Latest news with #Rowntree
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Blur's Dave Rowntree on capturing the band's early years on camera: 'nobody's posing'
When Blur drummer Dave Rowntree started taking pictures of his bandmates in the early 1990s, they were still a 'tiny little band' playing 'quite unfashionable music', he tells Paul Whitelaw, ahead of an appearance at the Fringe by the Sea Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When Blur drummer Dave Rowntree decided to take some photos while on tour in the early 1990s, he had no idea they were about to become one of the biggest British bands of the decade. Their first album, Leisure, had just been released to mixed reviews, and although they'd scored a top ten hit with Baggy anthem There's No Other Way, they were generally regarded as Just Another Indie Band. Not that Blur cared less about that, as they were finally living their pop star dreams. Dave Rowntree | Contributed This is where we find them in No One You Know, Rowntree's charming compendium of candid photographs starring four young men - Rowntree, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Alex James - having the absolute time of their lives. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I didn't use the pictures where people were miserable," he smiles, "it's a little bit self-edited. But I think it captures the joy, the excitement, the enthusiasm and the fun of it all. It's easy to get caught up in the later period of the band's history when we were - after the Brits and Oasis and all of that - far more into the limelight. In those days we were a tiny little band playing quite unfashionable music and it wasn't at all clear that we were going to be successful." Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn as photographed by their bandmate Dave Rowntree | Dave Rowntree Rowntree's photographs also capture the distinct personalities of his bandmates. 'The photos I took were of people in the downtime, nobody's posing, they're just being themselves," he says. "We're goofing around and trying to cope with the boredom of sitting around between soundcheck and gig or travelling. When you're doing a photo shoot or on stage, everybody's playing a role to some extent, but that's not what I've got – I've got pictures of people when the TV cameras and interview tape recorders are all turned off. I've captured the people - not Damon from Blur but Damon Albarn.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Damon Albarn pictured during an early Blur tour of Japan | Dave Rowntree The book follows the band on eye-opening tours of Japan and South America, where they were treated as far bigger stars than they actually were at the time. As Rowntree explains, 'The UK weekly music press had in those days a cache outside the UK, so that if you were on the cover of Melody Maker you could still be playing in a tiny little club in London to about 50 people, but people outside the UK had no idea, they thought if you were on the front cover of a paper you must be this great big band." No One You Know by Dave Rowntree | Contributed And how does he feel when he pores over these old photos of the friends he's known for almost 40 years? "It's odd because when I look at Damon, Alex and Graham today, I still see the young people in those pictures. Very occasionally I get flashes of them as the middle-aged men that we all are now, but by and large when I look at Alex I still see the Alex with the floppy fringe and chiselled cheekbones. It's weird really.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
‘Summer days out bursting with fun' – Popular sweet brand drops kids pass saving Irish parents hundreds
A POPULAR sweet brand has dropped kids passes that will save Irish parents hundreds this summer. Rowntree is now offering major family discounts on a range of 2 Rowntree has dropped kids passes on summer activities Credit: Alamy 2 And it's set to save Irish parents hundreds of euro Credit: Getty Images A new survey by Rowntree's shows that 80 per cent of Irish parents see cost as the main barrier to keeping This follows a new partnership between Rowntree's and the Kids Pass app, which gives families access to discounts of up to 40 per cent on a wide range of activities. The offer is available through an on-pack promotion across all of Rowntree's READ MORE IN MONEY The research also shows that parents expressed concern about how to keep children engaged, with 75 per cent worried about their ability to plan enough activities. And another 65 per cent said the limited number of options in their area was a challenge. Despite this, the study finds that Spending is expected to add up quickly, with parents budgeting an average of €77 per child - and one in three will spend over €100. MOST READ IN MONEY Confectionery Marketing Manager at She said: 'With cost a concern and the busy pace of family life, we know that planning affordable, quality time together during the summer can be a challenge. We've outdone ourselves with this one' say Cadbury Ireland as they reveal new limited edition bar 'coming soon That's why we're delighted to team up with Kids Pass to offer a little extra support for families trying to make the most of the summer break. "Each Rowntree's sharing pack offers parents and guardians discounts at a huge number of locations across Ireland, helping everyone create memorable moments together this summer." Discounts are now available across participating packs in stores nationwide. It comes after In the Instagram video, the brand revealed the new limited edition Twirl White Dipped bar. NEW LIMITED EDITION BAR The original Twirl bar, first launched in They described their latest creation as having "fast-melting swirls" - just in time for According to Cadbury, you need to act fast to get this limited-edition bar. They said: "Something new is it won't be here forever." The company advised fans to keep their eyes peeled for its newest invention to hit the shops.
Otago Daily Times
20-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Publican to pay up after employee assaulted over ducklings
Otira publican Lester Rowntree has been fined $26,000 after unsuccessfully appealing against an employee's unjustified dismissal, a move described by the judge as "an abuse of process". Last year, Rowntree was ordered by the Employment Relations Authority to pay former employee Johnny Wright $42,000 compensation and costs of $7500 after a 2018 assault at the Otira Stagecoach Hotel. The assault resulted in Mr Wright being hospitalised for eight days. It arose in a disagreement over the care of orphaned ducklings that Rowntree had saved. He had asked Mr Wright to look after them while he was away. The ducklings were kept in an old freezer. A jury trial in 2020 found Rowntree banged Mr Wright's head into the top of a freezer and pushed him to the floor. He successfully appealed that ruling and was found guilty instead of common assault at a judge-alone trial in June 2022 — although he was discharged without conviction. The alleged assault formed the basis of Mr Wright's claim of constructive dismissal in the Employment Relations Authority. The authority agreed Mr Wright was unjustifiably dismissed and ordered Rowntree to pay $34,000 in compensation plus $8424 in lost remuneration, $252 for a KiwiSaver contribution and costs of $7500. Rowntree's appeal said an assault did not take place and while Mr Wright did suffer some injuries at the hotel in November 2018, they resulted from Mr Wright falling while intoxicated. Employment Court Judge Kerry Smith said it was a difficult argument because Rowntree had been found guilty of the assault by a district court judge. Initially, he was charged with intent to injure, but the charge was amended to one of common assault and he was found guilty of the amended charge. For the appeal, Judge Smith said Rowntree had submitted a "significant volume" of material, not filed in advance as per case management direction, including photographs, medical information and a private investigator report. It was apparent the intent of the appeal was to revisit the decision made by Judge Peter Rollo in June 2022 and to obtain a judgement from the court that there was, in fact, no assault. The challenge was revisiting old ground to invite a different outcome, Judge Smith said. "This challenge is an impermissible collateral attack on Judge Rollo's judgement and it is, in that sense, an abuse of process. "If Mr Rowntree wants to have the judgement reconsidered, then the appropriate way to do that is by some sort of application to the district court, or possibly in the High Court." He accepted the authority was right to conclude there was a constructive dismissal consequent on Mr Wright having been assaulted at work. Rowntree's appeal was dismissed and a subsequent decision ordered him to pay Mr Wright's costs of $26,500. — Greymouth Star
Otago Daily Times
20-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Publican to pay costs in lost appeal
Otira publican Lester Rowntree has been fined $26,000 after unsuccessfully appealing against an employee's unjustified dismissal, a move described by the judge as "an abuse of process". Last year, Rowntree was ordered by the Employment Relations Authority to pay former employee Johnny Wright $42,000 compensation and costs of $7500 after a 2018 assault at the Otira Stagecoach Hotel. The assault resulted in Mr Wright being hospitalised for eight days. It arose in a disagreement over the care of orphaned ducklings that Rowntree had saved. He had asked Mr Wright to look after them while he was away. The ducklings were kept in an old freezer. A jury trial in 2020 found Rowntree banged Mr Wright's head into the top of a freezer and pushed him to the floor. He successfully appealed that ruling and was found guilty instead of common assault at a judge-alone trial in June 2022 — although he was discharged without conviction. The alleged assault formed the basis of Mr Wright's claim of constructive dismissal in the Employment Relations Authority. The authority agreed Mr Wright was unjustifiably dismissed and ordered Rowntree to pay $34,000 in compensation plus $8424 in lost remuneration, $252 for a KiwiSaver contribution and costs of $7500. Rowntree's appeal said an assault did not take place and while Mr Wright did suffer some injuries at the hotel in November 2018, they resulted from Mr Wright falling while intoxicated. Employment Court Judge Kerry Smith said it was a difficult argument because Rowntree had been found guilty of the assault by a district court judge. Initially, he was charged with intent to injure, but the charge was amended to one of common assault and he was found guilty of the amended charge. For the appeal, Judge Smith said Rowntree had submitted a "significant volume" of material, not filed in advance as per case management direction, including photographs, medical information and a private investigator report. It was apparent the intent of the appeal was to revisit the decision made by Judge Peter Rollo in June 2022 and to obtain a judgement from the court that there was, in fact, no assault. The challenge was revisiting old ground to invite a different outcome, Judge Smith said. "This challenge is an impermissible collateral attack on Judge Rollo's judgement and it is, in that sense, an abuse of process. "If Mr Rowntree wants to have the judgement reconsidered, then the appropriate way to do that is by some sort of application to the district court, or possibly in the High Court." He accepted the authority was right to conclude there was a constructive dismissal consequent on Mr Wright having been assaulted at work. Rowntree's appeal was dismissed and a subsequent decision ordered him to pay Mr Wright's costs of $26,500. — Greymouth Star
