Spinner

Aspiring Politician and Blur Drummer Dave Rowntree Is Having Some Doubts

Politics is a tough field to be in, possibly even tougher than music, according to Blur's Dave Rowntree, who is running for a Labour Party seat in the U.K.'s next general election. The drummer, whose band toyed with fans' hearts by briefly reuniting at Glastonbury and other festivals earlier this year, is competing for a seat in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency.

But there's a snag: the seat typically goes to the Conservative Party.

"I'm not a betting man, but if I was, even I wouldn't bet on me winning," Rowntree told NME.

Vying with the Conservatives for a seat is a "slog," Rowntree added. "Activism is by its nature a slog, But it depends why you're doing it ... I'm seeing where the problems are in my neighbourhood and trying to sort them out."

The ambitious Rowntree is also training to be a barrister, so he has yet another career choice to fall back on. Judging by his busy schedule, it appears there really isn't much time for the Blur to start things up again.

"Everyone's slipped back into what they do when the Blur creature isn't heaving around," Graham Coxon explained to NME recently. "Law and cheese and music, I suppose," he said, referring to band member Alex James' newfound career as a cheesemaker on a farm in the U.K.'s picturesque Cotswolds region.

James almost became a member of Bad Lieutenant, the new band of New Order's Bernard Sumner, after a chance New Year's Eve jam session with Sumner. But the old friends were separated by a great distance. "[James] lives 200 miles from me," Sumner recently told Spinner, so every time we needed a bass player, it was difficult."

Meanwhile, Coxon and Damon Albarn are sticking with the music biz -- just separately.

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

1 Comment

Filter by:
Kram Ufflernot

Just what we need...another naive liberal musician that thinks he knows what's good for us. I love Blur, but liberals should make music and ice cream...NOT policy!

November 01 2009 at 9:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply