The new TV show is written and directed by Måns Mårlind and being made by Swedish production company Yellow Bird.
In the upcoming fictionalised series, animated caricatures of Nick Cave and Swedish rock musician Thåström – full name Sven Joakim Eriksson Thåström – are depicted aged 14. Before The Were Gods is set in Sweden and explores the imagined friendship between Cave and Thåström, who have never met in real life. In the show, the pair are presented drinking cheap booze and having in depth, philosophical conversations on life.
Swedish director Mårlind explained that the idea for the show came to him in a dream. “While asleep, I watched two of my musical heroes as young teenagers, drinking cheap beer while discussing love and the meaning of life,” he said. “I woke up writing and have been trying to catch up with them ever since.”
Both Cave and Thåström – the latter of whom rose to fame with Swedish punk band Ebba Grön before forming new wave outfit Imperiet – were born in 1957. In a statement the two musicians expressed their approval of the project: “since I was never in Sweden in 1971 and haven’t ever met Thåström, I am obviously intrigued to find out what we never did,” Cave said. Thåström added, “I always wanted to be a cartoon hero.”
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are currently on tour across Europe. Last month new documentary This Much I Know To Be True, which focuses on Warren Ellis and Cave’s creative relationship during the making of Ghosteen and Carnage, was released in cinemas.
Read: Cinematographer Robbie Ryan on capturing Nick Cave alone at Alexandra Palace.