Rag'n'Bone Man

Nobody told me how to sing, so I just thought I'd try and sing like Howlin' Wolf. It was like a bark; there was melody to it - but I would go off a bit and I wouldn't stick AutoTune on it or anything to make it in key. Even now, I couldn't tell you about harmonies. I couldn't tell about what notes I'm singing because nobody taught me to sing.

I used to sing as a kid, but it was quite squeaky. I think I was about 19 or 20, and we used to go to these jam sessions and open mics. I just got the courage to sing one day. I don't think anyone expected it to sound like that.

When you get to your teenage years, you want to find something that you identify with. It's almost a slight rebellion; you don't want to listen to what your parents listen to anymore; you want to find your own music. That, for me, was hearing the Fugees for the first time.

Close to my heart is Muddy Waters. I love the way he sang. It was almost like a bark. It was like the bark of a dog: it's not fancy. Sometimes it's not like singing; it's like shouting.

The insomnia just perpetuates. I have one bad night, then I get it in my head that I can't sleep. I've been trying these meditation tapes - there are a couple on Spotify - and they're meant to calm you. But they don't seem to work.

It's a weird thing, beards now. I'll be in east London, and lads come up to me: 'Yo man, what beard oil do you use?' I'm like, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' It's just laziness.

I've got 99 problems, and most of them are height-related.

My mum always wanted to send me to a music school, but we didn't really have the money. So even now, I'm not a technically good singer. If you asked me to sing a particular harmony, I wouldn't know how.

I'm new to a lot of people, and I don't think anyone wants to listen to 16 tracks of a new artist.

I used to go round to my granddad's house on a Saturday morning, and we'd sit and eat our porridge and watch re-runs of 'Steptoe and Son' on BBC Two. I thought it was hilarious - and Rag 'N' Bone Man sounded like a blues name to me. It reminded me of people like Sonny Boy Williamson and Big Mama Thornton.