Johnny Borrell
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| Johnny Borrell | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jonathan Edward Borrell |
| Born | 4 April 1980 |
| Origin | Muswell Hill, London, England |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, bass,piano |
| Associated acts | Razorlight The Libertines Dear Eskiimo |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson L6-S Custom and Deluxe | |
Johnny Borrell (born Jonathan Edward Borrell, 4 April 1980, Muswell Hill, London) is an English guitarist and singer, currently fronting the band Razorlight.
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[edit] Early life and career
Borrell grew up in the Hampstead area of London. He attended St Anthony’s Preparatory School, before moving to Paris where he studied at the Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel, before moving back to England, where he attended Highgate School with John Hassall, former bassist of The Libertines and frontman of Yeti. He completed his A Levels in English, French and Philosophy at Fine Arts College, Belsize Park, Hampstead.[citation needed]
Johnny was involved in music and the Camden scene while still at school. At 17 he played bass guitar in a band called Violet, who regularly played gigs on the Camden circuit. The band recorded an EP and started to gain some recognition before splitting acrimoniously live on stage at Dublin Castle in late 97/early 98. The title track of the EP was subsequently used in the Soundtrack of the 1998 Michael Winterbottom film 'I Want You'. After the split, he briefly switched to being a solo artist covering The Clash and Leadbelly songs. Many of these shows were played with close friends The Libertines.
In 2002 he went on to form a band which played house parties, rehearsing at a Hackney warehouse called Unit 13, comprising of Carl Dalemo, Christian Smith Pancorvo (Later replaced by Andy Burrows) and Björn Ågren. The band were watching a video recording of them playing a gig, and a random jam section came across with a distorted lyric of Razo light, which then evolved into being the name of the band, Razorlight. After the number 9 single "Golden Touch", their debut album Up All Night charted at number 3 in the UK, and stop-gap single "Somewhere Else" reached number 2. Their self-titled follow-up album was released on 17 July 2006, and debuted at number 1 in the UK album chart. Razorlight scored their first UK number 1 single with "America" in October 2006. In 2008, Borrell contributed the song "Carrikfergus" (featuring the Suri tribe) to the Survival International charity album Songs for Survival.
[edit] Reputation and controversy
Borrell has sometimes been regarded as having a very arrogant attitude towards the press and is famous for his proclamations of his own abilities.[1] However, like many other artists who come across negatively in NME interviews, Borrell and supporters have accused the magazine of misrepresentation and emphasising quotes out of context.[2]
[edit] Borrell and The Libertines
Borrell is one of "The Dalston Set", a clique of indie notables connected to the early days of the London scene of the early 2000s, along with Dominic Masters of The Others, Pete Doherty, Carl Barât, John Hassall, and the Queens of Noize. It has been reported that he was briefly a stand-in bassist for The Libertines before they were signed, but in recent interviews he has claimed that this is not true. In Pete Welsh's Kids in the Riot, it is alleged that Borrell was sacked as The Libertines' bassist for unreliable behaviour and not having the same musical ability as the other members,[3] but in general there is little animosity between the two bands, and Borrell remains friends with Carl Barât. The Libertines' song "The Boy Looked At Johnny" is reputedly about Borrell, and Razorlight's "Don't Go Back To Dalston" is reputedly directed at Pete Doherty, telling him to curtail his drug habit. In March 2009, Borrell was reported to have attempted to humiliate Morgan Hewitt, by trying to headbutt him, at Bestival. The Court Case continues..
[edit] Xfm
Following his four week residency on London radio station, Xfm, Borrell joined it for an eight week stint hosting a Sunday night show called The Sunday Service. It began on 6 September 2009.
[edit] Other work
Borrell has appeared twice on The Mighty Boosh, once alone as a giant rapist rabbit in the 2006 stage show and once with Razorlight in the episode "The Priest and the Beast". Noel Fielding also opened for Razorlight at their two sold out Alexandra Palace shows in 2005 and appeared in the Razorlight video for the song 'In the Morning' and 'Up All Night'.[citation needed]
Borrell appeared on the front cover of the May 2007 issue of Vogue magazine, alongside supermodel Natalia Vodianova, in his trademark skinny white jeans and topless. Borrell is one of only seven men who have appeared on the cover of the UK version of Vogue.[4]
In 2008 Borrell and bandmate Andy Burrows appeared at the Teenage Cancer Trust comedy night at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Borrell's friend Noel Fielding. The two played a short acoustic set.[citation needed]
It has been reported that Borrell will star in an Irvine Welsh scripted film alongside Colin Firth and Robert Carlyle called 'The Meat Trade'.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Harper, A.L. (2006-09-10). "Interview: Razorlight Frontman Johnny Borrell Looks Back and Ahead". BC Music. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/10/134301.php. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ "'I'm paying some karma'". Guardian Unlimited. 2006-12-08. http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,1966974,00.html. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ Welsh, Pete (2005). Kids in the Riot: High and Low with the Libertines. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-716-X.
- ^ Catwalk Queen: Johnny 'Razorlight' Borrell on the cover of Vogue
- ^ The Meat Trade (2009)
[edit] External links
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