Rob Smith (Irish musician)

Rob Smith (right) performing at Finsbury Park, London.

Rob Smith (born 29 September 1982)[1] is an Irish singer-songwriter, DJ[2][3] and writer from Terenure,[4] Dublin. He is married and has one daughter.

Biography

Smith released his debut album, Throwing It All Away, in March 2008 to considerable success[5] and toured in 10 countries across Europe promoting it. The lead single from the album, Stand Up, reached number 1 in the Irish downloads charts that summer.[6] The follow-up, 2010's The Juliana Field, was released to critical acclaim[7][8] and landed Smith a nomination for Most Promising Act at that year's Meteor Awards.[9] He released a live EP, titled Live in New York & Dublin, the following year.[10] He released a well-received punk rock single in February 2015 called Dale Boca Juniors which charted in both Ireland and Argentina.[11] In May 2015, he released a compilation titled Snapped Strings & Hangovers.[12]

Smith is also active as a DJ, performing at club nights and music events focused on alternative, post-punk and indie music. He has been involved with DJ sets around major live performances, including events surrounding the Fontaines D.C. concert at Finsbury Park in London.[13] He has DJed at events presented by The Workman’s Club in Dublin, including DJ sets associated with Gilla Band[14] and IDLES.[15] His DJ selections draw on post-punk, indie and alternative influences.

Smith is also a published author, writing on football history and culture. He is the author of a book on the Argentine football club Boca Juniors, which examines the club’s history and cultural significance and has been cited in international media.[16] He also wrote *Camp Nou: A very brief history on Europe’s greatest football stadium*, a concise history of FC Barcelona’s iconic ground, published in 2025.[17]

The Swedish Railway Orchestra

The Swedish Railway Orchestra is an electronic[18] project by Smith; he released his debut LP Northern Lights under the name in September 2016,[19][20] as well the follow-up This Is a Dream to critical acclaim.[21] The project has been described by Smith as a studio-based project rather than a live act, with performances and press activity kept deliberately minimal.[22] Musically, the project has been described in the press as a cross between LCD Soundsystem and Jape.[23] More recently he has enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Galway's Blowtorch Records, releasing two vinyl LPs Dance To The Drum Machine[24] and Once Upon A Time...[25]

Discography

Albums

  • Throwing It All Away – 15 March 2008
  • The Juliana Field – 20 August 2010
  • Northern Lights – 1 September 2016 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[26]
  • This Is a Dream – 29 September 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • This Is a Mixtape – 1 May 2019 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • The Swedish Railway Orchestra – 29 July 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[27]
  • Dance To The Drum Machine – 27 July 2022 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[28] Vinyl release by Blowtorch Records
  • Once Upon A Time... – 7 March 2024 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[29] Vinyl release by Blowtorch Records
  • The Beautiful And Damned – 14 April 2025 [30]

Extended plays

  • Live in New York & Dublin – 2011
  • Late Night (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra) – 31 October 2016
  • Remixes, Vol. 1 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra) – 26 October 2018
  • Connotations (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra) – 4 July 2023[31]

Compilations

  • Snapped Strings & Hangovers – 29 May 2015

Singles

  • "So Many, So Near" – 2008
  • "Stand Up" – 2008
  • "Rue Sainte-Dominique" – 2011
  • "Dale Boca Juniors" – 2015
  • "Bostero" – 2016
  • "Northern Lights" – 2016 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[18]
  • "Water" – 2016 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "The Allegiance of Bobby Turbulence" – 2016 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "I Don't See Any Daylight Anymore" – 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[32]
  • "Time" – 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Why Don't You Talk to Me" – 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "All I Want" – 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "This Is a Dream" – 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Bullet for a Bullfighter / I Love You (But If You Clap When the Plane Lands, I'll Leave You!)" – 2017 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Wy Bk Hm" – 2019 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Cold Condensation" – 2019 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Hell's Kitchen" – 2019 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "The House of Blood" – 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "The Freaks Come Out at Night" – 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "What's Going On" – 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Brendan Gleeson" – 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Der Neonroom" – 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "There's Too Much Love" – 2020 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "The Ballhaus" – 2022 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)[33]
  • "Fallen Devil" – 2022 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)
  • "Go" – 2022 (as The Swedish Railway Orchestra)

Bibliography

  • Camp Nou: A very brief history on Europe's greatest football stadium – 2025
  • Pure Bliss in La Boca: A History of Boca Juniors and the passion in La Bombonera – 2025

References

  1. ^ "Rob Smith". Twitter. 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Rob Smith (Irl) DJ set – The Football English Pub, Milan". Time Out. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Rob Smith (DJ Set)". Live Nation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  4. ^ Craig, Louis (17 October 2012). "Accommadation [sic] in Terenure". Terenure Village. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  5. ^ Monaghan, Vanessa (24 August 2009). "Rob Smith: Throwing It All Away Review". Nessymon.com. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Stone Roses Experience to open Oxygen Festival". Munster Express Online. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  7. ^ Monaghan, Vanessa (13 September 2010). "Rob Smith: The Juliana Field Album Review". Nessymon.com. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  8. ^ Hayden, Jackie (1 November 2010). "The Juliana Field". Hot Press. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Rob Smith – [Singer Songwriter]". Dublin Rocks. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Live in New York & Dublin – Rob Smith". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Video: Irishman Rob Smith pens hit song for Boca Juniors". Irish Daily Star. 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Rob Smith releases new LP this Friday". Hot Press. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park, London — Set Times, Travel, Weather". Clash. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  14. ^ "Gilla Band DJ Set". The Workman’s Club. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  15. ^ "IDLES DJ Set". The Workman’s Club. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  16. ^ "Rob Smith, el DJ irlandés que escribió un libro sobre la historia de Boca Juniors". Olé (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  17. ^ "Camp Nou : A very brief history on Europe's greatest football stadium". Waterstones. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  18. ^ a b Byrne, Niall (7 September 2016). "Nialler9's New Irish Music: James Vincent McMorrow, August Wells and more". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  19. ^ Bodger (30 August 2016). "Free Show Tonight". Broadsheet.ie. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  20. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra". Breaking Tunes. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  21. ^ "Track of the Day: The Swedish Railway Orchestra 'Wy Bk Hm'". Hot Press. 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  22. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra". RTÉ 2XM. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  23. ^ "JOE's New Song of the Day #332: The Swedish Railway Orchestra – 'Late Night'". JOE.ie. 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  24. ^ "Dance To The Drum Machine". Spotify.
  25. ^ Hoy, Jonah (6 March 2024). "The Swedish Railway Orchestra release their new studio album 'Once Upon A Time...'". blowtorchrecords.com. Blowtorch Records.
  26. ^ "Northern Lights – The Swedish Railway Orchestra". iTunes Store. 1 September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  27. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra – The Swedish Railway Orchestra". Bandcamp. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  28. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra – Dance To The Drum Machine". God Is In The TV. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  29. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra – Once Upon A Time… LP". Thoughts Words Action. 13 March 2024.
  30. ^ Smith, Rob. "The Beautiful And Damned". Bandcamp.
  31. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra – EP of the week". Turn Up The Volume. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  32. ^ "The Thin Air | Global Arts & Culture With A Local Accent". thethinair.net.
  33. ^ "The Swedish Railway Orchestra release 'The Ballhaus'". Blowtorch Records. 13 April 2025.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Smith_(Irish_musician)