Bret McKenzie on Flight of the Conchords, Hollywood and writing songs for frogs and unicorns

Bret McKenzie now mainly works on movie soundtracks, the Simpsons, Minecraft and the Muppets among them, which brings the pure delight of hearing his songs sung by Lady Gaga, Benedict Cumberbatch, Miss Piggy and Tony Bennett. He talks here about his early life in Wellington (ballet teacher Mum, racehorse trainer Dad), narrative comedy, songwriting heroes and his new album Freak Out City, and unravels New Zealand’s double-edged sense of humour. Along with …

 

… how Randy Newman pitches songs for soundtracks

 

… “the test of a good song works is if it works with just one instrument”

 

… lyrics he loved growing up like 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford – ‘Some people say a man is made out of mud/ A poor man's made out of muscle and blood’

 

… Morrissey’s wounded reaction to his sausage-firing Quilloughby on the Simpsons ‘Panic On The Streets Of Springfield’

 

... solving the “fun puzzles” of a song brief and writing for “donkeys who have a dream”

 

… the ingenious humour of John Prine, Harry Nilsson and Leonard Cohen

 

… the moment in his live shows where he asks the audience for a story and creates a song around it – “one woman suggested ‘falling out of love’ with her husband standing right beside her”

 

... playing the local girls schools aged 15 as the drummer in a James Brown funk band

 

… reworking rejected songs – “which was hard with one from Paddington with its multiple rhymes for marmalade and Peru”

 

… Flight Of The Conchords lampooning the acts they loved (Bowie, Pet Shop Boys) and playing the O2 – “pretending to be a stadium band and the audience pretending to be a stadium audience”

 

… live on-stage application of the John Lennon “pomegranate” lyric-solving technique

 

… “Play like a used car salesman! I need a Steely Dan solo here!” Recording with LA session legends like Leland Sklar.

 

Order Bret’s ‘Freak Out City’ album here: https://music.subpop.com/bretmckenzie_freakoutcity

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

 

Tour dates and tickets …

https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/bret-mckenzie-tickets/artist/5380913

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