Johnny Borrell: 'Why should I never have been obnoxious?'

Johnny Borrell has carried out an uncomfortable new interview with The Guardian, in which he criticises his own representation in mainstream media, asking: "Why should I never have been obnoxious?"

The Razorlight frontman has become somewhat famed for his strange, self-aggrandizing statements, and this reputation seems to be grating on him.

When asked by The Guardian how he feels when he looks back on his famous quotes, such as, "Compared to the Razorlight album, Dylan is making the chips, I'm drinking champagne", Borrell said: "I never look back on them. How do you feel about something you said 10 years ago? I get asked this question so much. If you've got a good question, let's do it."

Borrell went on to discuss the four months he spent on an island in the Hebrides in 2006, saying: "There was somebody on the island, I don't know who, but they wrote a nice letter to the Guardian saying there was never a mention of Johnny Borrell without a mention of his arrogance.

"And they said I'd been there for four months and they'd found me to be this and that. So who am I going to trust? The person I've engaged with in their community or the one who's written an article?"

When asked if this reputation for arrogance was justified, Borrell said: "Yeah, but who has never been obnoxious? It's like saying who has never got angry or envious or jealous. It's a bizarre question - why should I never have been obnoxious?"

At one point during the interview, Borrell, who was becoming increasingly defensive after accusing the interviewer of putting words in his mouth, asked: "Have we reached our half-hour yet? I feel like we've done a good interview here..."