'My early Blur photos show how much fun we had'

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree said taking hundreds of photos in the early years of the band has helped him to remember the little things about its rise, as he shares some of them in his new book.

Rowntree, 62, shot to fame in the 1990s as part of the Britpop band, fighting with Oasis for chart dominance with hits like Parklife and Song 2.

Now, having carried a film camera around with him for much of the start of his career, he says looking through some of the photos has helped him to reminisce about the journey.

Rowntree, who lives near Godalming, told Radio Surrey: "What comes through is how much fun people are having."

He added: "Because we were a very unfashionable band playing unfashionable music, I just thought 'if this is my career I want to remember every moment of it'.

"You remember the big moments in life, but it was everything else I wanted to remember."

For the book, No One You Know, Rowntree said he had sifted through over 1,000 images taken from the early years of Blur, with about 250 making the cut.

Rowntree is also due to give a talk on the book at Guilfest in July, telling some of the stories behind the images in the book.

He added that it "was amazing how much of it I didn't remember", but said the book documents a "really happy time in our lives" for him and bandmates Damon Albarn, Alex James and Graham Coxon.

Rowntree said he still takes film photos in his spare time, adding: "I really enjoy it. It's really good fun".

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