We chatted to Dave Rowntree about his new photo book.
In ‘No one You Know’, Blur’s Dave Rowntree opens a captivating window into the band’s unglamorous early years.
This collection of intimate, off-stage photographs, taken between 1988-1994, captures the wide-eyed excitement of a “tiny band playing very unfashionable music” on their first American tour.
Far from nostalgic, Rowntree reflects on the raw energy and naive trust of a group at the bottom of the rollercoaster, long before Britpop fame.
In our interview, he reveals the origin of the book’s title and why this personal journey still resonates today.
Happy: How did the partnership with Bassike came around?
Dave Rowntree: It came around, really, they mocked up some ideas. They liked them, they liked ‘No One You Know’ as a text idea. They thought it worked really well with their merchandise, with their clothes, its almost like anti-fashion.
Happy: It kinda has some attitude to it.
Rowntree: Yeah, so they thought it worked really well with their clobber and they got in touch as far as I know, from my office. Their people talked to my people, and I really like them, I’m wearing their clothes as we speak. So I was very happy about that.
Happy: How did the name ‘No One You Know’ come about?
Rowntree: It was on the first American tour, the tour bus had a little window on the front. It was an old greyhound bus, I think, it had a little window on the front where the destination used to be. And because the bus driver had the most acerbic wit known to man, he hated people saying “who have you got on the bus?” when pulled up to truck stops and that kind of thing.
So, he scrolled the scroll so that ‘No One You Know’ was written on the front window as a kind of dig at us, and also to put people off at truck stops asking him which famous bands he’s got on the buses. And the funny thing was, of course, he was absolutely right, people didn’t know who we were in the U.K. let alone in the States. We were playing these tiny clubs, half empty clubs.
Happy: What year was this? ‘91?
Rowntree: God knows. Yeah, the first few years of the band. The pictures I took, are from about 1988 to 1993/4, something like that.
Happy: Just shy of the britpop wars.
Rowntree: A long, long time shy of the britpop wars. We were a tiny band playing very unfashionable music. The idea that a band like us could be successful was a joke, literally.
People used to make fun of that idea in the music press quite regularly. Bands like us were so unfashionable we had to have our own chart.
Happy: Do you remember any of the other bands like you from back then? Anyone from the scene?
Rowntree: Yeah, I mean, we started out at the same time as, you know, Pulp, Oasis, Suede. Suede were perhaps a little bit before us.
There was a whole bunch of bands you never heard of again. Bands like Spitfire, and Sensitize, and you got lots of other bands [that] came out at the same time, but we were all playing very, you know, guitar, English guitar, music, it was incredibly inflexible at that time.
So it didn’t seem very likely that any of us were going to be successful, you know. That’s why I took the pictures, really. I didn’t know if that was going to be our 15 minutes of fame, or our first American tour was going to be our last American tour. I had no idea.
Happy: It’s been a long way since then.
Rowntree: Yeah.
Happy: Nostalgia tends to hit us all like a brick. Could I ask how you felt when you rediscovered those photos?
Rowntree: It didn’t feel very nostalgic, because when I look at the people in the pictures, that’s how I still see us, you know?
I still see Graham as this little doe-eyed kind of kid, 20 year old kid. When I look at him, occasionally I get this sort of jarring flashes of these, kind of, middle aged men we all actually are. “Oh my god, oh!” and then luckily my brain intervenes and superimposes these kid’s heads on it.
Also because the band’s still going. It’s very hard, you know, it’s not like it ended in the 90s and I look back and go “oh, those were the days.”
You know, this time in the band’s career is the best time really. We play places, Wembley Stadium, you never dream of playing that kind of thing.
That was the first thing bands like us did. So, there’s never been a better time to be in Blur than there is now, really. It’s not very nostalgic. What is though, is the, kind of, cityscapes and the way the cars looked, and that kind of thing.
Happy: Being able to smoke on Virgin Airline flights…
Rowntree: Yeah, all of that really dates pictures more than the people. I think.
Happy: So, what insights into Blur, especially during this time period, can be gleaned from your photos?
Rowntree: What I like about the pictures, with the benefit of a bit of distance and time, is that energy we had and the enthusiasm and the excitement because we were doing all these things that we kind of take for granted now.
We were doing them all for the first time. None of us had ever been to America before, you know, Mexico, Japan, none of us had been [to Australia]. You know, we didn’t come here until a little bit later.
So all these things we were doing for the first time, we were wide eyed and bushy tailed and up for it, you know. 30 years later its, like, “Oh, god, we’ve got to get on another plane flight to LA.” Back then it was “LA, we’re going to LA! Amazing!” and that really comes across in the pictures.
The pictures I took, they’re in between the gigs and photo sessions, so nobody’s posing, nobody’s pretending to be anything. Nobody’s putting on, making sure their good side is pointing at the camera or anything. We’re all hanging out, in a very sort of naive and trusting way that we probably wouldn’t do now. But yeah, that’s what I like about the pictures.
Happy: I saw that one photo of Damon on the roller coaster, kind of a metaphor for anyone during that time period. Were there any metaphors that struck you?
