“Let your light shine,” Russell Crowe says, almost casually. It’s a lyric on his new album Pros and Cons with the Gentlemen Barbers, and also something like a thesis statement for where he’s at in life. Because if there’s one thing the Oscar-winning actor turned seasoned frontman wants you to know, it’s that he’s got more going on than just being the guy from Gladiator — though, yeah, we’ll get to that too.
Music, for Crowe, has always run parallel to acting. His band names have ranged from 30 Odd Foot of Grunts to The Ordinary Fear of God, and now the Indoor Garden Party. “That’s kind of the umbrella,” he says, explaining that it’s more of a collective than a fixed band. “If you’re in the room, you’re on the stage. That’s the rule.”
The new record, Pros and Cons, features nine original tracks and five covers — “The pros and the cons,” he says, delighting in the pun. Those covers include unexpected takes on Leonard Cohen and Dire Straits. “Let’s break some rules here,” he shrugs. “Let’s cover people you’re not supposed to cover.”
But it’s the originals that really reveal something. Songs like “Stronger Than Stone” and “Time and Kindness” are sprawling, poetic, and — somewhat surprisingly — uplifting. “I didn’t even realize how positive the record was until someone pointed it out,” he says. “You write enough songs about everything you touch bursting into flame, eventually you want to find the joy again.”
Crowe credits some of that shift to age — he turned 60 this year — but also to the musicians he’s surrounded himself with. “This band, man. These are monster players. And not just technically. They’re adults. There’s no ego, just connection.”
He pauses and laughs. “It’s an honest adult band. You know what I mean?”
Even with all the musical freedom, Crowe has no plans to sign with a label. “I went through seven months of meetings with record companies,” he says, with something between amusement and exhaustion. “Day one, it’s always the same: ‘We’re going to change the cover, put your face on it.’” Then he drops the kicker: “I was in Tommy Mottola’s office once and he told me, ‘You will sign with Sony because we drink blood and we do not take no for an answer.’ I walked out of there real fast.”
The guy clearly doesn’t like being told what to do — unless it’s by his own instinct. That independence shows up in how he describes the writing process: “I don’t do it for any reason other than I wake up and something’s on my mind. I walk into the office, pick up the guitar, and figure it out. That’s it.”
That same spirit drives him to self-release the album and take the band on the road, even though it’s been twelve years since he toured the U.S. “We’re playing iconic rock and roll venues — the Whiskey, Stubb’s in Austin, New Orleans. Places with soul,” he says. “It’s not some polished package. We walk out, we play, we mean it.”
But even as the music surges forward, there’s still that lingering shadow — or maybe legacy — of Gladiator. Crowe isn’t hiding from it, and he’s definitely not indifferent to the sequel Ridley Scott is helming without him.
“I’m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they’re making another one,” he admits. “Because, of course, I’m dead. And I have no say in what gets done.” But then it gets real. “Some of the things I’ve heard… no, no, no. That’s not in the moral journey of that particular character.”
He calls it a mix of melancholy and jealousy. “I remember when I had tendons,” he half-jokes. But it’s clear: he cares about Maximus. That role opened doors, changed everything, made him a household name. So yeah, not being asked back — even in flashbacks or whispers — stings a little.
Still, Crowe is far from done. He just wrapped Nuremberg with Michael Shannon, and there’s another horror flick (The Exorcism) dropping soon, assuming the final cut still includes him. “Once you’ve done it, it’s out of your hands,” he shrugs. “And sometimes, man, that’s a blessing.”
So is he acting more, or making more music?
Both, actually. And he’ll keep doing both — fiercely, freely, and without a single corporate finger on the wheel.
Because Russell Crowe drinks wine, not blood. And he still doesn’t take no for an answer either — at least, not from anyone who wants to change his damn album cover.
For more about Crowe’s musical journey, the eclectic Prose and Cons album, and his reflections on his acting career, tune in to the full interview above and then check out the video below.
