‘I came up with it on the way to the garage to get fags. I had to pelt back to my mum and dad’s to get my Dictaphone before I forgot it’

I was in a band called the Electric Crayons and we managed to get a gig supporting the Charlatans. They had a different singer, Baz Ketley, then. I ended up jumping on stage and singing one of their songs. Shortly after that, I got a call from the band. They didn’t ask me to audition. It was more a case of: “Would you like to come down to Wednesbury in the Midlands and hang out?”