More Info on Dave RowntreeSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Dave Rowntree|image = Dave_Rowntree.jpg|252 px|caption =|image_size =|background = non_vocal_instrumentalist|birth_name = David Alexander De Horne Rowntree|birth_date = birth date and age|1964|5|8|death_date =|origin = Colchester , Essex , England |instrument = Drum kit|Drums , drum machine , percussion , guitar , vocals |genre = Alternative rock , art rock , Britpop |occupation = Musician , animator , solicitor , political activist |years_active = 1988–present|label =|associated_acts = Blur (band)|Blur , The Ailerons , Empire Square |website = URL| http://www.blur.co.uk/|notable_instruments = 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 (band)|Blur . He is also a member of The Ailerons .
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 School , Colchester during the week, and the Landermere Music School, Thorpe-le-Soken , at weekends, where he studied Percussion instrument|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 University of Greenwich|Thames Polytechnic , http://www.blurcentral.co.uk/dave.htm Biography on blurcentral and started his career as a computer programmer for Colchester Borough Council .
Career
Rowntree had played in bands with Graham Coxon 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 (musician)|Alex James , and after many name changes, the band settled on Blur (band)|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 . http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/~jpc/pubs/elsevier_videopaintbox.pdf Video Paintbox - The Fine Art of Video Paintingdead link|date=October 2011 http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/~jpc/pubs/tvcg05.pdf Stroke Surfaces: Temporally Coherent Non-photorealistic Animations from Video.dead link|date=October 2011 http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/~jpc/pubs/gmodels05.pdf Rendering cartoon style motion cues in post-production videodead link|date=October 2011
Since 2006, Rowntree has been training to become a solicitor ,cite news|author=Dave Simpson |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/23/pop-stars-musicians-jobs-careers |title=From pop star to chiropractor: musicians' post-musical careers |publisher=The Guardian |date= 23 September 2010|accessdate=2011-10-26 |location=London and is currently working at a firm of criminal law solicitors , based in East (London sub region)|East London . He is a committed opponent of the death penalty , and is a patron of Amicus, http://www.amicus-alj.org/index.htm Amicus web sitedead link|date=October 2011 an organisation that provides legal representation for those on Death Row in the US.
Politics
Rowntree has been a keen activist and supporter of the Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party since becoming a member in 2002, and is chair of London's West End of London|West End branch. In April 2007 he unsuccessfully contested the safe Conservative Party (UK)|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 Iraq war|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."cite web|url= http://www.timeout.com/london/features/2863.html |title=Dave Rowntree interview in Time Out |publisher=Timeout.com |date=2007-04-30 |accessdate=2011-10-26
Other interests
He has continued to take an interest in computer science, and in the early days of the Linux 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 file sharing|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 Human spaceflight|space travel , shown by his involvement with fellow bandmate Alex James (musician)|Alex James in the Beagle 2 Mission to Mars project.
Rowntree is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition .cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7936712.stm | title= Music stars call for more power | work=BBC News | date=12 March 2009 | first=Ian | last=Youngs
Equipment
Dave has used a very large assortment of different drum kits with Blur (band)|Blur . Dave primarily used a Yamaha kit for all albums up until Blur (Blur album)|Blur but occasionally using other brands for live performances. Starting with the Blur era up until the Think Tank (Blur album)|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 ".
References
reflist
External links
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=AkNvk2MgiCc Nardwuar the Human Serviette interview 2003
http://www.timeout.com/london/features/2863.html Time Out interview May 2007
Blur Persondata | NAME = Rowntree, Dave | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 8 May 1964 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Rowntree, Dave Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People from Colchester Category:English rock drummers Category:Blur (band) members Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Category:Alumni of the University of Greenwich Category:English solicitors