The Star
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Dave Rowntree revisits Blur's early years in his photo book
Blur drummer Dave Rowntree is to publish a book of photos on the early days of the Britpop icons and after much-heralded comeback gigs two years ago has not ruled out another collaboration. 'I think Blur will definitely do something else,' he said, as their great rivals Oasis prepared for the first of their own reunion gigs in Cardiff last week. Rowntree, a founding member of Blur, has put together photos of the band at the start of their career in the 1980s around a decade before Britpop exploded. No One You Know: Dave Rowntree's Early Blur Photos is due out in September. But the book nearly did not see the light of day as he only found the negatives by chance, in an old cardboard box that had been earmarked for the dump. 'In my memory, the photos would just seem like holiday snaps,' Rowntree, now 61, said in an interview in Paris. 'What the pictures show and capture really well, I think, is our excitement at doing all these things for the first time.' 'Unfashionable music' Rowntree's candid, sometimes blurry, shots are of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon and bassist Alex James, with lighting director Dave Byars. 'We were playing tiny shows to very few people. We were playing very unfashionable music in those days,' he recalled. Rowntree's photo book offers an intimate look behind the scenes of a fledgling 1990s band, before the Britpop explosion. Photo: Handout But with a recording contract, the happy-go-lucky band – cigarettes and alcohol ever present – discovered the world on their first international tour. 'An awful lot of travelling, an awful lot of sitting in dressing rooms, where you're just desperate for something to do,' Rowntree remembered with a smile. 'So, there's a lot of that, a lot of us goofing around to distract each other.' When Britpop burst onto the music scene in the early 1990s, Blur were at the vanguard, and songs such as Girls & Boys, Parklife and Song 2 defined a generation. It was not plain sailing, though, with turbulence, break-ups and reunions, the last of which came in 2023 for the album The Ballad Of Darren and two sold-out gigs at London's Wembley Stadium. In the two years since then, Rowntree – a trained lawyer who stood unsuccessfully in the 2024 general election for the Labour party – the band's future has been up in the air. Albarn, whose new album with Gorillaz is due out this year and is also reworking Mozart's The Magic Flute, has frequently said that Blur's days are over. Rowntree, however, is not so convinced it's the end of the band. 'It seems to me it's not over,' he said. 'I think I'll know when it's over but there's no plans as such. Blur doesn't really work that way. 'We don't have planning meetings and strategy. It's kind of we make it up as we go along.' 'Two-edged sword' With Oasis back on the scene recently and Pulp surprising fans with a Glastonbury festival appearance this year, Rowntree sees it less as a Britpop revival than a worrying shift in the music industry. 'It gets harder and harder to make money selling recorded music,' he said. 'Musicians have to look for other ways to earn a living. 'In my memory, the photos would just seem like holiday snaps,' says Rowntree. Photo: Dave Rowntree 'Many bands are being pushed back out on the road again. 'I think that's great because I think that's where music lives. It's in the concert hall in front of an audience. But the downside is that only really works for bands at our level – the Pulps, the Blurs, the Oasis. 'For smaller bands, they're finding it increasingly difficult.' The long-awaited return of warring Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher has seen complaints about high ticket prices and the dynamic pricing method used to maximise revenue. Yet, despite the well-documented rivalry with Oasis, Rowntree gave a guarded welcome to the Manchester rockers' return. 'It's a two-edged sword, isn't it? On the one hand, I'm really glad that they're out on tour. Think of all the economic benefits. 'It's going to be fantastic. On the other hand, it's a shame that good tickets are now so expensive.' Rowntree confided that he even bought a ticket himself but was unable to go. 'I had to give it to a friend of mine,' he said. – AFP
