Answering Guardian readers’ questions, the singer discusses his epic railway modelling, his admiration of the Sex Pistols and the secrets of his hair regime

Did you have any heroes in the beginning of your career that you wanted to move or look like? JoeHill

I didn’t look at singers and think: “That’s how I want to move,” but I sorta wanted to sound like ’em. I started off with Eddie Cochran – that rough-edged voice – and moved on to Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack and David Ruffin. I went from being a beatnik to a mod with long hair.