Bret McKenzie
Bret McKenzie is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist most known for his work as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, whose witty songs and eponymous TV show brought him worldwide recognition.
McKenzie is internationally renowned for writing and performing funny, strange, and unique songs, primarily for film and television, but also live on stage with his touring band, the State Highway Wonders.
As a young adult Bret was an active part of the Wellington music scene playing in several bands across multiple genres. Amongst these, he was a founding member of the popular group The Black Seeds, a reggae funk phenomenon that went on to record multiple gold albums and tour extensively around the world. He was also heavily involved in the local theatre scene, performing regularly in different comedy productions, where he developed a friendship with a large community of artists including long time collaborators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.
In 2000 he was cast as an extra in the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, and was unexpectedly catapulted to fame as a background elf that garnered an abnormal amount of attention from the Tolkien fans.
Around the same time The Flight of the Conchords emerged from this prolific Wellington artistic community and Bret spent several years touring comedy festivals in Australia, Canada and the UK with his bandmate Jemaine. They made a radio show for the BBC, followed by a TV show for HBO that became a cult classic and propelled the pair to international fame. They released one EP and three albums with Sub Pop Records, winning the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2008 and opening the doors to working in the American film industry.
Now an established songwriter and performer in his own right, Bret released his second solo album, Freak Out City, in August 2025 (Sub Pop). Written and developed on the road with his eight-piece band of renowned Aotearoa New Zealand musicians, the album was recorded in both Los Angeles and New Zealand and co-produced by Bret and his long-time collaborator Mickey Petralia. Bret and his band completed an international tour in October 2025 with sold-out shows across the US and UK, later bringing additional dates to Australia and New Zealand in March and April of this year.