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The Big Picture
- Andrew Gower discusses working with famed composer Bear McCreary on Gustaffson's new single "Flowers."
- Gower also teases whether there could be more story to tell in his new British detective series Inspector Ellis .
- He also looks back at his work in series like Being Human , Murdoch Mysteries , and more.
Gustaffson returns to vastly improve a dreary November with a brand-new music video to support the release of their second single “Flowers,” off their forthcoming album "Black & White Movie.” Andrew Gower once again crafts something remarkably profound out of the mundane with his lyrics, and that is a theme that bleeds through every corner of the music video under the sharp direction of Myriam Raja (Topboy).
For those who have watched the music video for Gustaffson’s EP track “The Jacaranda,” you may notice a connection between the two. Not only is the dreamy tune playing in the background as Franke (Jamie Harris) wanders into the pub, but there are visual recalls that I was keen to ask Gower about. Alongside Harris, who appeared opposite Gower in Carnival Row, “Flowers” features the talented footwork of Hamish Longley and Jade Longley.
“Flowers” also marks the first musical collaboration between Gower and the acclaimed composer Bear McCreary, whose scores can be heard bewitching the audiences of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Foundation, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Walking Dead, and, most notably, Outlander, where the two musicians first met.
Where "On Broadway" explored the themes of theatrical injustice and the sharp contrast between the promise of warmth within Broadway's theaters and the isolating chill of the world beyond their doors, "Flowers" has the charm of familiarity on its side. It is a very stripped-down track, a haunting melody weaved through Gower's entrancing vocals and the simple piano chords. The music video perfectly brings to life the tone that the lyrics craft, giving visuals to concepts of heartbreak, young love lost, and the tragic beauty of vibrant flowers withering away.
I'm a huge believer in inviting people into projects who elevate your work.
Last month, I chatted with Gustaffson’s frontman ahead of the release of the band’s music video for the album's first single “On Broadway,” and—as promised—here is the rest of that interview. During the wide-ranging conversation, we spoke about the beautiful music video they shot for their new release “Flowers,” Gower’s philosophy of working with other talented performers to help elevate their work, and where the idea for the music video came from.
In addition to discussing “Flowers,” we also spoke about his latest work in the now-hit British detective series Inspector Ellis, his two-episode arc on Murdoch Mysteries, Being Human, and how Gower’s role in the criminally underrated Frankenstein’s Wedding played a part in the new music video. You can read the full transcript below, and be sure to check out “Flowers” now.
How "Flowers" Connects Back to "The Jacaranda"
COLLIDER: I love that “The Jacaranda” is playing in the background at the start of the music video. It's great. In the music video for “The Jacaranda,” Eileen walks past this dancing couple, and I was wondering if there's any kind of connection between the two songs.
GOWER: The jacaranda is a flower. There's something beautiful about how things get interlinked — it happens a lot in film and TV — and we always imagine that. But it was our amazing editor, John Dwelly, who did I May Destroy You and Top Boy with our amazing director, Myriam Raja. They both worked on Top Boy together. We'd recorded a load of background noise to fill the space with, but he had the idea of interlinking “The Jacaranda” to this video. It's so funny, with that kind of intention, it's created this amazing throughline of the two stories.
The whole track is, I'd say, the extraordinary and the ordinary. [He is] somebody who turns up to a pub every day of his life with two pints. He's a regular. He sits down, and he does the crossword. And for something like that to happen in a social club that I grew up in, in that environment, going there with my mum and dad and my nan and granddad in those buildings. To see the extraordinary happen there, I love stuff like that with film and TV.
I'd actually written down the way that I liked both of those music videos because they make something profound out of the mundane, like going down for a pint or even nipping off to the cafe for a cup of tea. I love that both of these music videos really make something profound out of ordinary moments throughout life.
GOWER: Thanks, Maggie.
I'm curious, where did this idea come from for this music video? It's beautiful. I love this idea of their dance becoming out of sync, and they're doing different things as they're falling apart. It's very poignant.
GOWER: It came from an idea I've had for a while. I did a project called Frankenstein's Wedding, and Hamish [Longley] was a dancer who played my younger brother in that project. I followed his career as a dancer. In life, the emotion that sticks with you and can grow forever is regret. It's the emotion that can actually stay with you and become even larger than the initial feeling. I had that idea of regret and it being in a social club, and it revolving around these dancers. But then it was the back and forth with myself and Myriam that we decided to integrate the flowers and the dance aspect being an open reflection — because I don't like to spoon-feed audiences — of what that regret is, like, who is Frankie to the dancers, and what is that space? But the fundamental theme of it was the extraordinary in the ordinary, and finding that in the video.
