Where did this hat come from?

This is my favourite hat. It’s completely practical, it fits me and keeps me warm. I have a similar one in black and every time I wear it someone asks me if I’m Jewish, and I have to explain that I’m not, and that I’m simply a man wearing a black hat! I bought this hat in Ecuador. I’ve worn it a lot here in Wales and wore it on my wedding day. Of course I took it off in the chapel, but wore it for the rest of the day.

Do you use your clothing to make some kind of impression?

Even though I have no interest in clothes as fashion items, it doesn’t mean to say I walk around naked all day! Some people use clothes to show others who they are, as a badge or something, while others wear clothes to hide who they really are, to become someone they’re not. Clothes are a strong image that can convey different things. Some of my songs refer to different clothes and I own those clothes. I remember wearing this shirt and writing about it in a song, and I think that’s interesting.

Even though you have no interest in clothes every item you own has its purpose so they must be important to you in some way?

The clothes as such aren’t that important to me, only as a reminder of something that’s happened. I’ll wear different items for different occasions. This is from Tibet, but I didn’t get it in Tibet, I bought it in Nepal. There were all kinds of clothes and hats there, so I bought a few furry hats along with this jacket. I like this jacket because of the colours, black and white. I sometimes wear this in the winter when it’s cold to compose and for some reason I always seem to do my best work wearing this jacket.

This is an unusual jacket. Where did this come from?

This also came from abroad, from India. They used to call these Nero jackets and they were very popular when the Beatles were around. I still like a round collar today. It also has a very interesting label, ‘Jalal &Sons, NIZAMUODIN, New Delhi.

Where did you get this stripy jumper?

It’s funny what you keep in your wardrobe. A journalist came to interview me for hours one day and bought a photographer with him and I wore this jumper. When the article came out it was completely different to what I had said and the pictures were terrible. I was furious and took against the jumper and haven’t worn it since, until today.

What did you wear for your chairing ceremony?

I decided to wear a Cymuned t-shirt because I knew that the cameras would be on me and I thought I would use the chance to spread the word. But I don’t think it worked because everyone focused on the fan I was carrying!

Where did you get this red jacket?

Years ago when I had a moustache and a promising career in broadcasting, someone bought me this jacket to wear on a programme I was working on at the time. I like it then, but again, something angered me while working in television and I took offence against everything in that world. I turned to music instead and started writing songs ranting about the media. One of the lines I wrote was; “they can keep their red leather jackets and all of that”.

You’ve travelled a lot, did this jacket come from abroad?

I’m sure this came from abroad somewhere. It looks like something a musician would wear in a military band in India years ago. But I got it in Bangor to wear on stage and I like it a lot. It’s very theatrical and the colours are striking. There used to be a warehouse full of second hand stuff in Bangor that had a large clothing section full of unusual things, and I used to shop there for clothes for the stage.

What do you think of the fashion world?

I don’t understand it at all. It’s a complete mystery to me why anyone would worry so much about what they wear. But on the other hand, my wife is very interested in fashion. She buys all these magazines full of pictures of people who are only famous for what they wear. They start a fashion trend which everyone then seems to follow. But the fact that people worry about what they wear, now that baffles me completely!