At the beginning of this year I had a bet with my friend Frank Henry,” says Wilko Johnson. “Henry’s going: nah man, you’re going to live forever. And I’m saying: look man, I won’t see Christmas.

“So we made this bet. I bet Frank Henry £100 that I wouldn’t make it to Christmas. Think about it, if he wins I’ve got to pay him £100... if I win... hmm, bit of a silly bet.“ Wilko Johnson, one of the most influential figures in British music, is dying. In fact, according to doctors, he should be dead already.

At the close of last year, the Canvey Island-born star revealed that he’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had about ten months to live.

Instead of opting for treatment, guitarist and songwriter Wilko, who has played in Dr Feelgood, Ian Drury and the Blockheads, and since the late ‘70s in his own name band, has instead decided to do what he does best: play, play, play.

“They told me that if I took the treatment they could give me,“ Wilko pauses, “look they can’t cure it, they can’t stop it. All they could do is perhaps slow it down and give me a couple of extra months. But chemotherapy makes you very ill, and if I’d gone for it, I’d have been very ill this year, so what’s the point?

“I’m still fine in myself physically. It’s just very weird, I’m living on borrowed time. Everything is a bonus.

“It’s been a very strange year.

“I’m having this marvellous time, what with the gigging and the music, and it makes me feel alive, knowing that death is imminent. I know it’s tough for my friends and family, it’s a strange state. I know what it’s like for them.

“Ten years ago my wife Irene died of cancer, and I can remember that terrible, helpless feeling of seeing someone you love going, I know how terrible that was. I know they’ve got this feeling, and I’m sorry for them. I can’t really joke with them about it...“ Wilko, 66, is credited as one of the founding fathers of the punk movement, inspiring legions of musicians including Paul Weller, Suggs and John Lydon, to name a few.

His musical style – frantic, choppy guitar – underpinned the early years of his former band Dr Feelgood, “I was trying and failing to play like Mick Green from Johnny Kidd and The Pirates.“ He became renowned for his image – novel dress sense of a black suit with pudding bowl haircut, coupled with his infamous duck walk.

“I’ve no idea where it came from, maybe it jumped on me one night. It’s my kind of dancing, moving to the music.“ Despite the band’s acrimonious split in 1977, “we just exploded“, Wilko and Dr Feelgood have been credited with creating a mythology for Essex, specifically Canvey, with Wilko writing a type of blues that was rooted in his own life.

Their story came under the spotlight a few years ago, when a film about the band, Oil City Confidential, was released, expanding their fanbase.

“Essex does seem quite a fertile place for musicians,“ he says, in a thick cockney accent. “I’ve speculated a lot on this with other people. Some people think it’s something to do with the seaside and ports, like Liverpool. I think it’s produced a lot of great bands, because it’s a great place.

“I’ve always lived within arms’ length of the Thames estuary, even now I live in a semi in Southend, I love it here.“ Wilko is set to perform a gig in Essex next week.

“I had my farewell tour in April and all through that time I was just hoping that I’d stay well.

“It got to summer and I was still feeling okay, so we were invited to do some festivals, one in Japan – Fuji Rock, which was amazing. It rained every day until we got on stage and then the clouds parted and the sun shone down on us. It couldn’t go wrong, the whole crowd was going for it.

“The great thing about festivals is that you can do one at short notice and should I be unfit, it’s not a big deal.

“So now, I’m doing the occasional gig and that’s great.

“There is a strong element that people are coming to see me at these gigs because it’s the last time they’ll be able to.

“But it’s a good feeling. Rock and roll is an immediate thing. When I look out to the crowd I’m treating each performance I do now as the last.“ Wilko has also been receiving a flurry of awards and has been working on a new album, along with Roger Daltrey from The Who, which is set to be released early next year.

“I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Wouldn’t it be great if it got to number one?“ He lets out a filthy, throaty laugh.

“I will also be making an album on my own, because I’ve been writing songs all year. There are a few references that have worked their way in about how I feel about things – clocks ticking and all that.

“It’s a weird feeling having people say that I’ve influenced them, or getting these awards. Every musician is influenced by someone, for me it was Mick Green and I see this as just passing the message along. I’m glad I can’t see myself the way others see me.

“My friends will remember me as a friend. And my fans? For twanging my guitar. What can I say, I just did, what I did.“ l Wilko Johnson is at Evoke, Market Road, Chelmsford, on Thursday, December 19, from 7.30pm until 1am. Details: 01245 492881