‘Graham was keen, Damon less so’: Dave Rowntree on his early snaps of Blur – in pictures

Dave and Graham

These images were taken during Blur’s debut tours of the US and Japan, as well as in the studio in the UK. We see them playing games in the tour bus, larking around backstage, messing about in hotel rooms, at video shoots, with fans and friends. ‘Smoking was the national pastime in Japan in the 1990s so Graham and I felt very much at home,’ says Rowntree. ‘You could even smoke on JAL, the national airline. Then you couldn’t, and it was time to quit’