No One You Know
Dave Rowntree's Early Blur Photos
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.
Dave Rowntree joined Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon in Colchester in the late ’80s – before Blur became one of the UK’s most iconic bands. With Alex James completing the lineup, Blur helped define Britpop and then evolved beyond it, selling 70 million records worldwide, winning five BRITs, and in 2023, selling out Wembley Stadium twice.
Beyond Blur, Dave has led a multifaceted career: founding a computer animation company, working as a solicitor, standing as a Labour Party candidate, contributing to the Beagle 2 Mars mission, and composing for film and TV. In 2023, he released his debut solo album Radio Songs. This is his first photography book.
