horns and backing singers, and the band's really cool.
And then in between songs, I start telling stories from
TV and film and you know, traveling and you know,
(05:26):
anecdotes and stuff. And then I play a mixture of
new songs from the records I've done, and then songs
from Simpsons and Concords and Muppets, and the show really
ends up being kind of a mixture of music. It
really is a mixture of music and comedy. Like the
audience is laughing, but then they're also being swept away
by music. So that's that's the kind of world where
(05:46):
I love to play.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, with the Muppets, I mean, you've worked with Celene
Dion and obviously Kermit and Tony Bennett, who was the
most impressive the one you went, you know, the pinch
me moment, someone who lived up to being a hero. Ooh.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I did a session with Mickey Rooney Uppets and that
was kind of that was crazy because he was in
his nineties and we had this one line. We needed
him to come to the studio and sing this one line.
And I mean, that's just someone who is so part
of Hollywood history, that's like so deep you know, it
was amazing. He walked in and what was bizarre was
(06:24):
he also had he couldn't sing the part. His daughter
was like looking after him and he had to take
his false teeth out because they were creating a weird
harmonic sort of tone in the recording. So it was
kind of amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And then I.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Remember we did the take. We did a couple of
takes and you know, you're a studio. You go, Okay,
that sounds great, Now could you do it with a
bit more energy or give it something? And then and
he goes, oh, no, I think you've got it. I mean,
and then he stepped away from the microphone. Was like, yep, well,
if Mickey Rooney thinks he has done, then you've done. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Sometimes teeth back in and had on out.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah he's you go, yeah. He was great.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And then I did a session with Lizzo that was
also really cool. She's so funny. She was doing The
Simpsons doing a song on Thissen's and she's super funny,
but also just sings like you'd imagine and sounds you.
Sometimes you write a song and someone who's like that
sings it, and it's so cool hearing something that you've
written transcend with an amazing singer like that. That's cool.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
It's just cool just to even talk to you.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
And of course the new album freak Out City is
out and you come into town, it's just going to
be it's just gonna be great to see you. And
you've got your band. The band's not split ends, is it?
By any chance you could kill two?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, there's a couple of other New Zealand beds.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
We will claim them as our own if you don't mind. Brett,
Thank you, Yeah, yeah, great, Brett.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It's so good to talk to you. For tickets and
tour information, head to tag dainty dot com dot are
you Brett McKenzie, thank you for joining us, Thanks for
having me here.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Thanks Brett.
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