No One You Know: Dave Rowntree in conversation with John Robb

Dave Rowntree was a member of Blur before they were Blur, joining up as drummer with singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon when they were in various bands in Colchester in the late 1980s. After Alex James stepped in as bassist, Blur went on to become one of the most innovative and successful UK bands of all time: both creating Britpop and then moving up and on from it in a way that no other band has achieved. The band’s exceptional creative musical talent, their unique ability to create art-rock anthems as well as solid pop bangers, has won them devoted fans across the world, and in 2023, after a hiatus, they sold out Wembley Stadium twice over. Blur have released nine studio albums, won five Brits, sold 70 million across the world.

Aside from his career with Blur, Dave has also been hugely successful in other fields. His computer animation company Nanomation created influential work for MTV and Channel4. In the mid-2000s, he trained to be a solicitor, and worked for Kingsley Napley. He has been a Labour candidate and county councillor and is active in the Labour Party. His life-long interest in space led to him being heavily involved in the Beagle 2 Mars mission. He writes soundtracks for film and TV, including music for the BBC’s The Capture and Netflix’s The One, and he released his solo album Radio Songs on Cooking Vinyl in 2023. This is his first photography book.

Copies of Dave's book will available to buy across the weekend and there'll be a dedicated book signing after Dave's event with us.

About Dave Rowntree

Drummer Dave Rowntree’s exclusive, intimate, never-seen-before photographs of Blur at the start of their career. Dave Rowntree, drummer and founder member of Blur, brought his camera along to all of the band’s first adventures. He used it to capture insider moments: close-up and personal pictures of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and himself in the thrilling early stages of the band’s rise to the top.

Here are photographs from Blur’s debut tours of America and Japan, in the studio in the UK, playing games in the tour bus, larking around backstage, messing about in hotel rooms, at video shoots, with fans and friends.

A one-of its kind document of what it’s really like to be in a young band during the vital first few years, when everything is new, romantic and fresh. With hundreds of previously unseen photographs, a personal foreword and detailed quotes of memories attached to the images, “No One You Know” is a unique visual insight into the first few years of one of Britain’s most successful and well-loved bands, from one of the only four people who knows what it was really like.

Host or Publisher Louder Than Words Festival