Andrew Gower's Role in 'Outlander' Led to Bear McCreary's Collaboration on "Flowers"
Image via Starz You also worked with Bear McCreary on this song, which is just fantastic. What was it like getting to collaborate with him?
GOWER: We met in 2015 on Outlander, Season 2. When we released our first EP, he was such an advocate for the music. He's a genius. He's got his music across so many iconic TV shows — The Walking Dead, Outlander, The Lord of the Rings [The Rings of Power] recently — but his CV is just stupendous. I always had the intention of inviting him onto the album, and I gave him a call and said, “Look, we’d love you on the album.” He said, “Well, what songs would you like me to work on?” I said, “I'll send you them all.” He'd seen a live version of “Flowers” that we recorded at St. Oswald's Church, and he said, “Who's on “Flowers”?” I said, “Well, no one.” I was in Manchester, he was in LA, and he said, “I want “Flowers.” We all celebrated in the studio across the pond.
He sent his first stems over. Again, I'm a huge believer in inviting people into projects who elevate your work. There's no fear of mine in that. I love collaboration. It's why I wanna be in the room with the bassist, the guitarist, the pianist, and the drummer. It's why I wanna work with Craig from Elbow and invite these people in because of collaboration. It's why I'm an actor and a musician. I think it's the most exciting thing. And I can't thank Bear and Sir Ben Kingsley, who's on the album, enough for coming in and elevating Gustaffson's work. It's amazing.
It is. He's honestly just one of the best in the business now. It's remarkable what he is able to make. You mentioned Frankenstein's Wedding , so I have to talk about it because that is one of my favorite projects you've ever done. [Laughs] I think that was actually the first thing I got to ask you during the Carnival Row junket, because I was like, “I have to ask about it!”
GOWER: Where did you find that one?
I watched it in my college dorm, and I was like, “This is great.” It was so unique. That's something I really like, talking about collaboration and acting and music, is when people take risks, and they do weird things. I've never seen anything like that again, and I'm really curious, what was the audition process like for that? Were you drawn to it because there was the musical component to it?
GOWER: Yeah, I think the musical component actually took me by surprise. I knew there was music in it, but I didn't know that it was gonna be live. I didn't know it was gonna be in front of 12,000 people and then also on BBC Three. That was my second job out of drama school, and I still think it taught me so much as an actor. But I do agree with you, I think the risk-taking… I mean, the best TV shows, the best projects, there's always an element of risk. I've made this album without a label and without management. I've collaborated with people because they were the people that I thought I wanted to have on board or elevate a track or give somebody a character in a music video that they may not have played before. Jamie Harris, for instance. I think he's one of the finest actors around, and to have him in “Flowers?” Incredible.
But to your question about Frankenstein's Wedding, it felt magic. I'm sure there were mistakes within there, but the mistakes are what people fall for, as well. The beauty of imperfection. And it was a crazy one. I mean, Steve Sidwell, who was in charge of our music for that, worked with Amy Winehouse and did Robbie Williams’ “Swing When You're Winning.” He does everything. And even for him, after I came off stage that day with a camera in my face, and I think I get shot at the end, it was like this moment of, “Wow, we all did that together. We made something that was up against the royal wedding.” It was like, “Frankenstein’s Wedding or Kate and William getting married?” It's crazy.
Did it ever make you want to do musicals? Because I think you've mostly just done plays on stage.
GOWER: Yeah, I do. Definitely. There's a huge vacant hole in film and TV for more music-led acting projects. I think there's a huge audience for it. Pete Bowker did it with Blackpool back in the day with Sarah Parish and David Tennant. Stuff like that, I think there's a real market for that. Making my music and joining the two worlds together is something I wanna do. Bringing Bear McCreary and making little films, that's something I want to do. I want to write music for TV and film, but also, I think there are definitely dramas to be made. It's so great that you brought up my second job out of drama school. That is the only job that has had music.
I remember seeing it and being like, “Oh, he's going to be big someday. This is such a bold thing. He's gonna be huge.” So it's fun how things kind of come full circle, and now we're getting to have this interview and talk. Talking about early acting jobs, I know Monroe is really your first big project, but I think Being Human was really the thing that was a breakout role for you, to some extent. I often cite Nick Cutler as being one of the best characters that came out of that series. It was such a fun series, and a lot of that is to the credit of how you were able to make this character so human and so relatable, and you sympathize with him and want the best for him. What kind of things did you take from that experience so early on in your career on a really big television series that was popular both in England and then across the pond that you've now been able to take with you into other roles that you've gotten?
