“Where does this rage come from, this suspicious nature , this anger , this cynicism ?”

MOST days during lockdown, Bobby Gillespie left his home in north London and walked two miles to the studio owned by his wife, the fashion stylist Katy England. There, he wrote. As a musician who has spent almost 40 years in bands – first as drummer with The Jesus And Mary Chain and then with Primal Scream – these sessions proved to be an unusually solitary, not to say quiet, creative experience. For the most part, Gillespie was working on Tenement Kid – a memoir that follows him from childhood in Glasgow up to the release of the Screamdelica album in 1991.

“I want to give a good account of myself and my life,” Gillespie explains. “I didn’t know what it took to write a book. I’ve just written rock’n’roll songs – three, four or maybe five verses, which is a very condensed, disciplined way of writing. So it’s a different way of expressing myself – which I enjoyed, I have to say.”

Reflection has never been Gillespie’s preferred state. Primal Scream’s career has been characterised by a unique and impressive sense of restlessness – whatever the outcome. “We always wanted to keep ploughing ahead. Sometimes you go sideways, sometimes you sink, but you always want to do the next thing and see where it ends up,” he explains. “We were self-righteous speed freaks! The speed just accelerated the intensity of my point of view. But the point of view was already there. I guess there comes a time when you realise it’s OK… It’s like being embarrassed at old photographs of yourself. When you get older you look at them and think, ‘Aw, that’s all right.’”

Such ruminations have led in other, surprising directions, too. Just as Gillespie has carried out some stocktaking on the first half of his life for Tenement Kid, he has also conducted a managerial audit