You’ve just put out a coffee table book of photographs of your early years with Blur. I imagine you didn’t have too many expectations at the time. Why had you stopped taking photos by the time the band blew up?
I told myself that I was not experiencing life, that I was looking at it through the lens of the camera. But what really happened was, after a few years, things stopped being bright and shiny and new and exciting. It was pretty clear that we were going to have a career, that this wasn’t just a 15-minute Warholian burst of fame. I just moved on to other things.
It’s interesting you were bothered by that in the early 90s. Have you felt that way again now we’re all watching the world through a screen?
Well, I’m not sure I was being entirely honest with myself; I think that was a convenient excuse [to stop]. But also, the rise of digital photography killed off my interest to some extent. One of the joys of photography was making something. Using film affects the way you take photos, because every time you press the shutter there’s a financial penalty involved! Whereas digital photography seems much more about the equipment.
What is the most chaotic thing that’s ever happened to you on stage?
Once upon a time I was looking at my setlist and I didn’t recognise the name of the next song. “That’s not one of ours, is it?” I thought someone was playing a joke on me. I called my drum tech over and said, “What the hell’s that?!” He gave me this really weird look and said: “That’s one of your songs!” “Well, sing it to me then!” And he sang it into my ear and I went, “Oh yeah! That one!” Oh my God. The horror.
Is it frankly a relief to have failed in your bid to have become a UK Labour MP?
Well, if I contested a seat I could actually win, I’d have to give up being in Blur and I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to do that. It’s not the job it was, I think. But you could say that about most jobs these days, couldn’t you? Being hated by 50% of the people you represent is not a position that would sit easily with me.
What is your most controversial political opinion?
Oh no. I don’t have controversial political opinions. You don’t get to run for office if you have those in the Labour party! They get beaten out of you at an early stage, along with your entire social media history.
What is your most unpopular pop culture opinion?
People are always surprised when I tell them the best music that’s ever been made is being made right now. People always think music was better in the old days, to which I say: “Bollocks!” That’s simply part of the ageing process. I was lucky enough to host a radio show a few years ago for XFM and I was blown away by the music people are making now.
Do you have a nemesis, musical, political or otherwise?
Well, people imagine our musical nemesis is Oasis. They were briefly, for a few months in the 90s, but actually we’ve all got on quite well since then. I get asked an Oasis question in most interviews but journalists usually leave it until last question, in case I storm off in disgust. Which always makes me laugh. As if 30 years later I’m still seething! But no, nemeses aren’t really my style. To have an effective nemesis you really have to be an effective superhero, don’t you? That’s where I fall down.
What film do you always return to, and why?
Bizarrely, the film I’ve watched the most is Aliens. I won’t be getting a job on any film or TV programs for that, but I love that film. It’s very well put together. I suppose Apollo 13 is the other. I’ve always had fantasies about going into space and Apollo 13 I think depicts astronauts as I would like to be.
You are a proper polymath – musician, lawyer, politician, animator, photographer, pilot – but what is your secret superpower?
My secret superpower is maths, rather annoyingly. I’m studying for an astronomy degree at the moment, and I was dreading maths, because I always found that very hard at school. And I was speaking to a friend of mine who is a mathematician and he said there is no such thing as hard maths, only badly taught maths. And with that attitude, I have finally conquered whatever it is that was blocking me from doing the maths!
There’s hope for me yet! You really are quite the space cadet, which leads me to ask: would you rather die out in space, or at the bottom of the ocean?
Out in space, yep. I’ve been to the bottom of the ocean many times, because I’m a scuba diver. I learned in Australia, actually, on my honeymoon to Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. I can imagine what those deaths would involve and that’s not for me. But if I could sign up to go to Mars or start a colony on another planet, I would do it, even if it meant not coming home.
Since you mentioned your honeymoon, what is the weirdest thing you’ve done for love?
I learned just enough Sanskrit to write a love letter to a girl I knew. She was very impressed.
Did it work?
Of course it worked! It’s such a beautiful language.
No One You Know: Dave Rowntree’s Early Blur Photos is out now
