Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
“The nightlife has changed in Ireland” — Interview with Rob Smith (The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
Musician, writer, DJ and more. Rob Smith is a leading figure on the Dublin, Ireland scene. A member of The Swedish Railway Orchestra – a personal electronic music project through which he will release his sixth and final studio album, “Repetition Without Permission” (out 1 October via Blowtorch Records) – Smith spends his nights DJing at The Workman’s Club, one of the Irish capital’s most famous venues.
Furthermore, the artist, who is a fervent supporter of the Argentine club Boca Juniors, recently launched “Echoes From a God: Diego Maradona, The Manager and His Post-Playing Life”, a book with a foreword by the Argentine Jonathan Mascaro, which explores the life of the Argentinian football legend.
A few days before the release of The Swedish Railway Orchestra’s latest LP, Chaoszine spoke to the Irish musician:
Tell me about The Swedish Railway Orchestra’s new single, “Dead Man’s Ghost“, which features the legendary Mancunian poet Mike Garry. What’s the song about?
For years, I’ve done The Swedish Railway Orchestra as kind of electronic music, similar to LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip or whatever. There are various other influences, but I’m doing one more album, the last album, because I think it’s from its core. So I decided to change things a little bit. “Dead Man’s Ghost” is the first single, and it’s just a simple piano, violins and a little synthesizer. The legendary Mike Garry wrote a beautiful poem; he’d done the vocal over, and it’s an incredible collaboration because I’ve never collaborated with anyone with The Swedish Railway Orchestra before. It was a real honour for me to have one of my heroes.
The video depicts a nostalgic, empty, and cloudy Dublin. It reminded me of the paintings by the American artist Edward Hopper. He always seemed to convey a sense of loneliness in his paintings. Was that sort of the idea behind the clip?
Well, it was just to complement the words that Mike was saying to get a real sense of isolation and desolation around North Inner City Dublin, around Smithfield, and the Heuston train station, and so on. I just thought the imagery really suited the track.
This is your latest album as The Railway Swedish Orchestra. Do you plan to continue your career as a musician?
What path is that going to go down? I don’t know. But just as far as the Swedish Railway Orchestra, I started ten years ago. I said I’d give it ten years. I had a little like a manifesto where I do no live concerts, no covers, no collaborations. OK, I’ve done one or 2 covers; I’ve only started doing collaborations. But one promise has yet to remain unbroken, and that’s no live shows. That still remains even though over the years I’ve been offered some incredible opportunities for big festivals and supporting huge acts. I always said “no“, just because you have to stick to some of your principles.
Tell me about your job as a DJ at The Workman’s. What sort of music do you play and how long have you been there? What can you say about this legendary venue?
I was previously DJing in places like Whelan’s, which you might know as well, and a few other little bars around Dublin. But the promoter in the Workman’s Club, a guy called Trevor Dietz, who would later become the manager of Fontaines D.C., saw that the type of bands that I was playing: the likes of The Stone Roses, The Cure, The Strokes, and Arctic Monkeys. He thought, ” No, no, no, you’re not doing that there. You’re doing that with us“. So he gave me a trial one Friday night in the main room of The Workman’s, like the main stage. And then he just said: “OK, you’re in“. I’ve been there for just nearly 14 years. So that’s the kind of club nights we’ve had. We do different kinds of styles on some nights. Some of the other DJs might do house and disco. But the club is known for being indie and alternative, because so many bands in Dublin started there; Fontaines D.C. started there. We saw them long before they even got a manager or before anything. And it was great. We’re trying to stick to Trev’s vision of making it that kind of venue.
I know you were friends with Trevor Dietz. What can you say about him and his importance to the scene in Dublin and Ireland in general?
Trev was an incredible guy; he was very firm in his ways. He had a specific vision of how he wanted things to go, and he ensured they went that way. He was hugely important for Dublin nightlife and for club nights and so on. When he went on to manage Fontaines D.C., it did not surprise me that Fontaines D.C. would become one of the biggest bands. We knew they were a great group, but it just wasn’t a shock that, when Trev got involved, they’d go really high. I mean, because that’s the guy all over. Unfortunately, 3 months ago, we lost Trev. So that was a big blow for all of us. We’re still going to carry on his legacy musically in The Workman’s, and I hope others take note, do the same, and carry on Dublin nightlife for what it should be, and not take these things for granted.
