Dave Rowntree
Encyclopedia
David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964 in Colchester
, Essex
) is an English solicitor
, musician
, animator
, and political activist. He is best known as the drummer of the alternative rock
band Blur
. He is also a member of The Ailerons
.
, Colchester
during the week, and the Landermere Music School, Thorpe-le-Soken
, at weekends, where he studied percussion
. He played percussion with his father in the Colchester Silver Band, a brass band. After leaving school he studied for a Higher National Diploma
(HND) in Computer Science at Thames Polytechnic
, and started his career as a computer programmer for Colchester Borough Council.
while the two were growing up in Colchester, and knew Coxon's father who taught jazz classes at Landermere. In 1989 Coxon introduced Rowntree to Damon Albarn
, who was forming a band around Goldsmiths, University of London. Rowntree was asked to join, and left his job and moved to London. With the addition of Alex James
, and after many name changes, the band settled on Blur
and were quickly signed to EMI
.
Rowntree is a computer animator, and owns an animation company called Nanomation. He directed two series of the South Park
-esque animated show Empire Square
, which made its TV debut on Channel 4
on 18 February 2005. He is also interested in computer graphics
, and has contributed to three research papers on topics related to non-photorealistic rendering
.
Since 2006, Rowntree has been training to become a solicitor
, and is currently working at a firm of criminal law
solicitors, based in East London. He is a committed opponent of the death penalty, and is a patron of Amicus, an organisation that provides legal representation for those on Death Row
in the US.
since becoming a member in 2002, and is chair of London's West End
branch. In April 2007 he unsuccessfully contested the safe Conservative
seat of Marylebone High Street
on Westminster City Council
. In July 2008 he fought the safe Labour seat of Church Street, a Labour stronghold since its creation in the 1960s, however a swing from Labour to the Conservatives of 14.1% meant that he was again unsuccessful as the Conservatives gained the seat.
In February 2008 he was selected by the Cities of London and Westminster Constituency Labour Party to stand against Conservative MP Mark Field
at the 2010 general election
. He was defeated at that election.
Rowntree supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and in 2007 said, "I’m not a pacifist, I do believe that some things are worth fighting for, and dying for. I understand that that’s easier to say, I’m not being the one who’s asked to die, but Saddam was such an illegal ruthless bastard I didn’t shed any tears for it [the war]."
operating system wrote a device driver
to enable a particular CD-ROM
card to work with the operating system
.
He has also campaigned against prosecution of internet music filesharers
, and is a member of the Advisory Council
of the Open Rights Group
, a United Kingdom-based digital rights
NGO. When asked on Blur's website about how he felt about single "Out of Time" being leaked on the Internet before its release he replied "I'd rather it gushed".
Rowntree has a serious interest in flying, having obtained a full pilot's licence in 1995, as well as in space travel
, shown by his involvement with fellow bandmate Alex James
in the Beagle 2
Mission to Mars
project.
Rowntree is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition.
. Dave primarily used a Yamaha kit for all albums up until Blur but occasionally using other brands for live performances. Starting with the Blur era up until the Think Tank era, he primarily used a Pearl kit. Starting with Think Tank, he began using a Slingerland kit which he uses up to this day. Dave has always used Pro-Mark Medium drumsticks and has always used Zildjian cymbals. There is also a Roger's Dave kit used in the video of Blur's "Coffee & TV
".
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
) is an English solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
, and political activist. He is best known as the drummer of the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
. He is also a member of The Ailerons
The Ailerons
The Ailerons are an indie rock band featuring Charity Hair, Daniel Beattie, Dave Rowntree , Grog Prebble and Mike Smith....
.
Early life
Rowntree was born to musical parents – Susan, a viola player, and John, a sound engineer at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). He attended the Gilberd SchoolGilberd School
The Gilberd School, established in 1912, is a comprehensive school in Colchester, England.-History:The school originally opened on 12 July 1912 in buildings on North Hill, Colchester...
, Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
during the week, and the Landermere Music School, Thorpe-le-Soken
Thorpe-le-Soken
Thorpe-le-Soken is a village in Essex, located west of Walton-on-the-Naze, Frinton-on-Sea and north of Clacton-on-Sea.-History:Thorpe-le-Soken's history can be traced back to Saxon times....
, at weekends, where he studied percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
. He played percussion with his father in the Colchester Silver Band, a brass band. After leaving school he studied for a Higher National Diploma
Higher National Diploma
A Higher National Diploma is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom. This qualification can be used to gain entry into universities, and is considered equivalent to the first or second year of a university degree course....
(HND) in Computer Science at Thames Polytechnic
University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is a British university located in the London Borough of Greenwich, London, England. The main campus is located on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, a central location within the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:The history of the...
, and started his career as a computer programmer for Colchester Borough Council.