Rowntree: Yeah, that one’s one of my favourite pictures, really, for that reason. Because not only were we going, you know, at the bottom of the roller coaster with the kind of excitement and the drama of the long climb. But that’s where we were in our career, you know, just been signed.
I’ll tell you exactly when that picture was taken. We’d only been signed a few years, first tour of America, and just realised we were at the bottom of a very long series of ladders. And things are always more exciting on the journey, aren’t they?
The destination tends to be less exciting than the drama of getting there. And so I just thought that picture was a perfect metaphor for where we were in our career and the way they looked is the way it felt at that time.
The other one that I think illustrates a lot about the personalities of the band. We’re at the Grand Canyon and Damon is peering over the edge, and there’s a sign next to him saying “Don’t walk past this sign” and Damon had walked well past the sign. And he’s jumping up and down on the edge of the Grand Canyon, daring it to kill him. It didn’t, of course.
Happy: Are you taking photos again now?
Rowntree: Yes. I’m getting interested in film photography again. Yeah. Film photography, I mean, it got quite hard to do film. It all got very expensive and the shops stopped developing and digital took over. I was much less interested in digital photography. It all became about the equipment and not about the pictures as much as I could see.
Actually, the technology’s moving on now. There are new chemistries, all the toxic chemicals are now being refined and they are much less toxic. Can’t say they’re not toxic at all, obviously can’t drink them. But they no longer kill the bunnies. But the chemistry is getting a bit more adventurous and exciting, so I’m getting more into it again. Yeah.
Happy: Is it the same sort of subject matter that appeals to you, those intimate ‘in between’ times? Or in your age have you appealed more to bird photography?
Rowntree: No, neither. No, I’m much more interested in black and white photography now. I’m much more interested in the way light reacts very differently with black and white negatives than it does colour negatives.
I’m quite interested in that. You can make some quite bizarre looking black and white photos that would just look very normal to the colour photos. So I’m quite interested in pushing of the envelope with that, seeing where that takes me.
Happy: Do you think you’d publish another book of black and white photography?
Rowntree: I don’t think people would be that interested in my black and white photography, but theres probably enough Blur photos for a couple more books if this one does well.
Happy: A sequel, threequel, and maybe a prequel?
Rowntree: Yeah, maybe.
Happy: Does this photobook stand more as a personal memento, or does it lean more toward fan service?
Rowntree: It’s, sort of, very personal to me. I took these pictures. Almost all of them. So, this is my Blur journey. You know, when you read Graham’s book, and Alex’s books, that tells it from their perspective.
Happy: Do you think you’ll write your own book?
Rowntree: I will, not when I want to be in Blur. If I don’t want to be in Blur anymore, that’s the time I should think about writing a book. Because I wouldn’t want to tell the official version. I’ll want to tell the actual version. But its all how to do that without tripping on toes.
Happy: Do you regret not continuing to take photos during the height of your career?
Rowntree: Yes and no. It obviously would have made great financial sense to do that. But I stopped, I think, I stopped at the right time. I got to take those kinds of photos because people trusted me not to be an arsehole. Unfortunately, I did turn into a bit of an arsehole. So, I stopped at just the right time, really.
You know, you always have these things. You could have made loads of money had you done X, Y, Z. But I’ve had a great life. I’m still friends with everybody in the band. Blur is still going. I get to live this strong life where I’m kind of film proposer by day and a rock star by night.
Happy: Back on good terms with Nardwuar yet?
Rowntree: Well, I think Nardwuar I’m on fine terms with. I’ve apologised to him multiple times. But Nardwuar’s supporters haven’t quite forgiven me. I can understand, I’d think I was a complete twat if I just discovered [that]… well I was a complete twat. There we are, we’ve all got a bit of complete twat in us.
Happy: On your wikipedia page, it’s stated that it is “currently unknown whether you produce your own cheese.” Could I get a definitive answer on this?
Rowntree: Whether I produce my own cheese? I think it’s not known whether I construct my own multi-span steel bridges either. But they don’t mention that on wikipedia. Are you sure you’re not referring to Alex?
Happy: Well I did look into it, and I found online that Alex is, in fact, into cheesemaking.
Rowntree: I think that’s the jesters of Wikipedia.
Happy: Is your upcoming BIGSOUND talk going to be mostly about the book?
Rowntree: All about the book, I assume. I mean, I do talk about the book and then I’ll take some questions from the audience and I’ll talk about whatever they want to talk about.
Happy: I’ll make sure to get a real good question for you.
Rowntree: Ask the Nardwuar question. Nobody ever does. They think I might storm off, you know.
At the end of every interview, the journalist usually asks the Oasis question. They ask you at the end, in case I might storm off in a huff – in a rage. “Oasis! How could you even say their name in front of me!” The reality is that started and finished in about a three month period in the mid 1990s. We were all quite good friends after that.
Happy: How do you feel about them reuniting for the tour?
Rowntree: I’ve been nagging them to do it for years, so I’m glad. It’s been really well received, which I’m also glad about. It would have been sad if their legacy had been the brothers could never get it back together again, you know, could never reform their friendship.
That would have been a really sad end to their career. I’m glad they’ve been able to write a final chapter.
You can find your copy of ‘No One You Know’ in stores from September 9!