If you had to recommend a band from Dublin or Ireland in general – whether rock or heavy metal – which group would you choose?
A band I always recommend to people is Gilla Band.
Yeah, I know them.
They are probably the most original, experimental, and insanely talented bands to ever come out of Ireland. They actually stood as one of the great inspirations for the new wave of acts that are going around Dublin right now and around Ireland. I just love them; I think they’re incredible. When they go see them live, it’s like watching open heart surgery, just so much going on on the stage, real precision. And then when you listen to the records, you go like: “That’s insane”.
Last year, you played after Oasis at Croke Park in Dublin. I know you’ve known Noel and Liam Gallagher for a long time. What do you think of them now?
The comeback was a big surprise for everybody. Noel Gallagher is the most talented musician or songwriter of his generation. Liam’s probably the greatest frontman to come out of Britain in the last 30 or 40 years. I don’t think I’m alone in that opinion. The shows last year were just mind-blowing. And I think there’s a feeling we might get to see them again next summer.
As well as being a musician and DJ, you’re a fan of one of Argentina’s biggest football clubs, Boca Juniors, and you’ve written several books. The latest is called “Echoes From a God: Diego Maradona, The Manager and His Post-Playing Life” with the prologue written by Jonathan Mascaro. Tell me more about it.
I’m going to stop you there. I’m a fan of the biggest club in the world (laughs). This is the third book I’ve written. The first book was a history about the camp now and the political and sporting history there. The second book, as you probably know, was the Boca Juniors one.
Go on, please.
This was like a natural progression, because I always thought about it in a book about Maradona. There are so many books about Maradona’s playing career when he was playing for Boca, for Napoli, and so on. But there’s very little about Maradona in the latter stage of his life. I still find that very interesting, because his personal life was chaotic a lot of the time. And a lot of Maradona fans around the world were just enamored by his every move. The outpouring of love and grief when he died as well just goes to show the measure of the man. I find that part of his life, from when he stopped playing onwards, incredibly fascinating. So it felt natural to write about that side of it because it hasn’t really been done before, certainly not in English anyway.
You saw a video of Maradona when he returned to play for Boca Juniors in 1995, didn’t you?
Yeah, that’s how I got into pocket because there was a TV show on British TV on Saturday mornings. And one of the things that showed… it would show different sports from different countries. And I said, “Wow, that’s incredible“. And then, of course, Maradona turns up, and I was like, “Maradona plays for these? Oh my God, I need to see more”. But back in those days, you couldn’t see; there was no way of watching matches for me. And then, thanks to the greatness of the internet, watching things in La Bombonera (Boca Juniors stadium) became a little bit more frequent.
What is your current perception of Dublin in terms of quality of life, nightlife and the music scene? I know that there’s a housing crisis going on and a lot of venues have closed…
I think the city needs great improvement in a lot of sectors. The housing crisis you spoke of… I mean, I own my house now, but when I used to rent my old house, you know, I was paying a reasonable amount of money. These days, people are renting a room for what I would have paid for 3 houses per month. It’s incredible. The nightlife scene has changed. There are only so many late-night spots left. In 1999, there were a thousand nightclubs around Ireland, but now there are only 35 or so. We need great improvement in Dublin. As you said, a lot of venues have closed. I think people are saying, and it hasn’t been said in the media, that the drinking culture in Dublin is declining because the use of taking drugs is increasing. That’s a fact.
To finish up, name three or four of your favourite albums.
“The White Album” (1968) by The Beatles is the best album you can buy. It has everything. “The Stone Roses” (1989) by The Stone Roses is just magic from top to bottom. It’s actually unbelievable how good it is. I will go with the Beastie Boys’ “Ill Communication” (1994). They’re one of my favorite hip hop bands. I’m not a big hip hop guy, but they have always been incredible for me, and “Ill Communication” was something in my younger formative years that I’ve enjoyed. And going a little bit more recently, I will go with “Sound of Silver” (2008) by LCD Soundsystem because it kind of influenced me to make The Swedish Railway Orchestra. It’s just good to put on and have a little dance.