Flight of the conchords: they crashed and burned as a fledgling folk-rock band and were condemned to opening for stand-ups. But now these musical mischief-makers are having the last laugh

"One of our earliest songs was about three people being lost at sea on a boat and being forced to eat each other. That was our take on a Russian folk-waltz," says Bret McKenzie, one half of the musical comedy act Flight of the Conchords. The other half, Jemaine Clement, paints an even bleaker picture: "In one of our first groups there were five of us all playing Casiotones. We only knew one song, 'Telephone Line' by ELO."

New Zealand natives McKenzie, 31, and Clement, 33, who began playing together as roommates, admit musical success was never in the cards. "We didn't have any ambitions, but we wanted to play [music] before the comedy," Clement explains. "And the first night they put us onstage with the comedians."

And with good reason: Imagine two awkward hipsters with acoustic guitars belting out heartfelt tracks like "Angels," which is about sex in heaven; and "Albi the Racist Dragon," the story of a cottage-cheese-cottage-dwelling creature who learns to overcome his distaste for Albanians.

HBO dug it. Following the Conchords' 2005 performance on the network's comedy showcase One Night Stand, it signed the pair to a 12-episode series. The appropriately titled Flight of the Conchords, which premiered in June, follows Clement and McKenzie's ill-fated attempts to make it big--on the music scene and with the ladies--in New York City.

"Musical comedy can go so wrong," McKenzie says. "But we put a lot of care into both sides of it, so hopefully we get it right."

Martha Tuber is an assistant editor at Interview.

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