For a band that helped define a generation of British music, the early days of Blur have always held a kind of quiet intrigue. Now, drummer Dave Rowntree is inviting fans into that lesser-seen world, not with a beat, but through a lens. Scheduled for release in September 2025, No One You Know presents a rare and personal glimpse into Blur’s beginnings, captured by Rowntree’s own 35mm camera across the years before and after the band’s rise to fame.
Dave Rowntree, known best as the driving rhythmic force behind Blur’s catalogue, was rarely without his Olympus OM-10 throughout the early ‘90s. Between rehearsals, gigs, and long stretches of travel, he found moments to document his bandmates, not in the glamorized portraiture of publicity shots, but in the quiet, candid interludes that happen when no one is performing. The result is a substantial collection of intimate photographs now compiled into a book that spans more than 200 pages.
The images previously unseen by the public capture Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Rowntree himself in stripped-down scenes: sharing meals, unpacking gear, waiting in airports, or laughing backstage. There’s a deliberate rawness to the photos, a sense that they weren’t taken with any commercial end in mind. Rowntree has emphasized that the collection focuses on “the quiet moments that always happen when a band comes off stage, when the TV cameras and tape recorders are turned off.” He describes the photos simply: “us hanging out, relaxing, travelling, eating, and especially in the early days, drinking.”
Edited by Miranda Sawyer and published by Hero Books, No One You Know will be available in two formats, a standard edition and a deluxe “artist’s edition,” the latter featuring additional postcard-sized prints. To mark the launch, Rowntree is scheduled to host a book signing on September 10 at Rough Trade on Denmark Street, one of London’s most iconic venues for music history and memorabilia.
While Rowntree’s name has long been synonymous with Blur, his creative life has extended well beyond drumming. He’s worked in animation, composed scores for film and television, qualified as a solicitor, and even ventured into politics as a Labour councillor. In 2023, he released his debut solo album Radio Songs, showcasing yet another facet of his evolving artistry.
That creative versatility underpins the appeal of No One You Know. It isn’t a rock biography or glossy fan service: it’s a document of friendships, exhaustion, youth, and movement. Many of the moments captured in the book are mundane on their surface, but speak volumes about the fabric of life on the road. Rowntree’s role behind the drum kit may have dictated the band’s tempo, but his camera captured its heartbeat.
Though Blur’s recent reunion shows have rekindled interest in their past, Rowntree’s book offers something more than nostalgia. It is a collection not of performances, but of pauses. In choosing to share these quiet images now, he’s not just giving fans a look into the band’s formative years, he’s also reminding them that the offstage moments are where much of the real story unfolds.