Writer

Introduction

“Robbie Williams: ‘My main talent is turning trauma into something showbizzy’ ” is an interview that journalist Alexis Petridis made with Robbie Williams. As it features the voices of both the interviewer and the interviewee, we will focus on Alexis Petridis as well as Robbie Williams in this section.

Alexis Petridis

Alexis Petridis (b. 1971) is a British journalist and head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper The Guardian. He is also a weekly contributor to The Guardian’s fashion section, its Lost in Showbiz column, and his work has often been featured in the magazine GQ. Petridis subtly criticises Williams’ latest album, calling some of his material “daft jokes and crowd-pleasing anthems” (ll. 196-197). This shows that Petridis takes his role as a music critic seriously.

Petridis’ work has earned him the Record of The Day Award for the category “Record Review Writer of the Year” every year from 2005 to 2012. He is also a winner in the “Artist and Music Features: Writer of the Year” in 2006 and “Best Music Writer” categories in 2012.

Petridis is also not a fan of modern indie artists– he believes that, unlike twenty years ago, there is now little difference between indie music and pop music: “so-called-indie artists these days – when whatever passes for indie music these days frequently sounds indistinguishable from mainstream pop.” (ll. 267-270).

Robbie Williams

The interview includes many direct quotes which provide Williams’ personal perspective on the topics of the article. It is, therefore, important to also look at some relevant information on Williams which will help you better understand the...