Blur’s Dave Rowntree: ‘People think music was better in the old days, to which I say: bollocks!’
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.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morningWhat 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.Sign up to Saved for LaterCatch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tipsafter newsletter promotionDo 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
Powering change: UK battery firms aim to unlock the way to net zero
Think of battery manufacturing and it may evoke images of Elon Musk and Tesla’s sprawling “gigafactories” around the globe, or China’s vast, hi-tech clean rooms churning out cells to go in anything from electric toothbrushes to mobile phones and cars. But at Invinity Energy Systems’s small factory in Bathgate, near Edinburgh, workers slotting parts together are hoping that Britain can also play a part in the battery revolution.These batteries, which rely on vanadium ions, are put in 6-metre (20ft), 25-tonne shipping containers. They will not go into cars, but the manufacturer hopes the technology can win a place in a global rush into storage to usher in the shift to net zero carbon grids.Renewable electricity is the future of the global energy system: cheaper and cleaner than fossil fuels
UK retail sales rise but stores fear tax worries could hit festive period
Record warm weather and a Bank of England interest rate cut lifted retail sales in August, according to the latest survey, but retailers fear that speculation about tax rises could weigh on consumers in the crucial pre-Christmas trading period.Retail sales increased 3.1% year on year as consumer spending on food and drink rose, and sales of computers and related equipment performed well as parents readied children for the new school year.However, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which publishes the monthly figures in conjunction with KPMG, said the 4.7% boost in spending on food and drink was due to price rises as opposed to consumers buying more products
Meta hid harms to children from VR products, whistleblowers allege
A group of six whistleblowers have come forward with allegations of a cover-up of harm to children on Meta’s virtual reality devices and apps. They say the social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and offers a line of VR headsets and games, deleted or doctored internal safety research that showed children being exposed to grooming, sexual harassment and violence in its 3D realms.“Meta knew that underage children were using its products, but figured, ‘Hey, kids drive engagement,’ and it was making them cash,” Jason Sattizahn, one of the whistleblowers who worked on the company’s VR research, said in a statement. “Meta has compromised their internal teams to manipulate research and straight-up erase data that they don’t like.”Sattizahn and the other whistleblowers, all current or former Meta employees, have disclosed these findings and a trove of documents to Congress, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the allegations
Amazon fires 150 unionized third-party drivers, Teamsters says
Amazon has fired more than 150 unionized drivers working for a third-party contractor in Queens, New York, according to the Teamsters union.Workers rallied at the company’s DBK4 facility in Queens on Monday after the company fired the drivers, who worked for Cornucopia, a delivery service provider (DSP) that Amazon contracted with to make deliveries. Amazon works with more than 3,000 DSPs around the world who deliver the company’s packages.The Teamsters said the firings were in retaliation for unionizing.“Amazon is breaking the law and we let the public know it,” said Antonio Rosario, a member of local 804 and a Teamster organizer, in a statement
The Sparks’ Cameron Brink is redefining what it means to be a young WNBA star
It’s the fourth quarter of a tense, close bout in Los Angeles between the hometown Sparks and the Indiana Fever. The game has serious playoff implications for both teams, so every bucket feels fraught, and it’s going down to the wire. Cameron Brink, the 6ft 4in second-year Sparks center with an unmistakable Rapunzel-esque blonde braid has fouled out of the game, but you wouldn’t know it from her enthusiasm on the bench. No one is clapping harder, cheering louder, for her teammates.That’s fundamental to who Brink is, according to everyone I talk to around the team in their final push for the playoffs in recent weeks – the Sparks are in a battle with Seattle Storm for the final spot
Take the strain: Tug of War World Championships
“Pick up the rope! Take the strain! Steady! Pull!” When the referee barks those commands, eight competitors on each team muster every ounce of strength in their bodies and attempt to haul one another across the crumbling earth. Clutching a rope made of hemp or polypropylene, the first team to tug their opponents four metres from their starting position is the winner. They dig their steel-plated heels into the dirt – but strictly no spikes are allowed – while coaching staff guide and encourage them to victory. In the round-robin stages, each contest lasts two ends and the top four teams reach the semi-finals; the semi-finals and finals are decided over three ends. With varying age and weight categories, competitors range from their teens to their 70s
Athletics can’t keep kidding itself – it needs a five-pronged plan to save track and field | Sean Ingle
Unprecedented strike shows racing unified to send pre-budget message to Labour over betting duty crisis
Surrey all out for 246, McKinney punishes Essex: county cricket day one – as it happened
Jack Draper ruled out for rest of the season with arm injury
Sinner’s reaction to US Open defeat shows why he and Alcaraz will tower over the tour for years to come
England look to get smart after one-day romp fails to mask long-term troubles