On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, the drummers from two of the UK’s biggest bands in recent memory: Blur’s Dave Rowntree and Radiohead’s Philip Selway had a conversation.
Dave Rowntree and Philip Selway have a conversation
In the conversation, these two drummers sounded immediately friendly, though they were only passing acquaintances beforehand. They talk about stepping away from bigger bands to do your own thing, including the process of finding your own voice. “What if it’s rubbish?” laughs Rowntree at the top of the chat, proving that even the biggest stars can have doubts.
It has been noted that Rowntree came to fame with Blur, one of the original Britpop bands of the early 1990s. He’s been an amateur pilot, a professional lawyer, an elected politician, and a social activist. On the music front, he found yet another career creating soundtracks for TV and film, starting with the Bros documentary After the Screaming Stops.
It has been noted that Blur is back together for some massive shows in 2023, but during the pandemic Rowntree got together—virtually, of course—with producer Leo Abrahams to make his proper solo album.
While, Philip Selway is best known as the drummer for another huge British band, Radiohead, with whom he’s been making music since 1985. It wasn’t until 2010 that Selway actually took the leap and released his first solo album, the gentle Familial. In between Radiohead duties, he’s found the time to release another one—the more sonically expansive Weatherhouse in 2014—and work on some soundtracks as well. Selway is now gearing up for the release of his third and most ambitious album yet: Strange Dance that comes out toward the end of February.
