Wit & Attitude Quote by Colin Greenwood

There’s an unusually tender brutality in the way Colin Greenwood phrases this: not “Jonny prefers privacy” or “he’s media-shy,” but “he thinks that he comes across as an idiot.” It’s a bandmate translating eccentricity into something recognizably human: anxiety about being misread. Jonny Greenwood, the famously cerebral Radiohead multi-instrumentalist, has long been treated like a kind of rock-world mathematician. Colin punctures that myth with a single, disarming fear.

The intent feels protective and preemptive. Instead of letting silence be interpreted as arrogance, he offers a simpler narrative: Jonny’s not withholding; he’s self-conscious. That matters in a culture where visibility is treated as moral proof. TV interviews are still a particular kind of performance - fast, charming, concise, brand-safe. If your mind runs laterally, if your humor is dry, if you don’t do easy soundbites, the format turns you into a meme or a “difficult” genius. “Idiot” here doesn’t mean unintelligent; it means flattened.

The subtext is also a quiet critique of promotion itself. Radiohead’s mystique has always been partly about refusing the normal celebrity contract, and Colin is admitting the cost: opting out isn’t always high-minded; sometimes it’s fear. By saying “he thinks,” Colin keeps the door open: maybe Jonny wouldn’t come across as an idiot at all. The tragedy - and the comedy - is that the very self-awareness that makes him avoid TV is what would likely make him interesting on it.