With one of the best albums of their career under their belts and a headline slot at Oxford's Common People festival, Primal Scream are riding high. But frontman Bobby Gillespie tells TIM HUGHES he has never been calmer

DESPITE his image one of the great freewheeling rock and roll stars of our time, Bobby Gillespie insists he is a quiet man.

The swaggering front man of Primal Scream, who famously urged us to “get deep down” on 1990 anthem Loaded and to get our Rocks Off, four years later in a strutting display worthy of The Rolling Stones, insists he has calmed down.

“I have had a lot of difficult years but everything has calmed down,” he says in a lilting Glaswegian accent.

“You get to a certain age where the endless partying stops being such a good idea," he goes on. "It’s a young man’s game; I’d be dead otherwise. I can’t do that now.”

Softly spoken, engaging and fiercely intelligent, Bobby pauses thoughtfully between answers, considering each word. He is not at all like the blustering wild man of rock I was expecting.

“I’m a shy guy,” he insists.

Shy? The singer who has grandstanded in front of scores of thousands of people at Glastonbury, the man behind the dark masterpiece XTRMNTR? The party king? Surely not. I can’t think of many individuals who are more confidant in their art and image. “I’m glad I give that impression,” he says quietly. “But I’d have to drink and do drugs to go to parties. It’s not like that now.”

“A lot of guys who do what I do have a similar schizophrenic personality. Maybe I’m more at home on stage. I was born for the stage and I have an amazing rock & roll band behind me. It’s like being centre forward for Barcelona; it’s like being Messi – you know those guys have got your back covered. So I am confidant because I know everyone in the band can hold it together.”

On May 29 he, and bandmates Andrew Innes, Martin Duffy and Darrin Mooney make history by headlining a brand new festival – Common People in Oxford’s South Park.

The band top a bill that includes Public Enemy, Craig David, Wheatley’s Gaz Coombes, Sugarhill Gang and Ghostpoet earlier that day, and Duran Duran, Katy B and Soul II Soul the day before.

“Common People, yeah,” he says. “I can’t wait!” and he sounds like he means it.

“It’s going to be rock & roll! It depends how much time we’ve got, but we’re going to play the hits. Be there or be square.”

It also gives the band a chance to showcase new album Chaosmosis, which was released last week. The LP, their 11th, was written and produced by Gillespie and Innes and recorded in London, New York & Stockholm.

A bold piece of work, it shows the band, who have, over a remarkable career, shifted gear from dance-crossover to electronica, indie, pop, glam-rock and industrial rock – once again evolving.

With the assistance of an array of guests, Bobby has released a startling set of songs which are deeply personal, political even, and which swing from tender and beautiful to angry.

“I think it’s a stunning album,” he says. “I’m really proud of it. I think it’s a really fresh sounding piece of art.”

That use of the word ‘art’ crops up again and again, Bobby saying the band and guest singers worked as artists rather than simply musicians. Even the cover art is a masterpiece – the work of his friend, the Turner Prize-shortlisted Jim Lambie.

“Live, we are a high energy rock & roll band, but in the studio we are artists,” he says. “We are making art, but with sound and music.”

And that artist’s touch starts, he says, with finding the right people – which, in this case include Danielle, Este and Alana of Haim; Rachel Zeffira from Cat’s Eyes; and 23 year-old Sky Ferreira who shimmers on the first single, Where The Light Gets In.

“You become obsessive about every detail,” he says. “I spent a lot of time on arrangements of songs and making them work. And we cast the right people for the parts.

“I’ll sing the male parts, but that’s it. And there’s no one better for that song than Sky Ferreira.”

Does he consider it a romantic song? “It’s anti-romantic,” he says. “It’s an anti-love song but written by a romantic.

“I’m a classic romantic.”

He goes on: “I felt it was good to explore the theme of two people living together – alone and apart – and the hell of that particular situation.”

Is it autobiographical then? “I’m a very happily married man with two beautiful children,” he explains. “But I’m an older guy and have lived a lot.”

That’s certainly true. But with his band still headlining festivals and with one of their most accomplished albums to date picking up rave reviews, the 55 year-old former Jesus and Mary Chain drummer – who started off in the industry as a roadie for Clare Grogan’s 80s new wave band Altered Images – is at the top of his game.

What, I ask, would the young Bobby have made of his success?

“I didn’t think I’d be doing this!” he says. “I didn’t think anything good was going to last. And because of my personality in the band, I thought it would fall apart. That’s not just because of drugs, but because of people you work with.

“Genuinely, the best people are flaky, and that keeps everyone on edge. I’m difficult myself, so it’s just as tricky. But I’m good at getting on with people and have good leadership qualities.

"I can inspire people to do their own thing."

He adds: "We are artists - and this is what we do.”

Common People takes place on South Park, Oxford on May 28 and 29. Weekend tickets are £55 from ticketline.co.uk/common-people

Chaosmosis is out now