GOWER: It's interesting when you join a series because I've joined a series, and I've started a series, and both of those things present challenges. But it's the respect for the writing. Toby Whithouse is just an amazing writer. I was taught that at drama school, but I think in TV, sometimes writers don't get the appreciation they deserve at all. I mean, they do, but I'm talking on set, really paying attention to Toby's character-building, world-building, and kinda using that and going away and creating stuff.
I always think the most magical thing is when the director and the actors and the writers on set, which Toby was a lot, come together in the ball pit, and you create a scene. You don't know whose imagination is gonna take over and what people have been thinking in their own little hotel rooms or at their computers. So, that kind of character-building and using the script and respecting the script has always stuck with me with that. And taking risks. You’ve gotta take risks. There's a reason why a writer's written a scene, right? People think throwing away is acting, and it's not. Throwing things away, like a lyric in a song, throwing anything away is an active choice. So, if actors think that throwing away Toby Whithouse's script is the dumb thing, it's not. Yeah, you might choose to throw away a line, but respect the script. Words are there to be played with, and language is a beautiful thing. Every scene is written for a reason in a TV show.
We said about the extraordinary in the ordinary, that moment in front of the camera should matter, otherwise, it wouldn't be on camera, right? I don't watch TV to watch pure naturalism. It's not interesting. If I do that, I'll go to the café and just watch people in the café, right? I watch TV to watch drama, to watch extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances. So, yeah, it taught me that, I guess. To take that into every job and make moments count. You're not a small character. There are no small characters because the best writing is all about bringing every moment alive.
And you came in at such an interesting time, too, in that series, because most of the original cast had kind of dispersed. Then it was starting over with Damien Molony as Hal, and that whole storyline. So, it was a very new show, and I think it was a testament to the writing that it was able to keep audiences even though the people they first kind of met and were attached to were no longer there.
GOWER: Yeah, five seasons of TV.
Which is a rarity today.
GOWER: A rarity, and the beauty of BBC Three, which was such an amazing vehicle for people's careers and for great drama. I don't think I understood the significance of coming in and actually replacing Aiden Turner or Russell Tovey, but it was so well received, and probably understood fan bases for the first time, as well. It had such a die-hard fan base.
And they're still die-hard today. I still occasionally see a Being Human podcast that's still thriving, and that's impressive. It's been a decade.
GOWER: It’s amazing.
How 'Murdoch Mysteries' Found Their Sherlock Holmes
Image via CBC You were also part of another TV show in two episodes. It's one of my favorites. It's a Canadian show, Murdoch Mysteries . I was really curious, how did that happen? I'm used to seeing only Canadian actors ever on that show. How did you get cast in that?
GOWER: When I was at drama school, there was a casting director, Suzy Catliff, who I think has cast a few of their episodes. Amazing person. She messaged me after something was on TV, and she said, “Look, there's this character that they’re struggling to cast of Sherlock. He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes, so they wanted somebody British.” And they have welcomed people over, British stars. So, they basically said, “Yeah, he's our guy.” It was my first time in Toronto, Canada, and it was such a joy.
And again, I went back, which I think means they liked me. [Laughs] It's such an interesting character to play. I've always wanted to play Sherlock Holmes. This guy obviously wasn't Sherlock Holmes.
He thought he was! [Laughs] It's such a great show. I watched that during the pandemic. That was my pandemic binge because there are 20 seasons now or something. It's remarkable.
GOWER: It's mad. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
It is. With your career, you've done a lot of historical shows. Is that something that you just naturally gravitate towards or just where you've been fit into the the casting realms?
GOWER: I'd like to say that there was a definite reason behind that, but I think we have this thing where you book a job as an actor, and then that's what people see you in, and then it sort of helps with the next. I'm lucky, within the period world, I've gotten to play a lot, whether it's Victorian or Winter King was medieval time, and then Outlander, Jacobite revolution. So, all the period stuff, a lot of them have had a fantastical feel to them, as well. It's a really nice way as an actor and as a human to learn about different time periods and really jump into different people's shoes. I've been so lucky with those worlds, that the period jobs keep coming.
I love it because it's where you get to pick up a different rule book. For a lot of jobs, I have a bible, whatever that is — it might be a book, it might be a piece of music, it might be based on a specific person. The nice thing with the period worlds is you can literally find so many different bits of text or bits of music that really inspire you, and outfits. I always make pals with the costume designers on jobs.
You have to! Exactly.
GOWER: I mean, I get told off sometimes, like, “You can't take your costume home.” And I'm like, “I wanna take my costume home because I wanna live in the costume.” I never like turning up on set and being like, “Oh, the costume is wearing me.” I wanna wear the costume, right? I think that those worlds are so exciting to collaborate with a costume designer and be like, “Hey, what about this?” And they're like, “Oh, yeah!” It's an amazing thing to do.
