'The Big Juggernaut Heading Our Way Is AI': Blur's Dave Rowntree Shares Advice To Emerging Artists At BIGSOUND
Rowntree advised the next generation of musicians to get on stages and let go of the idea of being “bedroom producers.”
Blur's Dave Rowntree (Source: Supplied/BIGSOUND)
Dave Rowntree is one of the most influential drummers of the Britpop era.
As a member of Blur, not only has he shared the spotlight with his bandmates behind hits such as Parklife, Song 2, Girls & Boys, Coffee & TV, and many more, but he’s also seen many changes occur within the music industry.
Rowntree is currently in Australia, and on Wednesday (3 September), he was in conversation with Richard Kingsmill at BIGSOUND, where he discussed the beginnings of Blur while also highlighting the challenges emerging artists face in 2025, including AI.
“The big juggernaut heading our way is AI,” Rowntree said, “and it’s gonna make it really easy for people to make bad music. There’s always been tonnes of ways to make bad music, but AI is going to make bad music the norm.”
Adding that the only thing that’s going to be left standing in an AI-driven music landscape is “creativity and originality,” Rowntree explained that it wouldn’t be worthwhile to say an artist draws from Taylor Swift or “a bit like this and a bit like that,” as that would be easy for AI to replicate.
He continued, “Doing something new, doing something original, that’s gonna be valuable. And the big thing that AI is not going to be able to put itself all over is live.”
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Offering some more advice, Rowntree advised the next generation of budding musicians to get on stages and let go of the idea of being “bedroom producers,” as AI prompts will be able to generate that lo-fi yet soulless music easily.
Kingsmill asked Rowntree whether he feels optimistic about the future for musicians and whether or not there have been enough safeguards put in place, to which the drummer responded, “The time to regulate was about five years ago—the same time when the internet changed everything.
“If there was any hope of changing it in a way that was beneficial to artists, it was about five years before people woke up and realised what was happening. Same with AI now—the genie is out of the bottle; there’s nothing we can do.
“But on the upside, we are supposed to be the creative ones, so we’re supposed to be the people best placed to make use of technology and technological changes, so that’s what we’re going to need to do.”
Rowntree is scheduled to release his new photography book, No One You Know, just days after wrapping at BIGSOUND (9 September). The book will feature hundreds of photos and provide intimate insight into one of the UK’s biggest bands.
Upon announcing the project in May, Rowntree explained, “The pictures I took are of a band right at the start of their career. They’re of what we did between the gigs, interviews and photo sessions.
“They are of us hanging out, relaxing, travelling, eating, and especially in the early days, drinking. They are snapshots of what life in Blur was really like in the first few years when the TV cameras and tape recorders were turned off.”
With the book and his BIGSOUND appearance, Rowntree is providing both the most dedicated and casual Blur fans a fly-on-the-wall look at the beginning of the band, and then some.
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