Career
Rowntree had played in bands with Graham CoxonGraham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
while the two were growing up in Colchester, and knew Coxon's father who taught jazz classes at Landermere. In 1989 Coxon introduced Rowntree to Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
, who was forming a band around Goldsmiths, University of London. Rowntree was asked to join, and left his job and moved to London. With the addition of Alex James
Alex James (musician)
Professionally known as Alex James is an English musician, songwriter, journalist and cheesemaker. He is best known as the bass player and occasional vocalist of band Blur...
, and after many name changes, the band settled on Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
and were quickly signed to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
Rowntree is a computer animator, and owns an animation company called Nanomation. He directed two series of the South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
-esque animated show Empire Square
Empire Square
Empire Square is an animated TV series written by Matt Morgan made with pixel graphics. It originated in the UK where it is broadcast on Channel 4 late at night on Fridays...
, which made its TV debut on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
on 18 February 2005. He is also interested in computer graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
, and has contributed to three research papers on topics related to non-photorealistic rendering
Non-photorealistic rendering
Non-Photorealistic rendering is an area of computer graphics that focuses on enabling a wide variety of expressive styles for digital art. In contrast to traditional computer graphics, which has focused on photorealism, NPR is inspired by artistic styles such as painting, drawing, technical...
.
Since 2006, Rowntree has been training to become a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
, and is currently working at a firm of criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
solicitors, based in East London. He is a committed opponent of the death penalty, and is a patron of Amicus, an organisation that provides legal representation for those on Death Row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
in the US.
Politics
Rowntree has been a keen activist and supporter of the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
since becoming a member in 2002, and is chair of London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
branch. In April 2007 he unsuccessfully contested the safe Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
seat of Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street is a shopping street in London, running sub-parallel to Baker Street and terminating at its northern end at the junction with the Marylebone Road...
on Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council and is entitled to be known as a city council, which is a rare distinction in the United Kingdom. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors...
. In July 2008 he fought the safe Labour seat of Church Street, a Labour stronghold since its creation in the 1960s, however a swing from Labour to the Conservatives of 14.1% meant that he was again unsuccessful as the Conservatives gained the seat.
In February 2008 he was selected by the Cities of London and Westminster Constituency Labour Party to stand against Conservative MP Mark Field
Mark Field
Mark Christopher Field , is a British Conservative Party politician and MP for the Cities of London and Westminster.-Early life and education:...
at the 2010 general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
. He was defeated at that election.
Rowntree supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and in 2007 said, "I’m not a pacifist, I do believe that some things are worth fighting for, and dying for. I understand that that’s easier to say, I’m not being the one who’s asked to die, but Saddam was such an illegal ruthless bastard I didn’t shed any tears for it [the war]."
Other interests
He has continued to take an interest in computer science, and in the early days of the LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system wrote a device driver
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
to enable a particular CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
card to work with the operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
.
He has also campaigned against prosecution of internet music filesharers
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
, and is a member of the Advisory Council
Advisory Council
Advisory Council may refer to:In the United Kingdom:* Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, a statutory and non-executive non-departmental British public body...
of the Open Rights Group
Open Rights Group
The Open Rights Group is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues, acting as a media clearinghouse service putting journalists in touch with experts, and by fostering a community of grassroots activists...
, a United Kingdom-based digital rights
Digital rights
The term digital rights describes the permissions of individuals legitimately to perform actions involving the use of a computer, any electronic device, or a communications network...
NGO. When asked on Blur's website about how he felt about single "Out of Time" being leaked on the Internet before its release he replied "I'd rather it gushed".
Rowntree has a serious interest in flying, having obtained a full pilot's licence in 1995, as well as in space travel
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....
, shown by his involvement with fellow bandmate Alex James
Alex James (musician)
Professionally known as Alex James is an English musician, songwriter, journalist and cheesemaker. He is best known as the bass player and occasional vocalist of band Blur...
in the Beagle 2
Beagle 2
Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. All contact with it was lost upon its separation from the Mars Express six days before its scheduled entry into the atmosphere...
Mission to Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
project.
Rowntree is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition.
Equipment
Dave has used a very large assortment of different drum kits with BlurBlur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
. Dave primarily used a Yamaha kit for all albums up until Blur but occasionally using other brands for live performances. Starting with the Blur era up until the Think Tank era, he primarily used a Pearl kit. Starting with Think Tank, he began using a Slingerland kit which he uses up to this day. Dave has always used Pro-Mark Medium drumsticks and has always used Zildjian cymbals. There is also a Roger's Dave kit used in the video of Blur's "Coffee & TV
Coffee & TV
"Coffee & TV" is a song by the British alternative rock band Blur. The verses are sung by the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, who also wrote the lyrics. The music is credited to Damon Albarn, who also sings the chorus. The song appears on the band's sixth studio album, 13, released in 1999; and...
".