I think costumers love it when their talent actually cares about what they're making. My mom's a costumer, and I know from her experience in theatre that she loves when the kids are actually like, “Hey, what about this picture that I've come across? What if we do something like this?” That makes them very happy.
GOWER: It is exciting. It is so exciting when somebody comments on a pair of shoes, and they're like, “They're my character’s shoes.”
'Inspector Ellis' Gave Gower a Chance to Do Something New
Exactly. And you have a new show coming out soon, [Inspector] Ellis . I’m very excited about that. The screeners for it popped up in my inbox overnight. I haven't got to watch it yet, but I'm curious. Detective mysteries are such a cultural phenomenon in Britain, and you obviously were on Midsomer Murders years and years ago, which is obviously a staple of that. What has it been like for you to go from being a guest star in a huge series like that to then now being a key player in a new cop procedural?
GOWER: First of all, when that came through, to act opposite — it’s a new cop/detective duo, Ellis and Harper — and the fact that Sharon D Clarke is Ellis and leading the show, it was amazing. Again, not just an amazing actor, but a musical icon. She's blown me away so many times on stage I've lost count. So, with that, the fact that Sharon was attached was just so exciting.
I've dipped my toe into procedural dramas, but I've never set one up. I've never been given the opportunity to say, “Look, there's your character. You're a detective duo.” And Sian [Ejiwunmi-Le Berre]’s writing in this was fantastic, even in Episode 1, which you people would get to see. My character just goes on this amazing journey in that one film. It sets up a really exciting palette for the season. I've always wanted to create my own version of a detective. I've seen so many of them and l love so many of them, but I think there's an amazing scope in that sort of drama. There's a reason why we've got so many, because you can really create original stories, and Ellis is definitely that.
Do you see it continuing on longer? I think it's just three episodes for the first season. Is there a much larger story to tell if there's an audience that shows up for it?
GOWER: Yeah. They're their own films. The great thing about it is they're their own 90-minute films, and you really get to sit not only with Ellis and Harper, but the people we meet. So each episode you really land in a case, and you really get to see all the behaviors and the relationships grow. In Season 1, which the three episodes are, you get so much. But yeah, I guess the writers and the channel have set it up that they'll definitely want more. And then, as with every show, it's always whether the audience wants it.
I was at the screening last night, and it was a gorgeous response, and it's nice to see that. I think British TV, we can often try and replicate America, and maybe take an idea from over there, but the things we do best is that original drama, and this feels really original. Hopefully, people wanna follow Harper and Ellis, Sharon and myself, on a journey because it's a really great world they've created.
It's really interesting how on both sides of the pond, cop procedurals are so popular. People love them, and they turn up for them, and they're so passionate about those kinds of shows. It's so interesting.
GOWER: Yeah, it is. There's something familiar about it, but also, you just get to see all facets of human behavior. You get to see the victims, you get to see how these professionals behave in real, extreme circumstances. The nice thing about Ellis, I think it's heavy-hitting, but it really has a nice brevity to it. It has some lovely lightness of touch in there and humor. It's northern, I'm playing a northerner, and in the north of England, if bad stuff happens, you make a cup of tea, right? So, yeah, there's that side to it, which I love.
I love that. I can't wait to actually watch my screeners for it. For my last question for you, I want to know what is in your playlist rotation right now. What music are you listening to?
GOWER: That's a great question. I mean, I’d be slapped on the wrist if I didn't say that I've been listening to Elbow's latest, “Blue” and “The Lover's Leap.” The two singles they released have been on repeat. That's not just because I work with them. [Laughs] Then Willie J. Healey is in the flight as new bands that I've been listening to — not new bands, they have been around for ages, but their recent music is fantastic. And then I'm a sucker for, just this morning, I was listening to The Doors.
Classic.
GOWER: A bit of Fleetwood Mac. The Verve. If you go on Gustaffson as a band, to go along with the release of our album, the 13-track album, we've come up with some playlists on our Spotify with the two singles on the way. It's interesting, the taste of us as a band is so different, and I think that's reflected in the music. We don't want to be boxed, we just want to tell stories. Everybody always says, “Hey, describe your band,” and I'm like, “Well, if I could describe my band in a sentence, then I'd be disappointed.” I know we need that these days for pitching and for Spotify and all of that, but there's a real joy in inviting people in and going, “Well, what do you experience? What do you think it is? Tell me, because that's what I'm making music, and I'm making art for. An audience.” I'm not making it for myself. It's for an audience at the end of the day.
"Flowers" is streaming now wherever you listen to music. Pre-order Gustaffson's new album Black & White Movie today.
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